This music is largely (if not completely) about the nyah.
The wonderful thing is that ***anyone*** can have the nyah--it's not reserved only for recording artistes or toothless 19th century peat farmers. And it really doesn't require vast technical chops or a quarter century of toil and labor.
Getting the nyah just takes loving the music enough to really dig into it and listen to it and play it with care until the nyah that's already in the music comes out through you.
Sure, it'll come easier to some than others. After teaching hundreds of people to play music, I suspect that the ones it comes easiest to are those who care comparatively less about perfection and scales and metronomes and sight reading, and care instead to the point of reverie about the nyah. Get that and nothing else matters, and yet the rest of it will come, too.
I remember one time a few months after I started playing trad when I felt something in the music that I hadn't noticed before.
I came from classical playing and I was trying to learn from Kevin Burke's videos, and I had spent most of the past few months playing Bill Sullivan's over and over along with Burke on the video, stopping to just listen to him once in a while. I tried to mime his bowing as best I could to get the rhythm right, but I could tell I wasn't doing it right.
One day when practicing, all of a sudden something clicks and what I hear from my playing stops sounding like a sequence of notes and instead actually sounds like singing or speech. I clearly heard the question and answer parts as just that, and all of a sudden the tune made perfect sense to me. I could see it as a whole, as a way of *saying* something rather than just a sequence of notes.
I lost that almost immediately and didn't get it back for months. Now if I relax and let the tune kind of play itself, I can fall into that kind of playing if my mood is good and I'm not too tired.
Now, I've only been playing trad for about four or five years now and I don't claim to have the nyah or even truly understand what it means.
So I ask, what is nyah? Is it that speech-like quality that I finally began to notice in the music, and that I hear in that clip? Or is it something else?
That should be a big hit with Reverend's new tee-shirt business!
Nyah - like happiness, is not a destination - it's a choice, a state of mind. I was blessed to have it in spades with my friends last night at our local.
Listen to the clip of Canny and O'Loughlin. The nyah is what makes you instantly want to tap your feet, get up and dance. It's why the entire audience is instantly entrained, all caught together ***in*** the tune.
It's what makes the tune "mean something" even though it really is just a string of notes. It's in the timing, the phrasing, the articulation. Nyah feels seamless, the trad musician's own Desiderata ("no doubt the tune is unfolding as it should"), an effortless liveliness.
Nyah happens when the player quits trying and instead just follows the tune. As Screetch says above, "when I just kind of relax and let the tune play itself." YES! Doesn't that feel goooooood!?
And when you feel it, anyone within earshot will feel it too.
I think "nyah" in this context means "not quite in tune with each other." Tweak tweak tweak,,, um, sounds good. Tweak tweak tweak... dee diddle diddle... "We in tune?" "Nnn...yah" "Close enough..."
These guys are "wet" tuned to each other, at least to my ear. That said, I LOVE the sound of wet tuning.
Muh nah muh nah
Doo doo dee doo doo
Muh nah muh nah
Doo doo dee doo
Muh nah muh nah
Doo doo dee doo doo
De de doo
De de doo
De de doo doo duh
Doo doo doo doo doo
Screetch, I like your attempt at a definition. To me, the nyah is everything about the music that makes it more interesting than listening to a midi player play the notes. There are varying degrees of it, but it has got to be a combination of the swing, syncopation, lift, energy, ornamentation, varying intonation, moving rhythms, melodic and rhythmic variation, soul, and any number of other somewhat intangible aspects of the music.
It's kind of like "I don't know art, but I know what I like"... It is really difficult to put a finger on it. But it exists, and you can easily detect the presence or absence of it.
Will, that's a great clip! Unfortunately, there's probably a number of people on this site that will look at that clip and think "pure crap". After all, it doesn't have a nice bass, any cool arrangement, people playing harmony, or any accompaniment. To those of you that think that, even just a bit, I implore you to listen to it again, try to feel it, and forget about sound quality, production quality, or anything else that would matter in Rock and Roll, and hear the beauty. Then maybe you will understand "nyah" a bit better...
I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes.
Well nyah is all around me, and so the feeling grows.
It´s written on the wind, it´s everywhere I go.
So if you really love nyah, come on and let it show.
You know I love nyah, I always will.
My mind's made up by the way that I feel,
there´s no beginning, there´ll be no end
cause on my nyah you can depend.
I see the sesh before me as I lay on my bed
I kinda get to thinking, of all the things you said.
You gave your promise to me, and I gave mine to you.
I need your nyah beside me in everything I do.
You know I love you...........(etc)
It´s written on the wind..........(etc)
come on and let it show
come on and let it show
come on and let it show
By the way, Will...please don't take my ridiculous contributions to this thread to be some form of disparagement to you. In all seriousness, I agree with what you wrote. It is valuable to point out the centrality of the nyah because it can get overlooked in the mad rush for technique and repertoire. Perhaps this is an especially American phenomenon...?
Actually, I think I know exactly what the Nyah is. I recognize my experiences with Nyah in the above descriptions.
I have had several experiences where Nyah was transmitted to those around. People who had been indifferent all of a sudden are stomping their feet, clapping hands or getting up to dance.
