Random thought how many tunes do people know by heart?

Whistle
21

Wanderer the more you write the more i like you. the truth is as some said irish music is a oral tradition. And i agree im a begginer and proud of it i have at local irish festivals been shown up by kids under 10 years of age. And i feel your right by increasing your tune number you are becoming a better player. But my point which I was going for and I see you understand . someone knowing 10 songs in terms could be better than the man with 100. And your right no doubt that by playing from memory ornamentation comes out and what i’ll call real music defined by a person comes out and creates a individual that irish music strives to create.

I understand both sides of this issue in, I as many play more than 1 insturment and on one know over 200 songs I can pick up and play, yet on whistle only 15. But because of the time I have played the whistle before learning tunes, I can read music and because I have played the song by sight so long I by nature add ornamentation while sight reading.

I only pray one day I will get to the level of over 100 i’ll probaly have to get rid of some other insturment music from my head.

this is turning into a great post hope you can make sense of my rambling.

Wanderer keep posting when you see my name I love when people present their view without anger thats what makes this forum great. :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

22

I think this is an interesting topic because it partially defines how we see ourselves. I know somewhere between 65-80 ITM tunes (inlcuding aires) - more like 55 or so session tunes. If you add in ragtime, pop, jazz, classical, etc., I’m probably in the low 100s.

I guess I always think of myself as an advanced beginner…I’ve been playing seriously about 2 years now, but playing around for over a decade. It’s only been in the past two years that I started memorizing tunes by ear, and prior to that I only played off the written page.

ERic

23

if quanitifying the amount of tunes you know is important at all, it seems that it would only be worth quantifying those tunes you have mastered. What does “mastery” involve? Well, one good criteria would be those those tunes you can confidently start/lead/play-on-your-own at a session where you are the average player (there are about the same number of blokes who are better than you as not). on this scale, i put myself at about 25 tunes that i’ve solidly mastered…

24

well, perhaps about ten more if you get some guiness in me :smiley:

25

Well, we all start somewhere, and we all progress at our own paces. I can name a few folks on the board that have been playing for less time than I have, but I would consider better performers than me (based upon recordings they’ve posted). And generally. they know more tunes than I do as well.

In my own opinion, part of being a good irish musician is more than just learning a few tunes, even if you know them well. Irish music is like a language…and you can’t really be fluent in a language if all you’ve done is learn “Where is the bathroom” from a tourist guide. The more you expose yourself to its vocabulary, both by learning tunes and listening to tunes, the more you come to understand the language; its rhythms, etc. Like a language, irish music has components…runs, ornaments, different riffs that are part of the style.

I’m just now starting to get to the point where I (rarely) can play a tune at session that I’ve never played before. Part of that is familiarity from listening.. I’ve heard a lot more tunes than I can play, and I’ve heard them a lot. I’ve made a point to try to attend session and really listen when I don’t know the tune, rather than tap my foot anxiously waiting for a tune to come up that I could play. Part of that familiarity is from learning tunes…the more tunes you learn, and really know from heart, the more exposure you have to those component parts of the music, and the easier it is to play them in other tunes, even if they’re transposed up or down the scale, etc.

I’d say that if you were a really good musician in another style, that might (but might not) shorten the learning cycle with irish music, but ultimately, to get good in the style, you gotta spend time listening and practicing. Generally speaking (though not not an absolute truth) those folks who spend more time expanding their understanding of the music are going to know more tunes.

I think BillChin has a good point…When I was newer to the music, and didn’t go to sessions, I didn’t know as many tunes. And whenever I stop going to sessions, I don’t learn as many tunes. I think session players tend to expand their repertoire through positive peer pressure. If you hear a great tune, and all the other session players know it, you tend to really want to learn it too. And part of it’s through the “osmosis” I mentioned above. Once you’ve heard a tune enough times at session, you feel you know it, even if you can’t play it, and that really makes learning it easier.

