I have a hard time coming up with a technical definition for a hornpipe. To me it’s more a “feeling” thing. Anyway, our wee dancer was asking for a hornpipe last night. I suggested Sailor’s Hornpipe. The fiddler asserted that Sailor’s is not a hornpipe. It sure feels like one to me. Any musicologists out there?
It is a Hornpipe. They were just bitter because it is a common tune. You know how Fiddlers get.
Tune info on this from the fiddler’s companion:
COLLEGE HORNPIPE. AKA and see “Sailor’s Hornpipe,” “Lancashire Hornpipe,” “Jack’s the Lad.” English, Scottish, Irish, Canadian, American; Hornpipe. D Major (Ashman, Huntington): G Major (Johnson, Perlman): C Major (Harding, Raven): B Flat Major (Athole, Burchenal, Cole, Cranford, Emmerson, Honeyman, Howe, Hunter, Kerr, McGlashan, Skinner, Vickers). Standard. AABB (most versions): AA’BB’ (Cranford). A country dance and tune which was extremely popular both in England and in America (where it appears, for example, on page 28 of a dance MS of the Pepperell, Massachusetts, maid Nancy Shepley, c. 1766) in numerous collections. Carr published in America the tune in Evening Amusement (pg. 15) about August, 1796, and, some one hundred and fifty years later, the tune was still popular for New England dances. Burchenal (1918) printed another contra dance of the same name to the tune. A variant is familiar to most modern people as the theme to the mid-20th century cartoon “Popeye the Sailor Man.”
–James
You can usually tell a hornpipe because of the three quarter notes there at the end of phrases and the swingy feel…this one has both 
Does anyone have the tab or know where the tab for this would be?
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/music/Info/RRTuneBk/gettune/0000087b.html
This says not. I suppose it can be played as one but i can’t remember Popeye being played as a hornpipe though.
Once most people have heard Harvest Home a few too many times, they never forget what a hornpipe is. The caveat is that some IRTRAD performers will speed 'em up almost to a reel and they lose some of the lilt. Contradancers also do that. There is a famous one, Dubuque, that is played like a classical presto, not hornpipe-y at all.
Is it true that the Hornpipe and Strathspey rhythms are similar except that in a Hornpipe the longer note is followed by the shorter note and in a Strathspey the shorter note is followed by the longer note?
Nope; A strathspey is in 4/4 time..it’s upbeat and it swings. The note that’s emphasized in a pair of eighth notes can be the first or second, but I would guess that it’s somewhat more often the first note.
A hornpipe (at least as we know it today) is in 2/4 time. Similar to a strathspey as it swings and generally has a few triplet thingies, but comes off sounding not as lively and upbeat as a strathspey. I guess there are some similarities, just different time signatures and a different feel. Generally you’d hold onto the dotted note in a strathspey a little longer than you would in a hornpipe. Gives it a snappier feel
I’ve always seen them notated in 4/4, or sometimes cut time (2/2), but never 2/4…
?
-brett
From the NEMOFOTMAD Chord Book:
“HORNPIPES: The hornpipe is a traditional English folk dance in even, 2/4, 4/4, or 2/2 time, with four accents to each bar, with the first and third stressed. Hornpipes usually have more complex melodies, and typically have an even, three note ending”
From encyclopedia.com
"hornpipe
Related: Dance
English folk dance known since the 16th cent., when it obtained its name from the wind instrument that accompanied it. The hornpipes of the 17th and 18th cent. have moderate 3-2 time and 4-4 time. As a solo dance it was popular with sailors, who performed it with folded arms and numerous gestures and steps. The hornpipe appears in the works of Purcell and Handel. "
"The Hornpipe
The hornpipe was a reed instrument often played on boats to provide music for dancing for the sailors, to give them much needed exercise. Later the music developed to accompany the sword dance, step dance and exhibition dances.
There are three types of hornpipe and they are associated with particular dances.
The Newcastle hornpipe was developed originally to play for clog dancers with their heavy shoes. It uses cross bowings, is at a moderate pace and sounds very smooth.
The Sailor’s hornpipe uses almost identical bowing styles and pace to Scottish reels.
The Sand Dance hornpipe has very clear note articulation and is generally played very quietly so one can hear the movement of the feet on the sanded stage.
More information on the dances and examples of tunes to illustrate them can be found in “Traditional Scottish Fiddling” by Christine Martin and in the “Ceilidh Collection for Fiddlers” series of four books."
Feel better? 
English hornpipes are not the same as Irish Hornpipes.
My mistake. But since they’re played and counted as two beats to the measure, I think of them as 2/4. Which brings up another question: what’s the point of notating it 4/4 if you play it like it’s 2/4?? I’m glad you pointed out the 4/4 thing Brett. I just looked at some notation and all of the hornpipes are written in 4/4. But how could this be?? No one plays hornpipes this way; if they did it would sound like a strathspey. It’s interesting that in Scottish music hornpipes always notated 2/4 which would be more true to how they’re played. 
The tunes are different sure but the form is the same. After all this form of tune was introduced by English musicians and somewhere along the line became part of the tradition.
Totally unrelated to the above, but I read an interesting tidbit somewhere (may have be Gearoid O’hAllmhurain’s Pocket Guide to Irish Music but not sure) stating that an earlier form of English hornpipe was actually in 3/2 or some such instead of 2/4 (notated 4/4 ) as we know them today.
Following this thread is great! 
It’s a classic example of why I like this forum.
Ask a question “If a tree falls in a forest and nobody is there to hear it…”
On the chiffboard someone would first ask what kind of wood the tree was made of, the length of the tree, and… well, you can guess. 
It’s Beautiful man! 
Yes, the original english hornpipe was in 3/2. This is a major reason why the form is not the same.
I assume there’s a traditional Irish dance that is danced to Irish hornpipes? If so, is it anything like the steps danced to an English hornpipe?
…just curious…
-brett
If a man is in the forrest,and there are no women around and makes a statement, is he still wrong? 
Regards David
Sailor’s Hornpipe is a hornpipe. Would you play it as a reel?
Jonathan, check out O’Neill’s for a hefty amount of hornpipes with a 2/4 time signature. Don’t be so quick to dismiss your assessments. You might surprise yourself…
If you would like to be further confused, please do visit here:
http://mmcconeghy.com/RIMUSIC/hornpipe.htm
the humours of tullycrine is a actually a hornpipe, but on this cd:
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=5002842&cart=186870571&style=music
they play it as a reel is played. I really love the way they play it, it’s how I try to play it as well.