I'll name that tune in three

[colomon]

Hmmm… I reckon three notes is completely inadequate for for most tunes – there are far too many tunes with the same first three notes. The first two bars is much more useful, and even that can get you in trouble. (Witness “The Dawn” versus “Michael Riley’s” – same first two bars, and they’re very distinctive, too, but utterly different tunes after that. Though their names get confused a lot.)

And I find that I can completely lose a tune, even one I’ve played a zillion times, if I haven’t played it in a while, because it gets crossed up with other silmilar phrases in my head. For instance, last week I couldn’t for the life of me get by the first bar of “The Scholar”, even though that’s a tune I competed with at a feis, and have had in one of my standard tune sets for years. Its beginning was too close to the B-parts of “Boys of the Lough” and “Martin Wynne’s #1” (which I also get confused) and I just completely lost it – sat around playing the first bar over and over again, trying pathetically to get to the next bar. No luck. Start on the B-part and wrap around – still no luck. It was just ugly. Then I heard someone else play it, and now I’ve got it back again.

If I have a specific tune in mind, I will always start it in the right key (if it has one) – finger memory, I think. But if I’m just noodling, it’s not at all unusual for me to start a key of D tune in G without realizing it, fly along nicely for a few bars playing by ear (without remembering what tune I’m playing), and then suddenly go off the rails when I hit something that’s unplayable (usually too high) in that key. I accidentally start “Wise Maid” in G at least once a week…

[madfifer9]

@herbivore12

@Martin Milner

This holds true on the fiddle too. Except for the half-hole of course. You don’t get holes on a fiddle. Except the f-holes.

Actually, I’ve known some A-holes on fiddle (and violin, for that matter). But perhaps that’s a different matter.

LOL!!! I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing!!!

This is my first “quote in a quote”! Are they worth the trouble? OH YES!!! AND I just went over 100 posts. Where’s the pride emoticon??

madfifer9

[Martin_Milner]

@madfifer9

@herbivore12

@Martin Milner

This holds true on the fiddle too. Except for the half-hole of course. You don’t get holes on a fiddle. Except the f-holes.

Actually, I’ve known some A-holes on fiddle (and violin, for that matter). But perhaps that’s a different matter.

LOL!!! I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing!!!

This is my first “quote in a quote”! Are they worth the trouble? OH YES!!! AND I just went over 100 posts. Where’s the pride emoticon??

madfifer9

I’m grinning all over because I set up that joke deliberately and Herby went for it - I’m Herby’s straight man!

Congrats on 100 posts Madfifer! You don’t get the key to the executive washroom yet, but I can allow you a squirt of lemony hand cleanser & a few sheets of Andrex to keep you going.

Colomon - you’re probably right about needing more notes, but I don’t know enough tunes yet to get confused! I may have other associations going with the three notes, like smells or tastes, background noise etc from when I first learnt them.

For me three notes, the taste of Bulmers (nod to Az) a smell of stale tobacco & sweat, and the ringing cry of “for Pete’s sake will someone please take that effing whistle off that effing Englishman” is all it takes.

Ah, sweet memories.

[Nanohedron]

At sessions it’s a bit of sport for some of us to see how quickly we can nail what tune is next. On average it’ll take me abt. five notes if I know the tune well enough (allowing for ambient noise and the initiating player’s delivery), sometimes three notes in rare instances. I’ts like that infernal bang-the-gopher-on-the-head carny game.