I have been listening to many recordings of jigs and reels. How fast
should they be played on the pipes? Is there a “standard” metronome
setting?
Double Jigs…127
Single Jigs…137
Slip Jigs…144
Hornpipes…180
Reels…224
source:Breandán Breathnach(all bow)
Ceol Rince na hÉireann 1 pge ix.
I have been having a lot of debate with dancers on the hornpipe and it is in two camps.
Modern..much slower than 180 supposedly cos they wear hard shoes,but I think thats a load of bollocks and an excuse.
Traditional..180 ,listen to some of the old timers playing hornpipes.My mother ,who is 75 and an All Ireland Champion dancer
when the music was played as it should be,had no hesitation in saying it was a fast dance and hummed out the tempo to me which would have been about 180.I noticed in a Scottish Music Book they had hornpipes at 76 well that is just ridiculous,ye may as well carry a coffin whilst yer at it!
The biggest killer as far as I can see around these parts is the need for speed when it is patently wrong.The youngsters and some not so young Virtuoso,look at me aren’t I brilliant cos I can play a jig at reel speed merchants!
ye probably have them over there as well.
Cos they can thump the floor with their feet as fast and as loud as they can and play like maniacs the adoring public,who havnae a scooby encourage them by applauding !!!they should by rights be booing them back to their imaginary superstar dressing rooms.Edinburgh seems to be full o them 
Slango foill
Liam
Please note Breathnach said:
To play the music at a quicker tempo detracts from the melody, to play it somewhat slower can do no harm. It was customary for many of the older musicians when playing for themselves to adopt a slower tempo than that demanded by the dancers.
Thankyou Peter,this is of course very true.
The tempos given are for when playing for dancers
The point I am making is that I think Edinburgh and parts of Glasgow(especially the Ben Nevis Bar) should be visited by the Tempo police 
Slan go foill
Liam 
“When people lose sight of the boundaries, lose touch with the traditional, they take the beauty out of it. Some of them today should be given speeding tickets.”
– Joe Burke, July 2001
Actually, for championship dancers the speeds are like this:
Reels 113 b.p.m.
Hornpipes 113
Slip Jigs 113
Light Jigs 116
Heavy Jigs 73
Set Dances - variable.
Well, that’s fine when you’re playing for step dancers but why work so hard when they’re not around… 
I practice my reels and jigs at around 90 bpm… That’s about what we play them at the local sessions here in San Diego, and they aren’t slow sessions. It just nice to have the time to really play the tunes with some musical expression and not just unleash the notes.
Michael
I agree, its much better to have the tune played at a reasonable speed with expression, than what my wife and I call ‘mad hatter speed’. At too high a speed, then all tunes sound exactly the same and it becomes rather dull.
Ye Gods!!! My metronome only goes up to 208!!! I can’t … I don’t … we… uh… Bugger!!! I guess I’m not going to be playing anything with Breandan anytime soon.
Mark
Oh, you mean like rap music? 
djm
Breath out (breath out) Breath in (breath in)
Who writes this stuff?
I was not quoting the modern kick the ceiling barbie doll dancing that passes for Irish Dancing today but dancing for the sets!Which is a completely different ball game.
The electronic metros can be tuned up to the faster speed if ye want to be exact,and no doubt some o ye will!but if ye set the mechanical at just past the 208 ye will get a good enough approximation.
Slan go foill
Liam :roll:
Well, my daughter happens to be a World qualifying “Barbie doll” and I can only say that the amount of strength, dedication, skill and tolerance to pain that these kids exhibit at this level is astonishing..
..careful commenting on something you don’t understand.
Having spent considerable time playing for step dancers, I’m always amazed what incredible athletes they all are.