Nyah had a whole bar up on their feet on a recent visit to Colorado. An excellent guitar player had been playing for a time without the nyah. He was pretty much ignored. He asked me to get up with him and do some tunes. We played Swallowtail jig, Brosna, and some reels (forget which) The whole place jumped up and began to dance. It was a truely amazing experience.
From Irish Music Magazine's site
'Nyah derives from that specific word we use to describe what makes traditional music so unique. Lift, Soul, Feeling, no other word quite captures the essence of great traditional playing, dancing or singing quite like nyah.'
There was an old piper, old and hoary,
Who lived in the town of Ballaboreen.
This old piper, he played before Moses,
And this the only tune that he could play:
Now, this old piper, old and hoary,
Who lived in the town of Ballaboreen,
He died one day and he went down below,
And this the only tune that he could play:
When the devil saw this old man,
He said, "Put him down in the frying pan!
For this is another old piper, I vow,
Put him down with the others for to play!
Turn back the clock
And recall what you did
Back on the block where
You lived as a kid.
And if you think every kid nowadays
Is a nut or a kook or a fool,
Just turn back the clock
And recall what you said
When you were a kid in school.
Ah, your mother wears army shoes!
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Teacher, teacher, I declare,
I see your purple underwear.
Margarite, go wash your feet,
The board of health's across the street.
Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice,
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
Inka binka, bottle of ink,
The cork fell out and you stink.
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Mary had a little lamb,
The doctor was surprised!
Mary had a little lamb,
She also had a bear.
I've often seen her little lamb,
But I've never seen her bare.
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Roses are red, violets are blue,
I copied your paper and I flunked too.
Roses are red, violets are blue,
Whenever it rains, I think of you - drip, drip, drip!
Roses are red, violets are blue,
I still say your mother wears army shoes!
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Your mother is a burglar,
Your father is a spy,
And you're the dirty little rat
Who told the F.B.I.
Dirty Lil, Dirty Lil,
Lives on top of Garbage Hill,
Never took a bath and never will,
Yuck, pooey, Dirty Lil.
Oh what a face, oh what a figure,
Two more legs and you'd look like Trigger!
A B C D goldfish?
L M N O goldfish.
S A R 2 goldfish, C M?
Turn back the clock
And recall what you did
Back on the block where
You lived as a kid.
And if you think every kid nowadays
Is a nut or a kook or a fool,
Just turn back the clock
And recall what you said
When you were a kid in school.
There goes your father wearing your mother's army shoes!
Looks like I missed a lot during the night. To answer your question way, way back, Will, I did make that pun up. Which is not to say that it's not hidden away in some corner of Finnegan's Wake
Hi Will, I feel that your definition of nyah is a bit problematic, though admitably the term is difficult to define. You say nyah is what makes people want to tap your feet get up and dance in that video clip. Some people listen to Lunasa or Dervish and feel like tapping their feet and dancing - but I don't think it means they play with nyah, not in their supergroup incarnation anyways. A tune can be said to "mean something" to anyone but it doesn't mean it necessarily has nyah either. Many musicians today play with effortless relaxation, with great proficiency, but even so, I don't think that is necessarily nyah.
Nyah is, I feel, a word that is more specifically the style and flavour of music that is linked to that of the past and of old musicians. What contributes to this flavour, how is nyah manifested? It can be the attack of the notes, the intonation by which the tunes are played, a particular rhythm and phrasing, etc. It is what gives Irish music its soul - and when I say soul I mean "soul" as defined specifically by the aesthetics of the past Irish musicians.
In my book, no. The groove is a rhythmic thing, and it's great when everyone falls into the groove, and propagates it. But to me, the nyah is much more than the groove. It encompasses it, but it also contains so much more...
But again, we're discussing some rather nebulous things here...
I swear I can hear the "Nyah" in the music, and it goes "Nyah". I know it's supposed to be a misty, ambigious concept, but the music goes 'Nyah' when it has "Nyah'.
I mean, does it go na na na, or does it go nyah nyah nyah? Aha! What the...? I need more coffee.
Yes, Screetch, I think it is apparent in other genres, especially old-time. It is hard to define, but I've heard championship players, and then the jam sessions out behind the venue. There's a difference. Maybe it's the joy that the player brings to the tune, with no other motive than to let the tune unwind. I've heard and seen players that "do it wrong" with regards to bow hold, fiddle hold, finger placement, etc... but there is something in the music that touches the soul, that sparks the imagination, that has such a cool groove. While "wowed" by some of the young players today, there is a quality those that have "nyah" exhibit that is just so raw and authentic.
Maybe it's got something to do with pulse rather than groove. Certainly it's a prerequisite when playing slow airs. Good slow air playing has very solid control of the length of notes, there is something very precise about it. It's definitely not freeform with the timing, though it may sound that way if you are not familiar with it.
crazy_fingers, no worries at all. I think part of the nyah is a sense of humor, a generosity of spirit. That's coming through in this thread loud and clear thanks to everybody participating.
I like "sail that drives the ship," and Michael's thought's on pulse, and Eldarion's clarifications.
LOL at saltcast's "first note in Out on the Ocean. Cait Reed was teaching us Bank of Turk one day and asked us to lilt it before trying it on our instruments. As soon as the first note came out of my mouth, Cait and her husband Richard stopped and exclaimed, "OH! He's one of those 'nyah' lilters!"
