Getting the reel beat to sound right

Whistle
1

A fiddler in our sesssion recommended the following. When he does it, it sounds great. But I’m not sure it’s right for the whistle. His recommendation follows:

In reels there are 8 quarter notes (I think that’s what they are) to a bar. He recommends playing with emphasis on the third and sixth quarter note.

That’s it!

On the fiddle he can not only sustain those notes for a bit (as can be done on the whistle) but he can give it a bit of extra volume…not really possible on the whistle.

So, what’s the deal on this?

2

Reels being in 4/4 time, they have 4 beats in each measure, with the quarter note getting 1 count, so they have 4 quarter notes in each measure. I’m guessing the fiddler said they have 8 eighth notes.

I must admit, I don’t understand his scheme. When I was taking bodhran lessons, we were taught to emphasize the first and third beats on a reel.

However, since I haven’t heard your fiddler play, I don’t really know what he’s doing.

3

Essentially what he’s suggesting is putting the emphasis on the backbeat… Sometimes this work out, and sometimes it makes the music sound more like Bluegrass or Old Time if taken too far or done exclusively.

IHMO, it really depends on the setting and if the music is for listening, dancing, recording, etc. For example, if you’re playing for step dancers, they are going to want the emphasis on the downbeat, but ceili or contra might enjoy the lift of the offbeat emphasis. Polkas to me always sound better with an offbeat emphasis, and I go either way on reels depending on the instrument, more offbeat on the tenor banjo, more on beat with the winds.

Michael

4

He’s talking about emphasizing the off-beat, or the back-beat, which you can do easily enough on the fiddle.

But it can be done on the whistle too, by means of phrasing and yes volume, or pulsing of the breath. Ornaments such as rolls can help too, if you play them in a certain way.

However your man should have said the 3rd and 7th eighth notes, not 3rd and 6th. This corresponds to the 2nd and 4th beats of the bar.

Two easy examples that spring to mind:

The first bar of The Earl’s Chair could be played B2 dB {c}BAFA
You can easily make the high d jump out by slurring into it and giving a little push to the breath as you slap your fingers down. The same for the F# later in the bar.

The first bar and a bit of The Lady on the Island could be played BAFB AFEF | D2 FA …
You can play this to make the first F# and the E jump out.

But: the phrasing of this particular tune demands that the first beat of bar 2 gets an extra wallop.

Which brings me to a big caveat: as someone who played Irish music on fiddle and whistle for getting on for 30 years, I would strongly advise you to avoid applying play-by-numbers formulae such as “emphasize the third and seventh note of the bar”.

If you do this systematically your tunes will soon sound horribly monotonous. Just like a lot of modern fiddle players, in fact, who apply “bowing patterns” too rigidly. They sound like rhythm machines rather than people playing a melody. Reels are tunes, after all.

Each tune will require its own treatment. If you applied the formula, you’d miss the big downbeat in bar 2 of Lady on the Island, which would be to miss the essence of the tune altogether.

To get the hang of the backbeat idea, I’d suggest you listen to recorded fiddle players and notice how they bring out the backbeat in a particular tune. It won’t be every 3rd and 6th note, and not in the same way. Then let the whole idea percolate into your subconscious. When it’s ready to come out in your whistle playing, it just will, easily.

If you still want it to, that is. You can play fine traditional reels on the whistle without making too much of this backbeat issue anyway.

HTH
Steve

PS Bodhran players need to be keenly aware of the backbeat, I would think. More than whistle players, in fact.

5

Thanks everyone, especially Steve. Yes, eighth notes, not quarter. And the fiddler was talking about the 3rd and 7th notes.
I agree 100% with Steve. There are reels it works on, and some not. Again I agree that the key is listening and a feel for the tune.
Last weekend I was playing with an experience player who was new to ITrad. Boy, did he bring out some odd but interesting renditions!! As someone said, it’s all good.

6

Switching off the emphasis to the ‘back beat’ on a few passages in a reel works nicely. Also, switching, on the repeat, back to the normal 1 and 4 emphasis highlights the changes. It works very well for jigs, too; maybe even better. Peter Laban commented on this on the transcription of Joe Bane’s jig, Shandon Bells, posted on Steve’s site. I’ve been playing that tune a lot and for another switch of rhythm, I play it in a set right after Dennis Murphy’s Slide. The melodies have similarities, while the rhythms are distinctly different.
Tony