Yesterday I went to a house concert here in Windsor Ontario, Gearoid O’hAllmhurain was the guest player and lecturer.
It was a good concert and as usual Gearoid was entertaining as well as very knowledgible of Irish music history not to say that his playing the concertina was less! This is about the fourth time that I have heard and listen to Gearoid do his schtick and have enjoyed every minute.
At the end of the concert/lecture an audience member asked the question “Why do we always seem to play at sessions in the keys of D, G and sometimes A and not other keys?”
Gearoid answered that at one time that wasn’t the case. Players in Ireland played in keys of Bb and Eb mainly and it had a more lonesome sound," stated Gearoid.
Geroid went to say:
“When they immigrated to America and were playing in Vaudeville shows the keys of Bb and Eb were to low to project into the audience, so they keyed up to make the music louder. Eventually they made recordings with the louder keys and these recordings eventually made there way back to Ireland, the old timers couldn’t follow the recordings without retuning their instruments.”
I know that Upipers prefer flat sets over sets in D. Sorry for the rambling but my question is:
Why don’t we play more tunes in Bb,Eb orF at sessions? Is there a way to find the original key of a tune if it has been transcribed up or is that an impossiblity.
I have no music theory or degree type schooling so I’m a novice when it comes to these kind of questions.
Why is the tyranny of D and G and sometimes A reign at sessions?
In the old days the music they played may have sounded in different keys because it was played on flat sets of pipes, or on fiddles tuned below concert pitch - but they were still playing in keys with one or two sharps as their fingers are concerned. Just as you are when you pick up a whistle in Bb or Eb.
Of the older traditional instruments only the fiddle can venture easily into keys with more sharps, or no sharps, or flats. And actually very few Irish players play in keys with more than one flat. So I think the good doctor’s remarks are misleading.
Why isn’t music played more often in more exotic keys today? Because most of the instruments aren’t easily played in those keys, I’d say.
It depends on how far back you want to go. Many people have noted that a over hundred years ago it was unusual for more than one instrument at a time to play at once. the other musicians would be up dancing. Instruments then would be in several different keys, and they often couldn’t easily play together anyways. As well, older tuning systems didn’t match more modern instruments, e.g. an A could be any where from the low 430s to the mid 450s. Groups of musicians became more popular with the céilí bands in the mid 1920s. Sessions didn’t become popular until the 1940s, and that was largely Irish intinerant workers in England. Gearoid has given you the rest of the picture.
William Taylor developed the modern concert pitch chanter (sets are tuned to the pitch of the chanter) 120 years ago. Sets before that did not project well - they were great for a room but not a hall.
Since then, concert pitch pipes have been made and selected by probably 80% of the players. As a 2nd set, flat pitch would be the norm.
D and G are good keys for the pipes; violins have more flexibility in that they handle more keys easily. Some pipers play in the key of A with ease, though, but as a group, pipers steer clear of tunes in A.
Your question was about keys but also seems to involve pitch. The other way to view the body of Irish music is thru modes.
I don’t think it’s happening Mark. The fledgling Acadian Festival is attempting to fill the void by expanding its mandate with a “Celtic” day. It’s on the Victoria Day w/e 21-23 May.
Hard to believe that the accepted Continental tuning of the violin did not come into play at some point in determining the settling into D Major as a balance key to notate the music, even if non-standard pitches made it a C# or something.
If it was the harp only, you would wonder why not C Major as the standard. So many instruments, like the psaltery and harp are good for teaching and demonstrating music using C as Do.