Sometimes by ear I could bet that a tune is a reel, but the CD-booklet or the musician tells me it's a fling.
Anybody out there who can tell me the exact difference?
hey. The main difference between a fling and a reel is that although they are both written in 4/4 time, the fling is played with a lot more swing to it - traditionaly. and is more or less the same as a highland or hornpipe. there are a few nice ones on the irish times albumb from patrick street.
there are a lot of flings however that were changed into reels from hornpipes and highlands and i would say that this was the case with the pigtown fling.
Hopefully this was of some help.
What in the world do you mean by a 'highland'? Can you give me an example of where I might run across something like that? It's a tune designation I've never heard and I'm curious and (often times) ignorant.
hey thomas, well, i suppose the bit above relating a highland to a fling kind of explains what its like, and now where to find them !
well,the highlands and strathspeys wich are more or less the same thing,originated in scotland but became popular in ireland but more so donegal.
they were brought over here by donegal people who went over to scotland in search of work because the land is very mountainus here and the quality of the land is very poor.they mostly picked potatoes,and this was known as tattie hookin'.
i've posted a fair few of them under strathspeys, they include :
Jimmy lyons's Highland, The cat that kittled in jammies wig (highland) And frank roaches FLING ! theres a few more there too.
you'll find them in the playing of most donegal musicians for example
altan
dermot byrne
james byrne
johnny doherty
liz doherty etc...
well, i hope this explains it !
and i like that idea of cooleys highland ! nice one !!!!
a fling is generally another name for a strathspey/highland, and its name comes from the playing of a strathspey for the dance of the 'highland fling' in scotland. a lot of these tunes with dotted notes, and scotch snap are turned into reels, and similarly reels turned into strathspeys in the course of the aural tradtition etc.
As far as I am aware, the term 'Highland' is used only in Donegal, or for tunes from the Donegal repertoire (referring either to the Donegal highlands, or the Scottish Highlands, where many of these tunes originated). The term 'Fling' is used for similar tunes in other parts of Ireland, such as are found in the repertoires of Willie Clancy (Clare) and musicians of Sliabh Luachra (Cork/Kerry).
Many of these tunes are variants of Scottish strathspeys, although the 'Scotch Snap' is usually less pronounced than in their ancestors, or sometimes done away with altogether. But to my ears, many of the Donegal 'highlands' (tunes as opposed to mountains), as I have heard them played, sound more like reels thatn strathspeys.
Similarly, the Pigtown Fling, as mentioned above, despite its popular name, is most often heard played as a reel.
There are, I think, subtle differences to the melodic structures of reels and flings. I seem to remember going into some detail on this in an earlier discussion (which you may wish to seek out, although my opinions on most things arise from gut feelings, and are rarely of any value). I will however, say one or two things: Whilst reels may be either single (8 bars per strain) or double (16 bars per strain), or very occasionally have A- and B-strains of different lengths, flings, as far as I know, are always 'single'. Jumps of an octave or more seem to be more common in flings than in reels, although this a not uncommon feature of reels which are known to be of Scots origin (e.g. Tarbolton House, Miss MacLeod's).
As with anything which is a product of humanity, it is very difficult to come up with 'rules' and expect them to apply in all cases.
Difference between Fling and Reel
Difference between Fling and Reel
Sometimes by ear I could bet that a tune is a reel, but the CD-booklet or the musician tells me it's a fling.
Anybody out there who can tell me the exact difference?
# Posted on February 17th 2002 by Whiskydog
Re: Difference between Fling and Reel
Good question. The first tune that comes to my mind is "Pig Town Fling" which I have seen listed as a reel.
I guess I'm saying I don't have a clue and am wasting thread space for somone who does know.
# Posted on February 17th 2002 by flyinfiddler
Re: Difference between Fling and Reel
hey. The main difference between a fling and a reel is that although they are both written in 4/4 time, the fling is played with a lot more swing to it - traditionaly. and is more or less the same as a highland or hornpipe. there are a few nice ones on the irish times albumb from patrick street.
there are a lot of flings however that were changed into reels from hornpipes and highlands and i would say that this was the case with the pigtown fling.
Hopefully this was of some help.
Mairt
# Posted on February 17th 2002 by martin t
Re: Difference between Fling and Reel
What in the world do you mean by a 'highland'? Can you give me an example of where I might run across something like that? It's a tune designation I've never heard and I'm curious and (often times) ignorant.
Thomas
# Posted on February 17th 2002 by tccaucutt
Re: Difference between Fling and Reel
Thank you Mairt
# Posted on February 17th 2002 by Whiskydog
Re: Difference between Fling and Reel
hey thomas, well, i suppose the bit above relating a highland to a fling kind of explains what its like, and now where to find them !
well,the highlands and strathspeys wich are more or less the same thing,originated in scotland but became popular in ireland but more so donegal.
they were brought over here by donegal people who went over to scotland in search of work because the land is very mountainus here and the quality of the land is very poor.they mostly picked potatoes,and this was known as tattie hookin'.
i've posted a fair few of them under strathspeys, they include :
Jimmy lyons's Highland, The cat that kittled in jammies wig (highland) And frank roaches FLING ! theres a few more there too.
you'll find them in the playing of most donegal musicians for example
altan
dermot byrne
james byrne
johnny doherty
liz doherty etc...
well, i hope this explains it !
and i like that idea of cooleys highland ! nice one !!!!
Sl
# Posted on February 18th 2002 by martin t
Re: Difference between Fling and Reel
a fling is generally another name for a strathspey/highland, and its name comes from the playing of a strathspey for the dance of the 'highland fling' in scotland. a lot of these tunes with dotted notes, and scotch snap are turned into reels, and similarly reels turned into strathspeys in the course of the aural tradtition etc.
# Posted on February 18th 2002 by laura nesbit
Re: Difference between Fling and Reel
As far as I am aware, the term 'Highland' is used only in Donegal, or for tunes from the Donegal repertoire (referring either to the Donegal highlands, or the Scottish Highlands, where many of these tunes originated). The term 'Fling' is used for similar tunes in other parts of Ireland, such as are found in the repertoires of Willie Clancy (Clare) and musicians of Sliabh Luachra (Cork/Kerry).
Many of these tunes are variants of Scottish strathspeys, although the 'Scotch Snap' is usually less pronounced than in their ancestors, or sometimes done away with altogether. But to my ears, many of the Donegal 'highlands' (tunes as opposed to mountains), as I have heard them played, sound more like reels thatn strathspeys.
Similarly, the Pigtown Fling, as mentioned above, despite its popular name, is most often heard played as a reel.
There are, I think, subtle differences to the melodic structures of reels and flings. I seem to remember going into some detail on this in an earlier discussion (which you may wish to seek out, although my opinions on most things arise from gut feelings, and are rarely of any value). I will however, say one or two things: Whilst reels may be either single (8 bars per strain) or double (16 bars per strain), or very occasionally have A- and B-strains of different lengths, flings, as far as I know, are always 'single'. Jumps of an octave or more seem to be more common in flings than in reels, although this a not uncommon feature of reels which are known to be of Scots origin (e.g. Tarbolton House, Miss MacLeod's).
As with anything which is a product of humanity, it is very difficult to come up with 'rules' and expect them to apply in all cases.
# Posted on February 20th 2002 by CreadurMawnOrganig