Sure enough, instead of lilting "dee--eidle-dee oatelee" or some such, I sang what I heard in my head: "nyyaahdle di oatelee...."
Well, that's one way to get the nyah in your music.....
So if you want to avoid making a spectacle of yourself, use some other syllables for lilting. I've since noticed that Zina, wise warrior princess that she is, uses tikita and takita sounds when she lilts.
Nyah, jusa, y'don't understand.
Will, llig and others talking about pulse, lift, etc are on the money I think.
ITM sessions can sometimes reach a critical mass, and sort of take-off. Becomes more than a collection of individuals playing. Something kicks in and it the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts, and sounds like an entity in itself, sort of thing. Something that's always gonna be there in the music, individuals can partake while we're here, if y'know what I mean.
Despite all the nonsense, which is great fun, and 'nyah nyah nee-nyah nyah' I thought I heard the girls say on the playground, I thought this nailed it already:
"From Irish Music Magazine's site
'Nyah derives from that specific word we use to describe what makes traditional music so unique. Lift, Soul, Feeling, no other word quite captures the essence of great traditional playing, dancing or singing quite like nyah.'
The part that you want to hear here is the part towards the end when Wink really starts playing the 303; skip to the 4 minute mark. It sounds quite a bit like folk music, complete with question and answer phrases.
Duijera - you're actually making my point about the "moment of Nyah" being subjective. I once witnessed a bunch of novices slogging their way through Maggie in the Woods and the Rattlin' Bog. They were in a state of sheer joy, pushing each other's playing ability beyond their normal state, bouncing each phrase as best as they could. They looked like they were floating in the Nyah ether, and when finished they all let out a collective whoop of accomplishment, satisfied grins smeared across their mugs. They were in the zone. Now, you or Llig or even CPT might walk by that group and hear nothing more than a group of beginners scratching their way through a set of tunes - but to those people, in the moment of symbiotic musical connection and playing above their normal skill level, they had achieved "Nyah." It's subjective -
JNE, I think what you're describing is what surfers call "the stoke," and it's different from the nyah. The stoke is the rush/peace you get from riding a wave, and it doesn't matter how big or small the wave or how experienced you are. It's just "the stoke."
A player may have to experience the stoke in order to channel the nyah, but the latter is a quality of playing, not just the act of enjoying the playing.
Ah hell, I know - I'm just throwing in an alternative position just to keep the conversation lively. As a former regular surfer from Steamers Lane in Santa Cruz Cali your "Stoke" description is good. Although back in the day, we said "stoked" in place of "excited" - but your analogy is correct.
Dude! Way stoked bro. Best Nyah I ever had was due to a most righteous Stoke. But, I think you can summon the Nyah without the Stoke, but the Stoke can help jump start the Nyah.
LOL, just watched Step into Liquid last week. At the end of the movie, they note that contrary to popular myth, real surfers don't say "dude." Sorry Ian, you blew your cover with the first word.
I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelunyah
CPT - that is probably true of the ultra-cool surfers of today - but back in NorCal in 1980 - few of us could form a sentence without a half-dozen "dudes" slipping into the mix.
Now sadly "Dude" has gone the way of "wicked" and "boss" in American Youth slang - oy, I'm getting old.
Ah Will, ya busted me. I was a concrete and snow surfer only. Not a lot of water waves to ride in the New Hampshire of my mispent youth. Plenty of paved and frozen ones though. Jusa Nutter and I discussed that a while back, I think, kick flips, Circle Jerks, punk rock girls, etc.
How to get the nyah as explained by Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh:
There is a simple way to physically get and hear nyah almost immediately -- yep, it's true...this according to Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and how he explained it at a workshop 2 yrs ago.
And WillCPT at the risk of getting pilloried, it's as simple as "two notes per bow". Yep. From the lips of COR, and of course you might want to break that up a bit [3/1; 1111; 2 /2; 3/1 etc]. However the gist of it is this -- simply play an open string back and forth with slight pressure as you get to middle of bow, and maybe speed it up just a tad there....very similar to getting that pulse in a polka. The polka pulse done right is the "nyah"....and listen to a good polka player and you'll hear it [here in North America they tend to get flattened out, much to annoyance of people like James Kelly]. It's hard to play polkas with the nyah but if you use the two notes per bow with slight pressure at middle of bow [from your finger not your wrist] and slight speed increase on the upbow [good place to put in the nyah, not on downbow]...you'll hear it! Try it on open string first. Then try it with a fingered note...again 2/bow. It's amazing! COR was right [imho].
Interesting, mtodd. That seems to be treating nyah as a specific aspect of the style (similar to the "nyah-ing into a note", which might be sliding into the note a bit, or whatever), as opposed to the way I think of it, as being a rather intangible aspect of the music that combines the lift, swing, etc.
That's a mighty fiddleocentric view of Nyah. I can't Nyah on the banjo, but that's because I stink. I can Nyah a small bit on the whistle, but I'm not much better at that. I know you must be able to with all instruments. Speaking of which, is it Nyah the technique or Nyah the concept?
Ah well, too late in the thread game now. It's probably both anyway.
That polka bowing is how I learned it from Kevin Burke, too, but I've since learned other really effective ways to get polkas to nyah, so there's more than one way to skin a nyah (which is how we get nyahgahyde for our upholstered chairs and sofas....).
