I have only recently joined this site and my purpose is to find some REALLY good tunes. i know everybody have their session tunes, their fun tunes and of course their party piece tunes. And so my question arises to if you were to name your top 5 best party-piece-trying-to-impress tunes, what would they be?? reels, jigs and hornpipes only!!
I know the concept of arrangements of tunes is a contraversial one but I do think that the way you play a tune is what makes it a 'partypiece'.
As for the choice of tune, well depends on your audience, real traditional players might like some obscure modal tune with subtle variations of ornamentation and phrasing. Whereas a funky tune for a noisy session might want to have more obvious verve to it - big rhythm and drive. The classic 7 part version 'Mason's Apron' has been played to great effect in this scenario.
...just finished moving my tune site to http://worldfiddlemusic.co.uk - have a look there...more tunes added....there's a fair old mixture. And it's free!
1. The Strayaway Child (slip jig)
2. Mayor Harrison's Fedora (reel)
3. The Tailor's Twist (hornpipe)
4. The Glen of Aherlow (reel)
5. The Old Grey Goose (jig)
The ones I currently play the best tend to be the best to use to impress. Right now I'm having lots of fun with Exile of/from Erin, even though it doesn't fall into the aforementioned category yet. Guns is another good one. The Girl Who Broke My Heart. Bunker Hill, for an oldie but goodie. But let's face it, what impresses the punters or your family isn't what necessarily is going to impress your muso friends. Funnily, I've noticed that what the punters at sessions tend to whoop and holler during is stuff like Silver Spear and McMahon's. So I guess it depends on who I'm trying to impress at the time (if I should ever try to do such a tom-fool thing, given my level of playing!).
Very subjective of course, but maybe it depends on what instrument you play, or at what level you're at, and as there's nothing in your bio, that makes it difficult for me at least.
That said, try these:
The Contradiction Reel
The Stage (Hornpipe)
The Acrobat (H/pipe)
Connie O'Connell's jig
The Gooseberry Bush (Reel)
Its nice to impress people with great tunes, not show off, just so they think -'Gotta learn that brilliant tune' and then you can all play it together.
It'd be horrible if everyone just thought "oh, no - here we go again...another c*ap tune from beebs".
But Will - I assume you mean the whole "Party Piece" idea- There is nothing worse ever, ever in a session than somebody playing some c*ap tune they think is really hard just purely to impress everybody. I hate that - doesnt help that ithe tunes tend to be 'The moving cloud', The Masons Apron etc or some equally irritating tune.
The "Party Piece" doesn't really belong in a session, but sometimes I think that session-goers can be misleading in the way they might ask a visiting musicians to play a tune. He/she may feel that they are expected to do something great and make the mistake of veering towards the Party Piece. Maybe it is because they know it's the only tune they can safely play well. But as usual it backfires with everyone saying how great it was but thinking "what a dick-head"!
Usually it is not that they think the tune is hard to play (they know it is easy) but it sounds hard to many others, especially the punters.
Ideally the best session party pieces are the sort of party that everyone can join in on.
To hark back to something Zina said about The Silver Spear: John Carty played that tune about 7 times through for dancers in a concert showing sides to the tune that I never would have believed existed. This was not showy, it was for the dancers but many people came up and commented on that particular set afterwards. So maybe if you are in a situation where you need to pick a party piece it is best to take an everyday tune and try to give it something a little extra. Then if others enjoy it enough (the listening) they may not join in or if they like and feel compelled they will join you.
Hey this is one of my longer postings - this takes a while at my rate of typing.
Uh oh, I like Eliot's playing, so I was off to learn Moving Cloud (finally), until I saw it on Beeb's c*ap list! Well, I'll go ahead & learn it, but only play it in California & not Sydney-- I'll give Dave the heads up haha. ;)
Just goes to show you can impress some ppl by playing, impress others by not. & not to pull a Clinton with endless semantic games, there's always the diff between 'trying to impress' & 'making an impression..' you know? Hmmm too late/early for all this.....
A "party piece" is just something I might play for a bit of a laugh, eg the Maggie May mandolin part, Teddy Bear's picnic, or a bit of Mantovani on the fiddle. Anything at all as long as it isn't taken too seriously. It needn't be very difficult and shouldn't be done to impress.
Yes, I like to play and learn some difficult tunes too but only if I like them or am obliged to do so for some performance. I wouldn't just "pull them out of the hat" for the sake of it. The situation would have to be right.
People like to be impressed if they go out and even pay to see a band that is there to entertain them. So what I do for them is separate from my real musical personality.
As a serious show piece we have Master Crowley's or the Star of Munster. For a laugh we have the song The Little Beggarman followed by Soldier's Joy. People like it when the accordionist and me (fiddle) step down from the stage and do each round faster. This is more of sports exercise than music, I agree. But as long as we are quite able to tell the difference I don't see any harm in it.
I play the guitar and mandolin at work when I'm working nights, A few people have requested " over the hills and far away" But most seem to like - The leaving of liverpool, Greenholm, And St Lawrence jig.
crazycordie: The text of your posting sort of contradicts your subject. Are you asking for people to tell you what they think are "REALLY good tunes" or for what their "party-piece-trying-to-impress" tunes are?
These are different questions, and I suspect that some of the responses have been geared towards the "party-piece" bit.
But perhaps you just used the "party-piece" phrase as a figure of speech, and you really just want to know what tunes people really like, so that you can pick some to work on? Here are some that I enjoy the most, only some of which I play, and only at varying degrees of (in)competency:
The Boy in the Gap (reel) (by Paddy Taylor?)
