So if it’s “jigity-jig” for jigs, what is it for hornpiles, reels and polkas? I know there’s a CnF post but I can’t find it.
Anybody?
Thanks.
Keith.
hornpipes: “corn popcorn popcorn popcorn”
reels: “yeah lobster bisque yeah lobster bisque yeah lobster bisque” (say it fast, now!)
and
polkas: “Oh no not again Oh no not again”
I always have trouble figuring out which cheek Bloomfield’s tongue is in.
Check this thread out:
http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=14817
and look for Nano’s description from the California recall election. Nothing for polkas, but if you listen you can hear the difference between polkas and reels and hornpipes.
LMAO, so funny!! hahahaha
or possibly this one
I always used “apricot” for jigs and “watermelon” for reels.
That’s quite enough fruitiness!
Anyway, I thought all those word-rhythm mnemonics were just for non-musical, rhythmically challenged bodhran players who can’t carry a tune in their heads or hear what the musicians around them are doing and follow. Musicians shouldn’t need 'em! If you’re playing by ear from recordings or if you’re playing from dots and understand the idiom, you don’t need to be mentally muttering those kind of things. As for advice to newbies, listen to some good stuff, use ears and mentally absorb the feel of the different metres. If you learn your first tunes by ear (dot-supported if you like, but ear first), you’ll soon have it cracked.
Before we get too carried away, let me refocus my search for onomatopoeic words I’m looking for to help convey the essence of jigs, polkas, reels, and hornpipes to non-musical people.
The non musical wife of a friend of mine started this search by asking what a jig is. When I played one she asked why it was a jig and I casually included the phrase “jiggity jig” in my reply. She then asked what a double jig is. So I played one. Then I played a reel, polka and hornpipe. She got those too, but wanted something like “jiggity jig” that would implant the differences in her mind. So I’ve been looking for that CnF thread that contains words like “jiggity jig”, (and, if I recall aright, “watermelon” for reels). But I couln’t find it, hence my turning to you for your help …
So, what IS the nearest onomatopoeic word or phrase you can suggest, other than the ones Ive already noted from your helpful posts and links, that will help the good lady (and me) identify every tune in the Irish and Folk range?
Thanks
K.
I can’t help you further, I fear, but I wish you good luck!
Thanks, Bloomfield. I’ve got a good haul for jigs, double jigs, polkas and hornpipes, including your contribution.
Thanks again.
K.
While my silly terms do work on some level, I don’t recommend using them seriously. In other word, I think your quest is difficult if not impossible. But you could go and learn some dance steps, that would help.
Am I missing something? Surely you can’t say ‘jigity-jig’ for jig rhythm? 
jigity-jig sounds like the start of the sailor’s hornpipe.
It should be ‘jigity-jigity’, shouldn’t it?
There is another type of reel rhythm that has the first note of a bar as a quarter note followed by two eigth notes then the second bar as all eighths making the sound: Red Holden yellow Holden.
Just for fun, listen to this clip of a popular tune played by a very well known band:
http://www.cdworld.ie/mp3/188517_000100010011.mp3
What rhythm is that?
Well actually, let’s ride that little pet peeve for a minute: above I linked t oa recent thread in which example and discussion of the matter didn’t get much reply when put forward. How about a straight forward comparison between the mechanical, formulaic rigid jiggetyjiggety or the one that recognises the structure and rhythm of a jig for what it is?
[edit] I have deleted the soundfiles. There was an incongruity of 2:1 in the number of download in favour of the example of the mechanical rhythm example, which defeats the whole point of the exercise
Nice demonstration and clearly the phrased version is preferable, but how does that help the “non musical wife of a friend of” Keith in identifying the tune’s rhythm?
It won’t. I am continuing the previous discussion and am looking at the wider issue of playing jigs. Jiggety jiggety is not a helpful approach for playing jigs.
As I said, just entertaining a pet peeve.
A crap one.
It sounds like what it is - a nice 9/8 slip jig crammed into the first variant of a 6/8 jig rhythm (1-3456).
David
I agree - my knowledge of jigs isn´t somehow vast, but I can clearly see there are very different sounding jigs, even with different articulation, so one “jigity jigity” can´t absorb all of them.