Just about a year ago I started learning tin whistle. A friend of mine introduced me to the music of Liam O’Flynn and I thought he was a pretty good piper. Then I started listening to the Chieftains, Bothy Band and sort of forgot about Liam
After about a year I have improved somewhat on my whistle, and I decided to listen to Liam again. I swear he improved more than I did. And this is odd because it is the same CD I listened to a year ago. So what gives? How will I ever catch up if even his CD gets better
That’s sort of the way it goes with this music! The more you learn, the more you realize you have yet to learn. The more you listen to recordings the more you begin to pick up the little nuances in them and can pick out what makes each player unique.
I remember when I first heard traditional music; I could not have distinguished between three tunes in a set, I couldn’t tell you if they were jigs, reels, or hornpipes and I certainly couldn’t distinguish between different styles or players. After spending several years listening I can easily distinguish different tunes in a set, regardless of whether or not I know them, and I could tell you what kind of dance tunes they are within the first few bars. I may or may not be able to tell you who is playing immediately upon hearing it but if I can’t I could probably give a decent list of who it is not
It’s all part of the fun, don’t get too discouraged
The ear grows just as fast as the rest of our musical skills. The problem is that we can now hear intricacies and things that we wouldn’t have known a few weeks previously. Basically, our ear becomes more discerning and, in turn, critical. Recognize it for what it is, and view it as part of your progress, rather than letting it discourage you.
I had the same experience with Paddy Moloney. Cheiftans albums were my entre into Irish music, then I went on to Planxty, then to the Bothy Band… Anyhow recently I started getting some of those old Chieftans albums on CD, and when I gave them a listen, I realised how great a player Paddy Moloney was (is). He has a fantastic rythmic drive and pulse that kicks the music up a notch when he joins the ensemble. His technique is amazing. On several occasions I’ve heard pipers who are in vogue now play a particular tune, and it sounds fine, but if I go back and listen to Paddy’s rendition, Paddy’s has so much more refinement and polish.
By the way I was lucky enough to attend a Liam O Flynn concert, and it was interesting to see that he played his low G’s almost entirely off the knee. Goes to show that you can’t get a real sense of someone’s playing from a sound recording alone.