So I don't think of nyah as a technique at all, but a feel for the music that leads players to certain techniques that bring out the nyah best on their given instrument.
You've got a point there Will. I guess perhaps C O'R was trying to get our untutoured N.A. ears at least attuned to the sense of "nyah" as a physical sound/state/presence in our playing....maybe even a state of mind? But I agree, that once you've at least been introduced to those bending, swaying, pulsing notes hidden in the tune -- the nyah opportunities?? -- there would be other ways to draw that out of not just fiddles, but any instrument. Even banjos! ;) [john carty does it]
I think of Kevin Henry and his wonderful pulsing breath....I think of Pat O'Connor and the *raw nyah* he gets...or Dennis Murphy's SL dance-based style of nyah. That underlying swing.
Lovely stuff thinking about nyah on a somehwat raw miserable day in Toronto. I could be doing worse things...like working.
Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
This music is largely (if not completely) about the nyah.
The wonderful thing is that ***anyone*** can have the nyah--it's not reserved only for recording artistes or toothless 19th century peat farmers. And it really doesn't require vast technical chops or a quarter century of toil and labor.
Getting the nyah just takes loving the music enough to really dig into it and listen to it and play it with care until the nyah that's already in the music comes out through you.
Sure, it'll come easier to some than others. After teaching hundreds of people to play music, I suspect that the ones it comes easiest to are those who care comparatively less about perfection and scales and metronomes and sight reading, and care instead to the point of reverie about the nyah. Get that and nothing else matters, and yet the rest of it will come, too.
Got nyah? http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=zF0b35jn-Ts
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
nyah=yeah!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by drone
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Just what exactly is the nyah?
I remember one time a few months after I started playing trad when I felt something in the music that I hadn't noticed before.
I came from classical playing and I was trying to learn from Kevin Burke's videos, and I had spent most of the past few months playing Bill Sullivan's over and over along with Burke on the video, stopping to just listen to him once in a while. I tried to mime his bowing as best I could to get the rhythm right, but I could tell I wasn't doing it right.
One day when practicing, all of a sudden something clicks and what I hear from my playing stops sounding like a sequence of notes and instead actually sounds like singing or speech. I clearly heard the question and answer parts as just that, and all of a sudden the tune made perfect sense to me. I could see it as a whole, as a way of *saying* something rather than just a sequence of notes.
I lost that almost immediately and didn't get it back for months. Now if I relax and let the tune kind of play itself, I can fall into that kind of playing if my mood is good and I'm not too tired.
Now, I've only been playing trad for about four or five years now and I don't claim to have the nyah or even truly understand what it means.
So I ask, what is nyah? Is it that speech-like quality that I finally began to notice in the music, and that I hear in that clip? Or is it something else?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
"Got Nyah?"
That should be a big hit with Reverend's new tee-shirt business!
Nyah - like happiness, is not a destination - it's a choice, a state of mind. I was blessed to have it in spades with my friends last night at our local.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I would call it 'je ne sais quoi,' but I don't know what that means.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by AlBrown
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah--not sure it can be put into words.
Listen to the clip of Canny and O'Loughlin. The nyah is what makes you instantly want to tap your feet, get up and dance. It's why the entire audience is instantly entrained, all caught together ***in*** the tune.
It's what makes the tune "mean something" even though it really is just a string of notes. It's in the timing, the phrasing, the articulation. Nyah feels seamless, the trad musician's own Desiderata ("no doubt the tune is unfolding as it should"), an effortless liveliness.
Nyah happens when the player quits trying and instead just follows the tune. As Screetch says above, "when I just kind of relax and let the tune play itself." YES! Doesn't that feel goooooood!?
And when you feel it, anyone within earshot will feel it too.
That's the nyah....
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
LOL, Al....
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I think "nyah" in this context means "not quite in tune with each other." Tweak tweak tweak,,, um, sounds good. Tweak tweak tweak... dee diddle diddle... "We in tune?" "Nnn...yah" "Close enough..."
These guys are "wet" tuned to each other, at least to my ear. That said, I LOVE the sound of wet tuning.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by GDub
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Muh nah muh nah
Doo doo dee doo doo
Muh nah muh nah
Doo doo dee doo
Muh nah muh nah
Doo doo dee doo doo
De de doo
De de doo
De de doo doo duh
Doo doo doo doo doo
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyah
Mmmmhhh
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Pure poetry. Right up there with Keats' "O'Donnell's Grecian Erin".
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by GaryAMartin
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I would like to call it "comment," but how?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dogmageek
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
LOL, Gary. You just make that up, or is it something out of Joyce?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I thought he was transcribing how to lilt Smells Like Teen Spirit.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
....Nirvana Nyah?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Muh nah muh nah....
It's the Benny Hill theme, innit?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by John Galt
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
JNE, haven't sold even one of these yet, even though it was one of the first shirts I did: http://www.cafepress.com/itmgoodies/5320232 <hint hint>
Screetch, I like your attempt at a definition. To me, the nyah is everything about the music that makes it more interesting than listening to a midi player play the notes. There are varying degrees of it, but it has got to be a combination of the swing, syncopation, lift, energy, ornamentation, varying intonation, moving rhythms, melodic and rhythmic variation, soul, and any number of other somewhat intangible aspects of the music.
