On 2002-03-11 11:38, TelegramSam wrote:
That rhythm thing is > bloody > hard.
Ugh. I know that for sure. That’s why my playing of Kerrigan’s Jig sucks so bad. I can’t get that springy jig rhythm thing going right. Plus, my fingers get a little confused in places…
pouts
I was going to post a comment a while ago, then work got in the way and when I returned the whole tone of the thread had changed!
Yes, the feel is created by the rhythm, and maybe that’s the hardest thing to get right. That’s one reason why I mostly stick to Slow Airs; if I get the rhythm all wrong, I can say it’s my interpretation!
Fortunately, in case I didn’t mention it before, I’m away to Ireland for St Paddy’s Day and the week following, where I’m going to be doing a whole lot of listening, and very little playing except in the wardrobe in my B&B with the door shut, or maybe on a lonely mountainside with only the sheep to stare at me (no doubt saying to each other baaaaad, tooo baaaaad).
If you listen to the recording of S’Beg S’Mor under ‘ain’t whistling Dixie’, it’s not the way I play it, which mimics the Waltons CD, and it’s not quite the way my tutor plays it either, but I don’t think it’s bad at all.
The recording of the Kesh jig under the same title reminds me of a player I heard in Brentford. On his own, it was just a stream of unrelated notes, but when a bodhran came in to help keep him in time, it all fell into place. There, I’ve shown my appreciation for a bodhran player. On this recording my ear gets lost for the first few notes, then I pick out the tune & start tapping my foot. Then later the variations get a bit in the way & the rhythm goes a little again. But the player is clearly very good, and can play twice as fast as I can without bumming the notes. Sorry, Cees, sit upon-ing the notes. 
Playing anything unaccompanied is surely the most difficult and exacting task, and I take my hat off to anyone who has the self-confidence and sheer guts to record something and put it on the 'net. I know I haven’t.
