Hello, I am new to the session, and somewhat new (1and 1/2 years) to fiddling. So I have no experience with making sets.
How exactly do you know that certin tunes go well to gether? does it have to do with what time they are, like 4/3 only goes with 4/3?
And is there a trick, or tips, to joining them together?
I am sorry if this subject had been over worked, I coudn't find what I needed in the data-base.
Well, the first key is obviously whether they sound good together.
There are some things that you can do to help that. Switching keys is one of them. It's not a necessity, certainly, but if you play two tunes that are similar and in the same key, you lose of bit of the power of the tune itself. Some people have tricks as to what order they like to play different keys in. (Like switching from D to Em to G, for instance).
Generally, you'll put the same kind of tunes together. Some people will do "arranged" sets, where they switch from reels to jigs, or whatever, but that's not a particularly good thing to do in most sessions. Although, sometimes you'll hear slides and jigs played together.
But don't get caught in the trap of always playing tunes in the same sets! You should work on being able to start tunes at any time, so that you can put sets together on the fly, and see what sounds good to you in sessions.
A lot of people listen to recordings (either studio or live) and then think that somehow those tunes "belong together" or whatever. There are instances of "classic sets", but keep in mind that a recording is just a slice of time. The people playing may have just chose to play those tunes together in that way on the particular day that it was recorded. (If you search for "band sets", you're likely to find lots of ranting about this topic)
Reverend is right - if you always play the same three tunes together and someone beats you to it with one of the tunes in a different combination then you might find yourself flummoxed. I'm just about getting to grips with following one tune with another and I always practise the changover to one or two possible following tunes. When you look up a tune here, though, have a browse through the recordings listed for it and you'll see what other people have linked with it - you'll normally get a wide choice. For example, Boys of Malin is nearly always followed by Gravel Walks round here, but there's loads of alternative combinations shown in the recordings.
A quick answer is that you play a set with tunes which go together well, but if you're unsure about what you're doing, that doesn't help a lot. Here are some easy methods:
1) Create interest and "lift" by playing, say, three tunes of the same kind in different keys. Common sets of reels or jigs might start off in G, then go to D, then A (and it's sometimes nice to add a B minor at the end). Or a more simple set could be D/A/D or G/D/G.
2) Create interest and "lift" by playing, say, three or four tunes of different kinds but in the same key. This is more common in Scotland and Cape Breton. A common Scottish set is a march, strathspey and reel; in CB they may play 2 or 3 strathspeys followed by 3 or 4 reels. It's not unknown to change into a relative minor key for one of the tunes.
3) Listen to records and see what they do. Many people play sets that were made famous by artists of groups on recordings, from Michael Coleman to the Bothy Band.
El, This is all good advice. Generally, if they are in the same time signature (jigs with jigs, reels with reels), and you can get a good transition from one to the other, you have a set. There are many different preferences to building sets. As a beginner, start by trying to mend together two tunes in the same key. And then you can work toward more complicated sets. Also, get out to sessions and even if you don't play along because you don't feel ready yet, talk to the musicians, ask them the name of the tunes they are playing, and what their favorites are, and what tunes they would recommend to someone at your level.
Most of all, enjoy the music!!!
For the less creative (like me) I tend to rely on the professionals - for example, pick a tune that you like to play or play well, search for it on ITunes or Rhapsody (it will almost appear in a set) and look at what set combinations it appears in. You will almost always find certain patterns. At minimum you will find a recording of a quality players playing the tune in set. Look up the tunes here and build a tune book against these recordings (mp3). Most of the sessions I attend have paid anchor players who will always know these 'popular' or recorded set combinations. At minimum, you wont ever put two tunes together that have no basis in ITM sensibilities. Again, there was a lot of really good advice in this thread - this is just a technique that has worked for me trying to improve play time at random sessions. The best is of course the mature sessions which actually publish a tune book you can review in advance of dropping in ... oh my goodness almost feels like cheating.
Making Sets
Making Sets
Hello, I am new to the session, and somewhat new (1and 1/2 years) to fiddling. So I have no experience with making sets.
How exactly do you know that certin tunes go well to gether? does it have to do with what time they are, like 4/3 only goes with 4/3?
And is there a trick, or tips, to joining them together?
I am sorry if this subject had been over worked, I coudn't find what I needed in the data-base.
# Posted on February 13th 2007 by Eleiel
Re: Making Sets
Well, the first key is obviously whether they sound good together.
