Where to now? Easy jigs?

[pop]

Just because it always amuses me how different these things are from place to place:

Some good old standards, that almost everyone plays are
the blackthorn stick,

Have known it since not long after I started to play whistle, but rarely hear it these days (I think it was banned from our local session). Definitely "everyone" knows it.

the rakes of kildare

Never heard of it before.

the ten penny bit

I expect you mean this "Tenpenny Bit", which I am told that everyone knows, but I only got around to learning it last summer to play for English Sword Dancing at a local festival, and I don't think I've ever played it since then.

There is a completely different "Tenpenny Bit" which is a great jig which frequently follows "Scotsman Across the Border" -- I've got four or five recordings of the pair, the earliest by Paddy Killoran. This "Tenpenny Bit" I absolutely love and play frequently, though it usually gets someone in the session to say, "What was that jig?"

PS I agree with everyone on "Donnybrook Fair", which is a great old jig.

tenpenny bit first jig i learnt,as well as your two versions i had these
...............
X:1
T:Tenpenny bit(1

M:6/8
L:1/8
R:SLIPJIG
K:D
eAA eAA|~B3 GBd|eAA eAA|def gfg|
eAA eAA|~B3 GBd|~e3 ged|BAG A3:
Aa aga|Gg gfg|Aaa aga|bag ag|
eaa eaa|dgg dgg|~e3 ged|BAG A3:

....................
X: 145
T: Tenpenny Bit
R:Jig
O:Ireland
M:6/8
K:AMix
eAA eAA|BAB GBd|eAA eAA|def gfg|
eAA eAA|BAB GBd|edB gBB|BAA A3 ::
A2a aga|bge dBG|A2a aga|bag a2B|
A2a aga|bge dBd|edB gdB|BAA A3:|

......................
I love them,like i said it was my first jig and i thought i could play it,but every time i revisit it i realise i was kidding myself,i find i play all versions mixed in and finish with the slip,not planned just the way it came out.The smiley face is meant to be key D.

The problem ive got is i have to like the tune and want to get to know it otherwise i struggle,Trip to brittany is a classic example i loved it first time i heard it and was playing it within an hour ,if i didnt like it i would be still trying to get my head round it,bro steves site helped me get used to learning tunes as im brand new to trying to play music.
clare jig and sunnyside jig came quite quick to me because theyre catchyish.the hornpipe humours of tuaimgreine was also quite easy to get it just seems to lift and swing all by itself and the faster i play it the more things happen i love it.

[FJohnSharp]

'Out On the Ocean' isn't a bad beginner jig. Despite its simplicity, you'll keep finding new things in it as long as you keep improving though.
Later try:
'Banish Misfortune'
'The Lark in the Morning'

'Drowsy Maggie' isn't a bad reel to get you going.

Hornpipes:
'Harvest Home'
'Boys of Blue Hill'

Polkas:
'Top of Maul'

Have a go at a few slides too.

I think Drowsy Maggie presents a breath control challenge to the beginner, but the fingering isn't hard.

[stevetcm]

Out On the Ocean' isn't a bad beginner jig

great tune

[Wombat]

'Out On the Ocean' isn't a bad beginner jig. Despite its simplicity, you'll keep finding new things in it as long as you keep improving though.
Later try:
'Banish Misfortune'
'The Lark in the Morning'

'Drowsy Maggie' isn't a bad reel to get you going.

Hornpipes:
'Harvest Home'
'Boys of Blue Hill'

Polkas:
'Top of Maul'

Have a go at a few slides too.

I think Drowsy Maggie presents a breath control challenge to the beginner, but the fingering isn't hard.

I agree. I suppose though, that if you are ever going to play reels, you have to start somewhere. On reflection, maybe 'The Sligo Maid' would be a better place to start.

Obviously, to play any of the above tunes expressively requires lots of practice and experience. I just think that they have good melodies and are therefore memorable, they aren't impossibly difficult to finger for a relative beginner, and to play them with convincing rhythm means learning things that carry over to more difficult reels, jigs, polkas and so on. Also, they are well-known and well-liked enough to turn up at a session.

[Loren]

I'd be interested to hear from any experienced ITM teachers out there as to what typically gives new learners the least/most trouble. Rhythmically, I'd expect most students (outside of Ireland an a few other places) would find jigs, hornpipes and polkas MORE difficult than Reels. And since everything is played slowly as a beginner, tempo shouldn't be an issue.

I could be completely wrong about this. Have we got any experienced ITM teachers out there who can comment on what they've seen in this regard? It's an interesting topic.

Loren

[Cayden]

Teaching the pipes Ifind my pupils amazingly different. There are a fe wcommon problems but overall I am amazed by the different characters you hear in the playing.

I have all my young local pupils coming to mae after they have spent a few years on the whislte with Brid O Donohue, the basics of the music are well covered once they start with me. I don't find there's a big issue between the different forms (reel vs jig etc) I do spot a huge difference between the young ones who have learned their music by ear and through immersion when compared to people comign from 'outside' for a lesson. There's basic issues and differences in understanding and perception there.

[colomon]

I suppose though, that if you are ever going to play reels, you have to start somewhere. On reflection, maybe 'The Sligo Maid' would be a better place to start.

Good grief, why don't you just tell them to start with "Dr Gilbert's" and "Maudabawn Chapel" and be done with them?

Why not start them off with something sensible, like "The Mountain Road" or "The Dunmore Lasses"? (Though you'd have to de-roll the latter at first, probably.) And even those aren't the easiest reels out there, they're just to easiest ones (IMO) that show up high on thesession.org's most popular tunes pages.

