i’d like a tune book with suggested ornamentation shown.im playing jigs and reels and am having a hard time figuring where to add rolls and such
There may be many such sources, but I’d just like to jump in and say that rolls and such aren’t something you “figure out where to put” - they have to come naturally. If they don’t, they’ll sound, well, unnatural. Another way of saying this is, you have to know where to put them, and for that, you have to listen to good players for long enough that you understand the language.
If you have to use written music, try to learn tunes that you have a recording of played by a good whistle or flute player. Then do your best to match what they are doing with what’s on the page.
The better way, of course, is simply to learn from those recordings. In either case there’s no getting around the need to listen to a lot of good recordings.
Now back to your question…
I see ornamentation as something that is really down to the individual player. Which is why it doesn’t appear in the sheet music very often. Its kinda like making your own mark on a tune. There isn’t really a correct set of ornamentations for a particular tune. Just experiment and see what sounds best to you.
I’d recommend June Mc Cormack’s flute tutor.
After a while, you won’t need your ornamentation
written out anymore.
The Grey Larsen book is another one that goes into ornamentation in great detail (some people think too much detail). It also includes an entire section of annotated transcriptions. And his Tune Bank service offers individual tune transcriptions with audio.
Brother Steve is too modest to mention that the transcriptions + audio on his site are an excellent resource. But his advice about close listening and imitation is A++.
Another interesting way to think of it is this: Almost every note in a tune can be ornamented. So in a sense, the trick is to be able to ornament everything, then know when not to ornament. And the key to this is lots of experimentation and lots of listening.
I don’t know anyone who has really learned ornamentation from a book, beyond the very basics. But as with all things, YMMV.
i know ornamentation is up to the players discretion but im just want something to get the feel of where it belongs . im am working with grey larsens book
Greg, the Walton’s 110 Ireland’s Best Tin Whistle Tunes, vol 1, starts out with very little ornamentation, then adds more as you move through the book. The book is more for a basic introduction to the tunes. Volume 2 of the same series has more ornamentation throughout. Both books come with or without CDs. I would suggest going for the CDs to get a better idea of the speed and rhythm. Not a substitute for listening to good groups but it might give you a idea.
Is this the type of information you wanted?
The listening advice has been given so I won’t add that again… though I do suggest you don’t forego that advice as it will get you farther than any tunebook. A good place to start adding ornamentation is on the downbeat and/or upbeat of the music. If you place your ornamentation in such a way that it accents the strong beats then your music will be very danceable and your ornamentation purposeful.
If you have a piece of written music then you can mark your downbeats (eg. the one and the four beats in a jig) with a pencil and figure out how to accent those beats with ornamentation (taps, cuts, rolls, tonguing, etc)… a place to start.