It's kind of like "I don't know art, but I know what I like"... It is really difficult to put a finger on it. But it exists, and you can easily detect the presence or absence of it.
Will, that's a great clip! Unfortunately, there's probably a number of people on this site that will look at that clip and think "pure crap". After all, it doesn't have a nice bass, any cool arrangement, people playing harmony, or any accompaniment. To those of you that think that, even just a bit, I implore you to listen to it again, try to feel it, and forget about sound quality, production quality, or anything else that would matter in Rock and Roll, and hear the beauty. Then maybe you will understand "nyah" a bit better...
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Just ran across this, thought it might help a bit... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh8jqGtHue4
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nah, too much English language influence, crazyfingers.
Muh nah muh nah, indeed. It don't mean a thing, if you ain't got that swing...
mnamna
Doo doo dee doo doo
mnamna
Doo doo dee doo
mnamna
Doo doo dee doo doo
De de doo
De de doo
De de doo doo duh
Doo doo didgeridoo
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nah nyaaaah!!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah is all around me...
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by mehitabel23
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
More than we know, mehitabel!
I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes.
Well nyah is all around me, and so the feeling grows.
It´s written on the wind, it´s everywhere I go.
So if you really love nyah, come on and let it show.
You know I love nyah, I always will.
My mind's made up by the way that I feel,
there´s no beginning, there´ll be no end
cause on my nyah you can depend.
I see the sesh before me as I lay on my bed
I kinda get to thinking, of all the things you said.
You gave your promise to me, and I gave mine to you.
I need your nyah beside me in everything I do.
You know I love you...........(etc)
It´s written on the wind..........(etc)
come on and let it show
come on and let it show
come on and let it show
You can sing along:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EXRPxC-5bE
AND - you can have a complimentary nyah ringtone:
http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/t/troggs11047/loveisallaround350937.html
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Duijera, I can clearly hear a metronome in the first part of that Troggs recording. So they obviously can't be real musicians.
(yes, I know it's a wood block or something...)
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Ah well, they have to start somewhere.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah happens.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Henk Bos
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyah nyah
Hey hey hey
Goodbye
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
You guys recognised what crazy_fingerz transcribed, yes?
Nah ... must have done ...
Oh, and for my money, the one with the most spirit and 'nyah' was animal ...
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by ethical blend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
... or the sax player, maybe ...
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by ethical blend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyan nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyha nyah
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
You've got the look
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
You guys recognised what crazy_fingerz transcribed, yes?
Of course! Jeez, it's nyahin out a mile!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Nyah Hey, Jude.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by feardearg
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
You're missing a nyah, feardearg. Jayz, man!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Now, feardearg, back you go now to the troggs link and sing nyah nyah to the chorus.
For goodness sake, you have to tell some people *everything*!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah
My angel is a centerfold
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Look, it's back to basics for you guys. This should fix it:
http://www.broadcastyoutube.com/watch?v=G2gRzYHxcvo
And if you want a one to one tutorial at slow metronome pace:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKlxyoPNaFI
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
By the way, Will...please don't take my ridiculous contributions to this thread to be some form of disparagement to you. In all seriousness, I agree with what you wrote. It is valuable to point out the centrality of the nyah because it can get overlooked in the mad rush for technique and repertoire. Perhaps this is an especially American phenomenon...?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Good Bad & the Ugly...that is brilliant.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Do I understand what it is?
Actually, I think I know exactly what the Nyah is. I recognize my experiences with Nyah in the above descriptions.
I have had several experiences where Nyah was transmitted to those around. People who had been indifferent all of a sudden are stomping their feet, clapping hands or getting up to dance.
Nyah had a whole bar up on their feet on a recent visit to Colorado. An excellent guitar player had been playing for a time without the nyah. He was pretty much ignored. He asked me to get up with him and do some tunes. We played Swallowtail jig, Brosna, and some reels (forget which) The whole place jumped up and began to dance. It was a truely amazing experience.
Do I understand the concept?
Finally, there are enough Nyahs, Duje-nyah Dubh.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by feardearg
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
There is a Nyah festival in County Cavan.Good line up this year.
http://www.cavanmusic.com/
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah is also a town in Australia.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Who remembers a band called Nyah Fearties?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
According to my dad, his grandad (my greatgrandad) called it, "the thribble".
As in,"Ah yes, he has the thribble."
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
The sea goddess Nyah was Poseidon's daughter.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
From Irish Music Magazine's site
'Nyah derives from that specific word we use to describe what makes traditional music so unique. Lift, Soul, Feeling, no other word quite captures the essence of great traditional playing, dancing or singing quite like nyah.'
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Thibble is an old word meaning 'treble' or 'threefold'
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
There Was an Old Piper
There was an old piper, old and hoary,
Who lived in the town of Ballaboreen.
This old piper, he played before Moses,
And this the only tune that he could play:
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah,
nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah,
nyah, nyah, nyah!
Now, this old piper, old and hoary,
Who lived in the town of Ballaboreen,
He died one day and he went down below,
And this the only tune that he could play:
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah,
nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah,
nyah, nyah, nyah!
