Sorry to start a new topic on this, but I couldn’t find the initial post that drew my attention to this book; for some reason, the search function isn’t working for me. . .
“This book” being “A Dossan of Heather”, by Steve Jones and Jean Duval.
The book’s a collection of tunes collected from Packie Manus Byrne, but it provides so much more than just the tunes. Steve’s written an excellent introduction, allowing us entree into part of Packie’s life and into the context in which these tunes developed and are played. In addition to the great introduction, each tune is accompanied by transcriptions of Packie’s story of the tune, and each of these is a delight in itself. And included with the book is a companion CD, so you can hear some of the tunes in performance.
Many of us here will be familiar with Steve as StevieJ here on the board, and through his great web tutorial, Brother Steve’s Tinwhistle Pages, at
http://www.rogermillington.com/siamsa/brosteve/
But now, having heard the charming pieces in Dossan of Heather in all their only-mildly-ornamented, simple beauty, I wonder why I spent all that time studying Steve’s pages on rolls. . .
Seriously, I’ve been finding lately that I’ve been taking a lot of rolls out of tunes where I used to use them heavily, depending instead on the occasional cut or tap instead, and playing a less-adorned melody than I had been, and I’m happy to find that Packie himself shunned the heavy use of same. (I still use rolls more often than I suppose Packie must; I put a couple in the tunes I’ve learned so far from Dossan of Heather where the transcriptions do not note the use of a roll.) Hearing the wonderful results in Packie’s tunes, which are not at all boring even without the rolls, is vindication of a sort. The shape of the tune really stands out when you take away some of the frills; it’s like being in a timberframe house where you can see the structural supports, and which themselves make up most of the beauty of the structure. One doesn’t swathe the wonderful timber bones of such a house in frilly cloth and bangles, so I wonder why we do that to some of the tunes we play.
I should note that most of the tunes in the book are elegant and quite easy to play, but rewarding and full of fun and charm; it’s a shame they aren’t more widely known.
I’m not giving up rolls (in fact, I’m still working on trying to perfect them) – and I haven’t even begun to learn to crann decently yet – but I’m finding that it’s possible to play a piece without so many of them and not feel that it’s boring and repetitive. Wouldn’t want to give them up for good, but I’m going to experiment with a sort of reduced-roll diet and see what happens. I think some of my tunes were getting fat.
Thanks, Steve, for sharing Packie’s music with the rest of us. Great stuff.
FYI: I got my copy from Thom at the Whistle Shop, and it came with a second – free! – book of humorous stories by Packie, which are a real treat. Don’t know how much longer that deal will last, so if you like good Irish tall tales, it’s a great addition.
And cskinner has written a very fine and informative review of the book that goes into much more detail than I have; the search function’s failing me, but interested folks who want to know more should search for Carol’s earlier post, which was what spurred me to buy the book in the first place.
–Aaron