Anyway, this is a long and rambly post. I’m by no means the expert..I just have my own opinion. :slight_smile:

26

I love the way this post is getting to be so deep rooted. funny how I justed posted a random ideal, and the unique perspectives that people form off of that ideal are so insperational and allows you to look through anothers eyes and gain perspective on what they feel.

27

Wanderer, yes, absolutely, but I must agree with irishduffy regarding the quality. It’s all such a cyclic process (with whistle, but for me especially with flute): breathing place selection, ornamentation, changes in the states of physical muscle positions. Learning something new by learning a new tune transfers to increased possibilities on the old tune now.

One year ago, I knew about 16 or so tunes (two hornpipes, one jig, two polkas, three reels, two slip jigs, six and a half slower tunes or O’Carolan’s, and three waltzes) on whistle, which I played in a band for several years. (In that band, I mostly fronted, sang, bodhraned, or rhythm guitared.) I’d ceased “Celtic folk” for six years, learning jazz and rock on the Chapman Stick and bass guitars. Boy, the theory I now realize I learned is serving me well now that I’m applying it. One year ago, I realized this “Celtic folk” was where my heart wanted to be. Now, after attending an average of 3 sessions a month for a year, I have, either under my belt or soon ready to fly, about 68 or so tunes (nine hornpipes, thirteen jigs, a couple marches, six polkas, sixteen reels, two schotishes, seven slip jigs, thirteen and a half [yup, same half!] slower tunes or O’Carolan’s, and seven waltzes) on whistle and most of them I can handle on the flute.

My point is, if I can do it, anyone with the motivation and the time to put into physical memory can do it.

TommyK
“If it weren’t for the smell of cat s**t and fish breath, they’d be Divine.”

28

That happened to me this weekend! :cry: I was noodling on the flute when suddenly out popped the A part of a jig… and just the A part :angry: I spent the next two hours scrabbling through my CDs and sheet music trying to identify it so I could play the B part too. I didn’t find it. And then when I picked the flute up, I’d forgotten what it was I’d been playing and it wouldn’t come back… :blush: Infuriating… :imp:

Oh I hope it’s not just 'cos I’m getting old… :cry:

29

I know lots of tunes. I know lots of names of tunes. Currently I’m working on which ones go with which. :confused:

30

Now THOSE are words of wisdom.

:wink:


Az

31

Another point I’d like to add into the stew is this: certainly when playing sessions – it is very helpful if you are at least dimly aware of which other tunes might be played with it in sets. Knowing whether e.g. “Trip to Durrow” sounds better before “Trip to Fanore” or after it (recently debated by my band) is as important as being able to play them well, IMHO.

Anyway, tunes-wise I could manage about 2-3 hours of playing (and singing), but not sure how many tunes that makes. 40-odd probably. A lot of the stuff I know is played with a group with arrangements, so it’s not individual session tune stuff.

But I think the process of learning tunes is very very important, not simply to count them :smiley:, but because through the learning process one is supporting and (if one plays to a public) also enriching the oral tradition. Which in this day and age is a really useful (and highly rewarding) thing to be doing. Meeting up with a mate and swapping tunes unknown to the other is an especially fulfilling experience.

And I’m also trying to increase my repertoire so that I’ve got a good bunch of stuff to try out on the new flute I’ll be buying any day now…

Cheers


Az

32

Hear, hear… anyone who’s heard this guy play would say he’s a solid player.

33

Ha ha ha, glauber. do you accept cash, check, or visa?

i easily get overwhelming with new tunes especially in chicago where there are alot tune sharks. to compensate, i’ve ended up trying to master the ones I already somewhat know and generally this has been much more enjoyable for me. plus, i’d rather play one tune really well than ten half-assed. But i’m a perfectionist in this regard i guess…

34

i should also add that raising the level of just one tune goes long way raising the level of your playing across the board. it’s quite exciting and addictive: “Hey, if i can make this one tune do this, I wonder what i can do to [this other tune]” After a while, tunes will start to reveal little secrets and tunes of course have family resemblences. it’s hard to explain, but it’s fun. it doesn’t feel like “memorizing” at all.