When the devil saw this old man,
He said, "Put him down in the frying pan!
For this is another old piper, I vow,
Put him down with the others for to play!
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah,
nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!
Nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah,
nyah, nyah, nyah!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
a festival of nyah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3txUKS_Frq4
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
"nyah, nyah, nyah!"
- Curely, All The World's a Stooge (1941)
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by feardearg
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I thought that would have been nyuk, nyuk, nyuk...
Whaddya meeeeen!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Allan Sherman
Turn back the clock
And recall what you did
Back on the block where
You lived as a kid.
And if you think every kid nowadays
Is a nut or a kook or a fool,
Just turn back the clock
And recall what you said
When you were a kid in school.
Ah, your mother wears army shoes!
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Teacher, teacher, I declare,
I see your purple underwear.
Margarite, go wash your feet,
The board of health's across the street.
Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice,
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
Inka binka, bottle of ink,
The cork fell out and you stink.
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Mary had a little lamb,
The doctor was surprised!
Mary had a little lamb,
She also had a bear.
I've often seen her little lamb,
But I've never seen her bare.
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Roses are red, violets are blue,
I copied your paper and I flunked too.
Roses are red, violets are blue,
Whenever it rains, I think of you - drip, drip, drip!
Roses are red, violets are blue,
I still say your mother wears army shoes!
Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah.
Your mother is a burglar,
Your father is a spy,
And you're the dirty little rat
Who told the F.B.I.
Dirty Lil, Dirty Lil,
Lives on top of Garbage Hill,
Never took a bath and never will,
Yuck, pooey, Dirty Lil.
Oh what a face, oh what a figure,
Two more legs and you'd look like Trigger!
A B C D goldfish?
L M N O goldfish.
S A R 2 goldfish, C M?
Turn back the clock
And recall what you did
Back on the block where
You lived as a kid.
And if you think every kid nowadays
Is a nut or a kook or a fool,
Just turn back the clock
And recall what you said
When you were a kid in school.
There goes your father wearing your mother's army shoes!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Is "nyah" the same as "the groove"?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by feardearg
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Looks like I missed a lot during the night. To answer your question way, way back, Will, I did make that pun up. Which is not to say that it's not hidden away in some corner of Finnegan's Wake
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by GaryAMartin
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Wow.
You all HAVE been busy.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Piece
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
How doth the little busy Bee
Improve each shining Hour,
And gather Honey all the day
From every opening Flower!
How skilfully she builds her Cell!
How neat she spreads the Wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet Food she makes.
In Works of Labour or of Skill
I would be busy too:
For Satan finds some Mischief still
For idle Hands to do.
In Books, or Work, or healthful Play
Let my first Years be past,
That I may give for every Day
Some good Account at last
George P. Landow
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Hi Will, I feel that your definition of nyah is a bit problematic, though admitably the term is difficult to define. You say nyah is what makes people want to tap your feet get up and dance in that video clip. Some people listen to Lunasa or Dervish and feel like tapping their feet and dancing - but I don't think it means they play with nyah, not in their supergroup incarnation anyways. A tune can be said to "mean something" to anyone but it doesn't mean it necessarily has nyah either. Many musicians today play with effortless relaxation, with great proficiency, but even so, I don't think that is necessarily nyah.
Nyah is, I feel, a word that is more specifically the style and flavour of music that is linked to that of the past and of old musicians. What contributes to this flavour, how is nyah manifested? It can be the attack of the notes, the intonation by which the tunes are played, a particular rhythm and phrasing, etc. It is what gives Irish music its soul - and when I say soul I mean "soul" as defined specifically by the aesthetics of the past Irish musicians.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Eldarion
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
There is a Welsh transalation. Hwyl.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
/HU il/ Welsh an emotional quality which inspires and sustains impassioned eloquence; also, the fervor of emotion characteristic of Welsh gatherings
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
It also means fervour,enthousiasm,excitement.In it's original meaning hwyl was a sail,driving the ship along.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
A sail driving the ship along... that could be a good definition of nyah.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Ramiro
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
The Nyah was invented to enable people to lilt the second part of the Mason's Apron.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Free Reed
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
>>> Is "nyah" the same as "the groove"?
In my book, no. The groove is a rhythmic thing, and it's great when everyone falls into the groove, and propagates it. But to me, the nyah is much more than the groove. It encompasses it, but it also contains so much more...
But again, we're discussing some rather nebulous things here...
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I swear I can hear the "Nyah" in the music, and it goes "Nyah". I know it's supposed to be a misty, ambigious concept, but the music goes 'Nyah' when it has "Nyah'.
I mean, does it go na na na, or does it go nyah nyah nyah? Aha! What the...? I need more coffee.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Can other types of music have the nyah, or are we talking about something that is unique to ITM? What about related music, like American old-time?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Oh nyah!