[Loren]

Thanks for that Peter, about what I'd expect given your situation. And lucky you, Brid has done most of the hard work for you!


Loren

[Blackout_Entertainment]

I suppose though, that if you are ever going to play reels, you have to start somewhere. On reflection, maybe 'The Sligo Maid' would be a better place to start.

Good grief, why don't you just tell them to start with "Dr Gilbert's" and "Maudabawn Chapel" and be done with them?

Why not start them off with something sensible, like "The Mountain Road" or "The Dunmore Lasses"? (Though you'd have to de-roll the latter at first, probably.) And even those aren't the easiest reels out there, they're just to easiest ones (IMO) that show up high on thesession.org's most popular tunes pages.

What about toss the feathers?

(be damned if I know where to find it...)

[Cayden]

And lucky you, Brid has done most of the hard work for you!


Loren

It makes an awful lot of difference, but then, it's not a bother on her, she manages to ease even the very young ones gradually into the tunes and theyall get that little something that she has in her own playing. She's very good at giving tunes slowly and by the phrase so they, without realising it, receive an insight in the structure of the tunes that really sets them apart as players. And it's just that that has me convinced of the value of learning by ear from a good teacher and of the evils of mediocre players who do not really have that understanding of the music they can impart when trying to teach. I teach two of Brid's daughters and both of them are as nice as whistleplayers as she is herself and it all comes to them in a perfectly natural way, from having grown up immersed in music (and I must say that I learned as much from the teaching the eldest one for the first few years as I taught her).

[aargh, typos galore]

[colomon]

What about toss the feathers?

If you mean the E minor one, I'd argue that those jumps to high B are the one of the last things I'd want to hit a beginner with. If you mean the D mix one, I don't play it, but it does look somewhat more reasonable.

[Loren]

It makes an awful lot of difference, but then, it's not a bother on her, she manages to ease even the very young ones gradually into the tunes and theyall get that little something that she has in her own playing. She's very good at giving tunes slowly and by the phrase so they, without realising it, receive an insight in the structure of the tunes that really sets them apart as players. And it's just that that has me convinced of the value of learning by ear from a good teacher and of the evils of mediocre players who do not really have that understanding of the music they can impart when trying to teach.

This is good to hear Peter, as it confirms that I am, at last, on the right track myself, having finally found a teacher who happens to teach the same way - although certainly she doesn't have Brid's experience with the music. Still, I'm finding that having someone who can give the tunes as you say, slowly, and phrase by phrase (while still with the proper feel/rhythm), and then being "forced" to learn the tunes by ear, and even sing them, is helping me to improve my playing by leaps and bounds.

I teach two of Brid's daughters and both of them are as nice as whistleplayers as she is herself and it all comes to them in a perfectly natural way, from having grown up immersed in music (and I must say that I learned as much from the teaching the eldest one for the first few years as I taught her).

We should all be so fortunate.


Loren

[Cayden]

I did am interview with Brid for the C&F newsletter last year. I talked to her about how she learned herself. When a teenager, she used to go to the house of her grandparents on the sunday afternoons to cook their dinner. Her uncle, JC Talty, lived with is parents and during the afternoon he'd play for her, never one to explain in detail he let her follow whatever he was doing. It forced her to focus on the essentials and develop a keen ear. Her own teaching is based on how she learned. We talked a bit about teaching and learning (among other things).

Interesting too maybe to realise she never owned a flute until in her twenties. She firmly believes it's good to have just he one flute, get to know it intimately and stick with it.

Unfortunately organising my own CD and everything else got in the way of getting the interview down in writing and I have been promising Dale (and myself) to get it down for over six months now. It is threatning to slip on the long finger. I'll get on it again though.

[Wombat]

I suppose though, that if you are ever going to play reels, you have to start somewhere. On reflection, maybe 'The Sligo Maid' would be a better place to start.

Good grief, why don't you just tell them to start with "Dr Gilbert's" and "Maudabawn Chapel" and be done with them?
.

I wasn't being deliberately perverse. That would have been about the second or third reel I learned. Not having a teacher, I had nobody to tell me what was too hard, although I'm sure I asked experienced friends what to try. If a tune has a memorable melody, I find it relatively easy to learn compared to those that just won't stick in the head.

[Cynth]

I did am interview with Brid for the C&F newsletter last year. I talked to her about how she learned herself. When a teenager, she used to go to the house of her grandparents on the sunday afternoons to cook their dinner. Her uncle, JC Talty, lived with is parents and during the afternoon he'd play for her, never one to explain in detail he let her follow whatever he was doing. It forced her to focus on the essentials and develop a keen ear. Her own teaching is based on how she learned. We talked a bit about teaching and learning (among other things).

Interesting too maybe to realise she never owned a flute until in her twenties. She firmly believes it's good to have just he one flute, get to know it intimately and stick with it.

Unfortunately organising my own CD and everything else got in the way of getting the interview down in writing and I have been promising Dale (and myself) to get it down for over six months now. It is threatning to slip on the long finger. I'll get on it again though.

You know, I would be so interested to hear what sorts of tunes she starts the total beginners out on. What does she have them do to just get the fingering down? Do they do finger exercises? Do they start on tunes right away before they can make the note changes well and use the tunes to learn to do that? Are the tunes very simple so that they can have something to play reasonably well quite soon at their level or does she just start them on something more advanced and they just do what they can? Say for example that website of Mick Coyne's with his set of beginner's tunes---is that the level she might start out with total beginners?http://www.uilleannpipestutor.moonfruit.com/theoldbush