There are some things that you can do to help that. Switching keys is one of them. It's not a necessity, certainly, but if you play two tunes that are similar and in the same key, you lose of bit of the power of the tune itself. Some people have tricks as to what order they like to play different keys in. (Like switching from D to Em to G, for instance).
Generally, you'll put the same kind of tunes together. Some people will do "arranged" sets, where they switch from reels to jigs, or whatever, but that's not a particularly good thing to do in most sessions. Although, sometimes you'll hear slides and jigs played together.
But don't get caught in the trap of always playing tunes in the same sets! You should work on being able to start tunes at any time, so that you can put sets together on the fly, and see what sounds good to you in sessions.
A lot of people listen to recordings (either studio or live) and then think that somehow those tunes "belong together" or whatever. There are instances of "classic sets", but keep in mind that a recording is just a slice of time. The people playing may have just chose to play those tunes together in that way on the particular day that it was recorded. (If you search for "band sets", you're likely to find lots of ranting about this topic)
Pete
# Posted on February 13th 2007 by Reverend
Re: Making Sets
What are these 4/3 tunes then, Eleiel?
# Posted on February 14th 2007 by cyber-bullying is a criminal offence
Re: Making Sets
Reverend is right - if you always play the same three tunes together and someone beats you to it with one of the tunes in a different combination then you might find yourself flummoxed. I'm just about getting to grips with following one tune with another and I always practise the changover to one or two possible following tunes. When you look up a tune here, though, have a browse through the recordings listed for it and you'll see what other people have linked with it - you'll normally get a wide choice. For example, Boys of Malin is nearly always followed by Gravel Walks round here, but there's loads of alternative combinations shown in the recordings.
# Posted on February 14th 2007 by RichardB
Re: Making Sets
A quick answer is that you play a set with tunes which go together well, but if you're unsure about what you're doing, that doesn't help a lot. Here are some easy methods:
1) Create interest and "lift" by playing, say, three tunes of the same kind in different keys. Common sets of reels or jigs might start off in G, then go to D, then A (and it's sometimes nice to add a B minor at the end). Or a more simple set could be D/A/D or G/D/G.
2) Create interest and "lift" by playing, say, three or four tunes of different kinds but in the same key. This is more common in Scotland and Cape Breton. A common Scottish set is a march, strathspey and reel; in CB they may play 2 or 3 strathspeys followed by 3 or 4 reels. It's not unknown to change into a relative minor key for one of the tunes.
3) Listen to records and see what they do. Many people play sets that were made famous by artists of groups on recordings, from Michael Coleman to the Bothy Band.
# Posted on February 14th 2007 by nigelg
Re: Making Sets
El, This is all good advice. Generally, if they are in the same time signature (jigs with jigs, reels with reels), and you can get a good transition from one to the other, you have a set. There are many different preferences to building sets. As a beginner, start by trying to mend together two tunes in the same key. And then you can work toward more complicated sets. Also, get out to sessions and even if you don't play along because you don't feel ready yet, talk to the musicians, ask them the name of the tunes they are playing, and what their favorites are, and what tunes they would recommend to someone at your level.
Most of all, enjoy the music!!!
# Posted on February 14th 2007 by AlBrown
Re: Making Sets
Thanks every one, I shall heed you advice! As best I can. (I cannot find any sessions in my aria.)
Maxf, I think I ment 3/4. That I beleive is the time signature for walzes. I could be wrong though; I dont read sheet music.
Can you suggest any 'easy ' tunes that are interesting as well?
# Posted on February 15th 2007 by Eleiel
Re: Making Sets
For the less creative (like me) I tend to rely on the professionals - for example, pick a tune that you like to play or play well, search for it on ITunes or Rhapsody (it will almost appear in a set) and look at what set combinations it appears in. You will almost always find certain patterns. At minimum you will find a recording of a quality players playing the tune in set. Look up the tunes here and build a tune book against these recordings (mp3). Most of the sessions I attend have paid anchor players who will always know these 'popular' or recorded set combinations. At minimum, you wont ever put two tunes together that have no basis in ITM sensibilities. Again, there was a lot of really good advice in this thread - this is just a technique that has worked for me trying to improve play time at random sessions. The best is of course the mature sessions which actually publish a tune book you can review in advance of dropping in ... oh my goodness almost feels like cheating.
# Posted on February 19th 2007 by 14arms