This guy's definitely got it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EsfrLyoHhQ
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Yes, Screetch, I think it is apparent in other genres, especially old-time. It is hard to define, but I've heard championship players, and then the jam sessions out behind the venue. There's a difference. Maybe it's the joy that the player brings to the tune, with no other motive than to let the tune unwind. I've heard and seen players that "do it wrong" with regards to bow hold, fiddle hold, finger placement, etc... but there is something in the music that touches the soul, that sparks the imagination, that has such a cool groove. While "wowed" by some of the young players today, there is a quality those that have "nyah" exhibit that is just so raw and authentic.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by wyogal
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Or this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtBirwSpLJY
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Maybe it's got something to do with pulse rather than groove. Certainly it's a prerequisite when playing slow airs. Good slow air playing has very solid control of the length of notes, there is something very precise about it. It's definitely not freeform with the timing, though it may sound that way if you are not familiar with it.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah is of course the first note in "Out on the Ocean".
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by saltcast
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
To say nothing of Granny Puckett:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36VpOlSVxTM
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I've found this notion helpful: Nyah is the opposite of sounding classical.
Also, Nyah would have made my grade school classical violin teacher have a nervous breakdown.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
crazy_fingers, no worries at all. I think part of the nyah is a sense of humor, a generosity of spirit. That's coming through in this thread loud and clear thanks to everybody participating.
I like "sail that drives the ship," and Michael's thought's on pulse, and Eldarion's clarifications.
LOL at saltcast's "first note in Out on the Ocean. Cait Reed was teaching us Bank of Turk one day and asked us to lilt it before trying it on our instruments. As soon as the first note came out of my mouth, Cait and her husband Richard stopped and exclaimed, "OH! He's one of those 'nyah' lilters!"
Sure enough, instead of lilting "dee--eidle-dee oatelee" or some such, I sang what I heard in my head: "nyyaahdle di oatelee...."
Well, that's one way to get the nyah in your music.....
So if you want to avoid making a spectacle of yourself, use some other syllables for lilting. I've since noticed that Zina, wise warrior princess that she is, uses tikita and takita sounds when she lilts.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Clearly, based on the posts above, Nyah is subjective. One man's Nyah is another's stale toast.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah, jusa, y'don't understand.
Will, llig and others talking about pulse, lift, etc are on the money I think.
ITM sessions can sometimes reach a critical mass, and sort of take-off. Becomes more than a collection of individuals playing. Something kicks in and it the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts, and sounds like an entity in itself, sort of thing. Something that's always gonna be there in the music, individuals can partake while we're here, if y'know what I mean.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Despite all the nonsense, which is great fun, and 'nyah nyah nee-nyah nyah' I thought I heard the girls say on the playground, I thought this nailed it already:
"From Irish Music Magazine's site
'Nyah derives from that specific word we use to describe what makes traditional music so unique. Lift, Soul, Feeling, no other word quite captures the essence of great traditional playing, dancing or singing quite like nyah.'
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd"
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
How deep is your nyah? I really need to know.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by mehitabel23
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
mehitabel23, you're too young to be a BeeGees fan, aren't you?
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Reverend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
The ultimate truth about nyah:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=nL6GQj06WTM
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Yikes! Duij, you gotta warn us before you post something like that! Thank goodness my dog knows CPR!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
My last word on the reality of nyah:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMzoBkaFxh4
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Yup, bit of a shock eh Will.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Anybody else recognize skateboard/snowboard phenom Sean White in that clip? I didn't realize he could sing, too.....
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Sorry Duij, but this one has all yours beat:
http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=GSqV3rWM4iQ&feature=related
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Seriously, these spoof clips really do help clarify what nyah is by demonstrating very well what nyah isn't.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
nyah, nyah, nyah-nyah nyah.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
So we know that folk dance music can have nyah.
What about electronic dance music?
The part that you want to hear here is the part towards the end when Wink really starts playing the 303; skip to the 4 minute mark. It sounds quite a bit like folk music, complete with question and answer phrases.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh7Apc1PKSI
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Marklar
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Yes, Reverend, but I am not too young for Take That cover versions
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by mehitabel23
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Duijera - you're actually making my point about the "moment of Nyah" being subjective. I once witnessed a bunch of novices slogging their way through Maggie in the Woods and the Rattlin' Bog. They were in a state of sheer joy, pushing each other's playing ability beyond their normal state, bouncing each phrase as best as they could. They looked like they were floating in the Nyah ether, and when finished they all let out a collective whoop of accomplishment, satisfied grins smeared across their mugs. They were in the zone. Now, you or Llig or even CPT might walk by that group and hear nothing more than a group of beginners scratching their way through a set of tunes - but to those people, in the moment of symbiotic musical connection and playing above their normal skill level, they had achieved "Nyah." It's subjective -
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
JNE, I think what you're describing is what surfers call "the stoke," and it's different from the nyah. The stoke is the rush/peace you get from riding a wave, and it doesn't matter how big or small the wave or how experienced you are. It's just "the stoke."
A player may have to experience the stoke in order to channel the nyah, but the latter is a quality of playing, not just the act of enjoying the playing.
I think. Maybe.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Ah hell, I know - I'm just throwing in an alternative position just to keep the conversation lively. As a former regular surfer from Steamers Lane in Santa Cruz Cali your "Stoke" description is good. Although back in the day, we said "stoked" in place of "excited" - but your analogy is correct.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Dude! Way stoked bro. Best Nyah I ever had was due to a most righteous Stoke. But, I think you can summon the Nyah without the Stoke, but the Stoke can help jump start the Nyah.
Stokin' Nyah!