Its funny to me to see contrast between these sleek and elegant dancers and the musicians who generally seem to live a more sedentary lifestyle… The hours of sitting practicing plus the free Guinness in the pub sessions aren’t kind to the waistline…
Symbiosis, I guess…
I was out for my lunch time training ride on my road bike and was looking down at my heart rate monitor and saw about the same beats per minute when I’m warming up. I like to get to 120-130 bpm for a warm up rate before doing anything hard. I wonder if there is some correlation to heart rate (light aerobic load) and the speed that we play or dance , some intrinsic unified bpm that brings the musicians and dancers together (kinda like Einstein’s unified field theory, but a lot less math).
Ironman Fel is the exception to the rule…
Obviously you’ve heard my rushing through a tune. And I thought it was my pipes 
Au contraire dear boy ,au contraire…the Irish Post ran a very long and heated debate on this very subject of Barbie Doll Dancing,running for many weeks and started by moi.I don’t want to bore the rest o ye so seek out the Irish Post archives if ye are that interested,I am not critical of[SOME] of the dancing but it is the fault of the parents that it has developed into the Holywood nonsense that it has become,glitzy stiff dresses,glued up socks,curly headed wigs(all of which attract points and cost a fortune!!)
It even made a friend of mine from India,at a dinner ,almost choke when they came on,she said it was more twinkly than Bollywood…all in all a total embarrassment to what it was and now has become…dedication and skill are to be admired, but strength and pain never were necessary this is what it has become in the never ending competition ethos of so called Irish dancing…I used to bring my son along to the classes when he was younger,when my mother visited once at a Feis she could not believe what it had degenerated into…He left of his own accord eventually and I was glad he did.
The biggest and guiltiest contributor to this style of Barbieism is the Chicago born Michael Flately with his grossly inflated sense of self.
So don’t get on your high horse when the term Barbie doll is used.
America gave us Barbie and America gave us the modern “Irish Dance”
Thankyou America!!! 
Anyway this is way off topic and introduced by wydeboar as a correction to Brendan Breatnach"actually etc etc..“I know better type of thing”
the girls can dance up the walls and across the ceiling at 999bpm for all I care.
The tempo in Ceol Rince is for dancing by normal people doing normal dances not competition high kicks for 2 minutes
Slan gofoill
Liam
Have a nice day :roll:
My very own daughter is a champion step dancer. I’d agree with much of what has been said on both sides of this issue. It is indeed competitive and athletic and quite demanding of the youngsters. Uilliam is right on. It has indeed become a sport of glamour and glitz. Every dancer knows that IF she must, for some reason such as alteration required, dry cleaning, etc, dance in the schools dress in solo competition rather than in her very own glitzy $1000 dress, then she doesn’t stand a chance at placing in competition here in the US. My daughter has a perfect head of hair, as do many of the other dancers, yet they dare not wear a curly Q $100 wig on theit heads as failing to do so will cost 'em points. Let’s not blame those of us here in Amerikay though. The scrutinizing judges for US national and some regional competitions all come from an island that I can drive across in three to four hours. The consolation for me is that my daughter often enters the room when I’m playing and says “Give me a slow hornpipe, dad!” What a real treat it is to play for your own child to dance!
Hya lewis,I’m blaming Amerikay for spawning twinkle toes aka Flatley(and Barbie).Ye cannot deny they are yours can ye?The costumes started to change after that dramatic drivel Lord of the Dance hit the stage.Now it is well known that Ireland has a love for all things American,ye only have to drive around the place to see mini South Forks everywhere and it is no surprise that they went for Flatelyism,but I think they should have drawn the line on this.I am absolutely immplaccable on this one,it has been a huge step forward and away from traditional dancing of course the schools will disagree,it is after all a big money business.The answer lies with the Parents if ye all said NO this is crap they would soon listen.I thank God that Scottish Traditional Dancing is still just that" traditional"but no doubt Ronnie McDonald will come along one day and…
Sorry to hear ye can’t make Miltown this year,see ye when I do
Slan go foill
Liam
But Uilliam - Ronald McDonald has already come along and changed Scottish Trad dancing with his costume…
