Hi,
I’m wondering how you put tunes into sets. Do you just play a few tunes that sound good together w/o breaks between them or do you alter how you play each tune (like play certain sections more times/less times than you would normally, etc)?
we go in them smoothly, like ships are sailing then toss the feathers. usually the last note of the first tune should be the first note of the second. like if the first one ends in E, then the second should start in E. is that what you are talking about?
I try to choose tunes that will go together smoothly without breaks. I wouldn’t alter tunes to make them fit – the only exception that comes to mind is occasionally I might change the part I play first (on tunes where there is some confusion over which part comes first, like “Dick Gossip’s”) or use a slight variation of the tune to make an easier transition. (There is one classic set I love that Michael Coleman put together with a strange transition, but I wouldn’t play it that way in a session unless I was pretty sure everyone would know what I was doing.)
How I put sets together:
– I like classic sets from the 78 rpm era.
– I remember transitions I know have worked and string the transitions together to make bigger sets. For instance, I know Fred Finn played the set “Providence” / “Boys of Ballinahinch” and Music at Matt Molloy’s has “Boys of Ballinahinch” followed by “Dick Gossip’s” (starting on the high part), so I might string those three together because I know the transitions will work.
– I think of similar combinations of tunes – for instance, “Trim the Velvet” and “Kiss the Maid Behind the Barrel” are closely related tunes, so any transition that works for one of them will work for the other as well.
– I will try to transition into tunes I know better, because transitions can be hard to hold together some times.
– I’ll sometimes just look for key signature changes. In general, for impromptu sets, I want tunes with similar rhythms but which are different enough that the switch will be obvious and there won’t be confusion because the tunes are too much alike. (A lot of A minor reels have similar B parts, and playing two of these together can cause a train wreck…)