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
LOL, just watched Step into Liquid last week. At the end of the movie, they note that contrary to popular myth, real surfers don't say "dude." Sorry Ian, you blew your cover with the first word.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Glad to see this getting sorted by the look of it at last.
Hallelunyah! Hallelunyah.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA9Gpisd2IY
I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelunyah
Hallelunyah, Hallelunyah
Hallelunyah, Hallelunyah
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Skull Duggeraigh Dubh
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
This man can sing the Nyah in different tongues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhxfcJCeIWQ
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Free Reed
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
CPT - that is probably true of the ultra-cool surfers of today - but back in NorCal in 1980 - few of us could form a sentence without a half-dozen "dudes" slipping into the mix.
Now sadly "Dude" has gone the way of "wicked" and "boss" in American Youth slang - oy, I'm getting old.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by Jusa Nutter Eejit
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
My friend Eithne says "rad" a lot. It think that's pretty rad.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by timmy!
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Nyah Fearties have a myspace site.
# Posted on May 20th 2008 by dafydd
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Ah Will, ya busted me. I was a concrete and snow surfer only. Not a lot of water waves to ride in the New Hampshire of my mispent youth. Plenty of paved and frozen ones though. Jusa Nutter and I discussed that a while back, I think, kick flips, Circle Jerks, punk rock girls, etc.
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
It all sounds so blah, when it ain't got that nyah.
Dye dum de diddle aye dum dee dye dum dee aye diddle iddle aye yay.
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by AlBrown
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
How to get the nyah as explained by Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh:
There is a simple way to physically get and hear nyah almost immediately -- yep, it's true...this according to Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh and how he explained it at a workshop 2 yrs ago.
And WillCPT at the risk of getting pilloried, it's as simple as "two notes per bow". Yep. From the lips of COR, and of course you might want to break that up a bit [3/1; 1111; 2 /2; 3/1 etc]. However the gist of it is this -- simply play an open string back and forth with slight pressure as you get to middle of bow, and maybe speed it up just a tad there....very similar to getting that pulse in a polka. The polka pulse done right is the "nyah"....and listen to a good polka player and you'll hear it [here in North America they tend to get flattened out, much to annoyance of people like James Kelly]. It's hard to play polkas with the nyah but if you use the two notes per bow with slight pressure at middle of bow [from your finger not your wrist] and slight speed increase on the upbow [good place to put in the nyah, not on downbow]...you'll hear it! Try it on open string first. Then try it with a fingered note...again 2/bow. It's amazing! COR was right [imho].
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by skin&bow
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Interesting, mtodd. That seems to be treating nyah as a specific aspect of the style (similar to the "nyah-ing into a note", which might be sliding into the note a bit, or whatever), as opposed to the way I think of it, as being a rather intangible aspect of the music that combines the lift, swing, etc.
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by Reverend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
I tried it, but it didn't work. I couldn't figure out how to get two notes per bow on the accordion.
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by GaryAMartin
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Play the first note when you bend forward and the second when you straighten back up.
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by Marklar
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Aargh! I can't believe I didn't think of that!
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by GaryAMartin
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
LOL!
# Posted on May 21st 2008 by Reverend
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
That's a mighty fiddleocentric view of Nyah. I can't Nyah on the banjo, but that's because I stink. I can Nyah a small bit on the whistle, but I'm not much better at that. I know you must be able to with all instruments. Speaking of which, is it Nyah the technique or Nyah the concept?
Ah well, too late in the thread game now. It's probably both anyway.
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
How does one get two notes per bow on pipes?
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by DrSilverSpear
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
That polka bowing is how I learned it from Kevin Burke, too, but I've since learned other really effective ways to get polkas to nyah, so there's more than one way to skin a nyah (which is how we get nyahgahyde for our upholstered chairs and sofas....).
So I don't think of nyah as a technique at all, but a feel for the music that leads players to certain techniques that bring out the nyah best on their given instrument.
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Yeah, the one thing that can not ever define IT is technique. IT has nothing to do with technique.
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
You've got a point there Will. I guess perhaps C O'R was trying to get our untutoured N.A. ears at least attuned to the sense of "nyah" as a physical sound/state/presence in our playing....maybe even a state of mind? But I agree, that once you've at least been introduced to those bending, swaying, pulsing notes hidden in the tune -- the nyah opportunities?? -- there would be other ways to draw that out of not just fiddles, but any instrument. Even banjos! ;) [john carty does it]
I think of Kevin Henry and his wonderful pulsing breath....I think of Pat O'Connor and the *raw nyah* he gets...or Dennis Murphy's SL dance-based style of nyah. That underlying swing.
Lovely stuff thinking about nyah on a somehwat raw miserable day in Toronto. I could be doing worse things...like working.
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by skin&bow
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
HA! A little Nyah will brighten anyone's day!
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Snowing here in the mountains just above town, cold and rainy at my elevation--a good day for nyahing.
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by Will Harmon
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
SNOW? Send some down here. The high will be 90 today with 65% humidity...and it's May.
Yeah, there's a thread for you, fiddlin' in the swamp, how to fight humidity and stay sane.
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Some not-so-conflicting advice--got nyah?
Heh, my dad lived in Pensacola for 20-plus years. Taking the kids to see grandpa was the perfect antidote to a Montana winter....
# Posted on May 22nd 2008 by Will Harmon