I have been starting to practice ornamentation recently, and in listening to different performers’ styles, I thought of a few of questions:
Is slurring considered to be a form of ornamentation or style?
Should grace notes always be slurred, or is that a matter of style? (That is, if there is an gracing between two notes, can one tongue the gracing and slur into the next real note, or should one always slur the notes and interject the ornament with an appropriate flicking of the fingers?)
(As an aside, Thanks to Brother Steve for his great tutorial and to L. E. McCollough for his great book.)
Ornaments in music played on the whistle are subject to the player’s “feel” of the song. Good example is the C & W song that is tearing up the charts, “What I Really Meant to Say”. Has a whistle slurring to beat the band. Bottom line: if it sounds good to you, do it. There is only one rule and that is that there are no rules. It’s folk music. Do what you like. And if you are criticized for it, then wear a piece of mistletoe on the back of your belt for them.
TR, With regard to your first question, I’d consider slurring/tonguing and ornamentation both to be elements of style.
As for the second, while it’s true that there are no hard-and-fast rules (in other words, you shouldn’t say “should”!), tonguing or not tonguing before grace notes will give you quite different textures.
I’d suggest not tonguing cuts that separate two notes of the same pitch, (i.e. don’t tongue the second note, the one that has the cut immediately before it.) This helps to give the tune a nice flow, a very Irish-trad feeling.
Other cuts, put in to emphasize a note, you might want to consider tonguing. (Or not, depending on how you like the effect, and the feel you’re seeking to achieve.)
I’ll have to concur with Steve..both slurring and tounging are used for effect in Irish music. Either can affect the feel and rhytm of a piece. I’d also generally agree with his advice about tounging grace notes.
On a side note, I have picked up the the habit of very gently tounging a small grace note just before a slide…I feared that this would make me sound totally non-authentic until I heard the exact same thing on L.E. McCullough’s 121 Favorite Session Tunes!
Listening closely to the 121 Session Tunes cd’s, you can hear tounging used to great effect (both a hard “too” tounging at the beginning of a note, and quich “ooht!” type staccato stops) for rhythming, and sometimes in place of a grace note. However, the grace notes themselves aren’t generally tounged.
