Simple questions:
1). 95% by ear, 5% by notation.
2). Only through sound recordings will any idea of the way a tune is played be maintained. There is no form of notation that accurately records the way a tune is played; just the bare bones of the tune. We already know from wax cylinder recordings that the way tunes are played today is not the same as a hundred years ago. A hundred years from now, people will be able to listen to how we play tunes now, but the tradition may well have moved on again, so it may be a bit of reconstructionism for them to play as we do now.
djm
I use a mix of notation and listening to learn the tune. Notation is mainly for decyphering the bits I can’t catch from listening. Then it’s practice, practice, practice, practice, etc. until I know the tune by reflex - I don’t have to think about which note comes next or when to change from the first to the second part, etc.
I agree with djm. In fact, most uilleann pipe tutors use different notation to indicate things like rolls, crans, etc.
There is another method that has been noted by ethnomusicologists with respect to learning traditional music, and that is the use of the Eyes to watch the Fingers of teachers and/or other players! (I guess this would count as a variation within the Ear learning method)
This has been discussed before to a degree…
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=6076&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15
I used to do quite a bit of this “musical finger voyerism” when starting out and found it quite helpful. Especially if someone else is playing a similar kind of instrument to what you play. I’ve read some other references that say that GHB band members use this finger watching to help keep in tight unison in performance situations.
However, not everyone likes doing this. I do admit that sometimes it can be confusing especially if someone is using a lot of ornaments and such.
DJM said “Only through sound recordings will any idea of the way a tune is played be maintained” and I agree 100% also by listening to others at events, fleadh etc.
Superb, PJ. This was where I was leading. I just can’t get it by ear (or careful sight of the players fingering) alone.
OK - so I’m doing something right - thats a start.
But PJ mentioned ‘crans’. Ah, now come on - these are the work of Beelzebub himself 
Patience, Grasshopper, they will come in time. Keep at it, but don’t get discouraged. When you can take this cran from my hand… 
Man, are we dating ourselves! Like, what is the sound of one hand with the clap … er … something like that. Yes, yes, I know, I can leave right now.
I like to think of crans in terms of a snare drum for a marching band, and practise them in the same rhythm, D cran and E cran and back again - ta-rumpity-tum, ta-rumpity-tum, etc.
djm
One thing that we must understand about Celtic music was that it was only written down in the last 150 years or so. Thats why when we listen to some of the tunes from 200 years and compare it to written notation it is sometimes completly different to the actuall tune. A prime example is a Ketch Jig (like Sullivan John) were the first beat is overemphisized.
This overemphisise makes it difficult to put into notation form as more often then not there’ll be an extra beat left over. Classical notation forms cann’t seem to get the rhythem down. Ask your theory (or friend) teacher to write it down. They’ll have a lot of difficulty as the rhythem is foreign to them. Especially those who are classically trained and think sheet music is how it is meant to be played. Therefore I like to listen to the music first. Then compare it with the music.
Just my opinion.
Cheers L42B 
Listening to the music and its ‘feel’ is the way to go. Being classically trained on Viola and Piano, I am able to sight read easily. But with ITM, it is my opinion that musical notation really should only be used as a source of reference and not something to faithfully adhere to.
I spent many hours as a teen glued to the boob tube watching that show. I wasn’t surprised in the least when David Carradine (sp?) admitted that he was ‘dosed’ (LSD) for most of the episode shooting.
I often read that people still can’t get some tunes fully by ear and need notation. Do they slow the tune down using the handy softwares we have available to us today and loop the portion over and over till they get it, or do they just throw their hands in the air and go for the papermusik? I feel that there is something to be said for determination to work things out, especially the parts which are hard to catch, its part of training your ears. If one never bothers with working through the hard parts and goes for the crutches whenever there’s a bit of melodic difficulty, the process of improving your listening skills is hampered.
I thought this topic was going to be how to make head cheese…
Revolting, ain’t it? But boy does it sell!
It took me a long while to learn how to read music so I guess that means I started with and ‘monkey see, monkey do’ finger watching and listening. What I find interesting is that if you look at the way music is written in the O’Neils book, the music seems to have been written with pipers in mind and the bones of the tune still have some flesh.
In more modern tune books, the tunes tend to be written for fiddlers or other instruments and some of the tunes written down today differ somewhat to how the tunes are written in O’Neils, somewhat simplified in fact.
The tradition is to only use sheet music as a starting point or for reference. Once the basics are in your head, it’s all ears from there. The older tradition is purely finger watching/listening. I’ve gotten a lot better at reading sheet music but I only really use it if I need to get the basics of a tune fast and then move purely onto listening and adding my own interpretations in where possible.
I guess this is quite different to the classical music trad where it’s all sheet music and only later on, does human ingeniuity start to enter into a musicians playing…but then, classical music tends to be long scores of music and regimented by the needs of the orchestra…like any form of music, it’s the advanced players that start to be free of the notes on the page and move the music beyond the realms of the mundane.
Irish music is short pieces, often strung into a set of 3 tunes played 3 times over per tune, which, makes about 21/2 to 3 minutes of playing per set. I like this form as it offers infinite possibilities and combinations of tunes. With over 3000 tunes, how many sets could one make? Comhltas tends to teach people by sheet music these days, so sheet music is now becoming a really accepted part of the tradition…is this a good thing? Not sure, it certainly starts to drop the regional variants that used to exist, but give one more scope to pick up tunes quickly on your own.
Cheers!
Andy
Me, I run for the paper, but you’re right, I should stick with it until I can work it out. It’s better practice. The software you refer to is a great tool for when you don’t have a teacher to slow down the tune and show you how it’s done.
I may be mistaken but I think that James O’Neill, who transcribed the collection, was a fiddler. Personally, I find O’Neill’s a good source of tunes but not necessarily ideal for pipes. However, I know of other pipers who think quite the opposite and that’s fair enough too.
Bingo!!
Francis O’Neill was mostly a flute player although he played many instruments including the pipes. James O’Neill was a “trained” fiddler and imposed some of his notions of correctness on the material he transcribed - what we call “Mixolydian” tunes with extra sharps which they didn’t have. Some of this was cleaned up for the Dance Music book (1907), the first book they did was the Music of Ireland (1903).
O’Neill’s and other old books are excellent value if you can “sketch in” the ornaments etc. Good players can fill in where they want to put the rolls and so forth - look at what Jerry O’Sullivan did with the music from O’Farrell’s. Many players seem baffled or put out by a supposed lack of utility in these old collections, they should stick to Karen Tweed and the Learn 40 Tunes books if they want to know exactly what to play at the local sessions.