Fergal Moriarty is a great sean nos singer and whistle player who sings and plays in my local every now and again ,a while ago he gave me a great tip when it comes to playing slow airs for non-Irish speakers.
If you want to put some feeling into a slow air but dont know the song you should make up words of your own .
For the best results the words should be something personal and remind you of some sad time in your life!!
Heres an example of some lines I use when playing some airs.They,re about my dog Rover I had when I was a boy!
(sing with feeling)
O Rover,O Rover,O Rover your dead
The farmers gone and shot you in the head
O Rover was chasin the sheep for some fun
The farmer loaded up and pointed his gun
O Rover O Rover you were my favorite mutt
now your in doggie heaven sniffin some other dogs butt
O Rover,O Rover,O Rover your gone
Nay we,ll meet up again—some day!!!
It has been commented on that since useing this technique my slow air playing has taken on a new level of saddness !
All joking aside,it is a very valid technique as it will help you remember where to put accents and where to hold notes ,and as they say you can really make the tune your own!!
I’m not joking. I agree with you. Somehow words come to me not only in airs, but reels and jigs and I do phrase it “syntactically” using words that match up to the actually rhythm of the tune. I’ve never done this consciously or on purpose, though. The end result is the same, however.
You’re right, what I need is a new level of saddness, misery and depair. Maybe some serious pain thrown in for good measure.
Truthfully though if I put words in about my father I may start crying for real. I do see the point. That first line was just a joke, couldn’t resist!
Serves ye right Rory
Mind ye if ye play it to the melody of the Mountains of Mourne it will add a whole new dimension to the Irish Romantic Period…
I caught someone o’er the pond by playing an old sean nós song in Miltown one year which I called An Sciopa which roughly translated was Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (played wi feelin o course) I don’t know if it entered the repatoire Stateside but nothing would surprise me
I’ve recently started recording myself and listening to how I play my tunes.
With slow airs, I have noticed that I don’t stop the chanter often enough. As others have said, a slow air should be based on sean nos singing. Well, sean nos singers stop for air occasionally. I was leaving out the stops and just playing the next phrase.
As an aside, I’d recommend recording yourself and listening to your own piping. It’s a great way to improve if, like me, you don’t have many other pipers in your locality.
As a fellow who knows little to nothing about “Sean nos”, I decided to invoke the mighty powers of Google. This is a pretty interesting article, for the uninitiated among us.
It’s a good point, to remember that silence can be a powerful tool in music. Have the pipes take a breath at the end of phrases. I also “take breaths” sometimes in reels and jigs as well.
Interesting article. I personally love sean-nós singing, even Ennis’ rough, froggy vocals. It’s interesting to note that a lot of people seem to have the same reaction to Uilleann piping. They either love it or hate it.
BrianC it could well have been …Leo Rickard was in on it and it even fooled a girl frae Oz so we let her in on it as well.. Skippy after all was the kinda National Anthem of Oz once apon a time so it was safe to send it Stateside…now then if it was Flippa then that would have been another story…
Slán Go Foill
Uilliam
psPaul thanx for the link but couldnae get into it ,this one worked tho http://www.matazone.co.uk/animpages/skippy-the-goth-kangaroo.html
Slow airs are not just another form to be thrown around in pub sessions. Neither are they like cub scout merit badges to be added to one’s repertoire.
If you are not Irish, you should not play slow airs as you have no cultural link or framework to draw upon for the interpretation. Even if you copy a great recording, the air is left empty without the depth of feeling and emotion and uaigneas that only Irish people can understand.
Secondly, if you don’t speak Gaelic, your rendition of the air will be nothing more than the mere parroting of sounds. It is very insensitive to pretend familiarity with songs that you don’t know or understand the words to, especially when such songs have great significance to Irish people.
So to summarize, if you are not Irish, don’t be letting on to be intimate with our culture and give it the respect it deserves
If you are not Irish, you should not play slow airs as you have no cultural link or framework to draw upon for the interpretation.
Gobnait O’Lúnasa[/quote
Thats a pity for me
What about traveling ones or twice a year to the westcoast (Arans) and listening to the songs for many years
does that count a small bit?
Skippy after all was the kinda National Anthem of Oz once apon a time so it was safe to send it Stateside…now then if it was Flippa then that would have been another story… 