The Lonely Fireside and The Ballyoran (hornpipes) (by Sean Ryan)
The Mill Pond (jig) (by Padraig O'Keefe?)
The Haunted House (jig) (by Vincent Broderick)
The Reel of Rio (reel) (by Sean Ryan)
Eileen Curran (played on Paddy Carty's CD, I don't know the origin)
I think there's def a difference between "impress" and "show off". Nothing wrong with wanting to make a good impression, or at least a competent one, but there's def something suspicious smelling about wanting to show off. (Or for that matter, show UP.) Since my playing is not at a level where I can impress anyone with it, I make sure that I have nice tunes that other people will like to play along with or enjoy listening to simply because it's a nice tune.
It's a nice, comforting thing to be complimented on having nice tunes. Makes up for some of the caterwauling I do, I hope. Heh.
Something I like to do is pair a tune some session folks might consider a bit hackneyed with a lesser known tune that compliments the better-known tune. A case in point is Little Beggarman with Far From Home (you can find it in O'Neil's). It involves a key change and a change of rhythm despite that they are both reels. This technique perks up the first tune, and does more to feature the second. Sometimes the process is turned around, as you will see below.
My favorites
Farewell to Ireland
Cup of Tea/Glass of Beer
Drowsy Maggie (slow version learned from Matt Malloy)/Maids of Micheltown
Rolling in the Ryegrass/The Wind That Shakes The Barley
For the Sake of Old Decency/The Mason's Apron
thanks everybody for their opinion on really good tunes. my motive of bringing up the discussion was to find more good tunes for myself. to do this i wanted names of peoples' best tunes. i am also a believer in playing some of the simple tunes well and often i get more satisfaction in creating new variations and new ornamntation in simple tunes than difficult ones. i dont try to impress anyone, i play what tunes i like. thanks everyone for their view!
I like the idea of pairing a less familiar tune or tunes with a more familiar tune to end the set, like Ailin suggested above. That way everyone gets to jump aboard for the "big finish" and feels more like they are part of things. I have seen session players use this encouraging technique very effectively to help a newbie feel like they are part of the action.
My current favorites (Although I like challenging tunes, I enjoy playing simple tunes the most):
Out on the Ocean-Jig
Banish Misfortune-Jig
Garrett Barry's Jig
Red-Haired Boy-Reel
Merry Blacksmith-Reel
Yeah, in a sesh a mixture of common tunes and new ones keeps it fresh but still sociable.
I find it funny that quite a few people try to make out that they never try to impress people with their music. The difference between showing off and impressing is hilighted above and I agree with this..... but..... I still don't understand why people like to say that they play music purely for themselves. And a lot of people DO say this. For me it is a sociable thing. Of course I'd like to impress. I strive to be as good as I can and it's always gratifying if other people gain some enjoyment out of my music.
I have concluded that maybe it is because people don't like being put on a scale where people are 'better' than them and others 'worse'. We don't like our session environment to actually be a competition. Thats not what it's about. I agree with this HOWEVER....
... I don't feel that there is a finite amount of impression that can be given in a night..... i mean if I play well and it is acknowledged and another fiddler plays well after and it is acknowledged that doesn't reduce the previous praise that I recieved. Of course a problem arises because players in sessions are at all different levels and so some won't get favourable comments and others will. This COULD be awkward, sure..... but ... doesn't have to be. We can still all be tactful and polite and usually EVERY player has something to offer even if it is the connection you get when playing a tune with someone rather than the actual sound.....
..... and besides it's the thought that counts (sometmes) I mean, if you're playing in public people WILL judge you. They WILL. They might not say anything. But they will THINK it. And sure Im sure some people can reply to this saying they neeeeever judge others but I would suggest you are in the minority.
As musicians you develop a critical ear, therby you have to criticise or you are not actually listening. (good evidence of this is ~ all irish tunes sounding the same to people that listen to club anthems, which to me all sound the same)
Thing is, this doesn't have to be a big deal. It's just life. We meet people they form impressions of us. Thats part of being sociable. I have to say that I enjoy playing this game (yes even the aspects of it that I'm not very good at ~ I can improve) and so in a way I ALWAYS try to impress.... that is make a good impression rather than a poor one.
Sorry if Im reading tooo much into comments above Will and Micheal.
REALLY good tunes
REALLY good tunes
I have only recently joined this site and my purpose is to find some REALLY good tunes. i know everybody have their session tunes, their fun tunes and of course their party piece tunes. And so my question arises to if you were to name your top 5 best party-piece-trying-to-impress tunes, what would they be?? reels, jigs and hornpipes only!!
# Posted on November 16th 2004 by crazycordie
Re: REALLY good tunes
Now, I can't play any of these enough to impress anyone, but here are three good ones, maybe you can play them.
1) The Moving Cloud (oh, my, god).
2) Letterkenny Blacksmith
3) Are you ready yet
# Posted on November 16th 2004 by Eliot
Re: REALLY good tunes
I know the concept of arrangements of tunes is a contraversial one but I do think that the way you play a tune is what makes it a 'partypiece'.
As for the choice of tune, well depends on your audience, real traditional players might like some obscure modal tune with subtle variations of ornamentation and phrasing. Whereas a funky tune for a noisy session might want to have more obvious verve to it - big rhythm and drive. The classic 7 part version 'Mason's Apron' has been played to great effect in this scenario.
aLeX x
# Posted on November 16th 2004 by Kazoo and Bones Player
Re: REALLY good tunes
just reread that - 'real traditional players' - I mean REALLLLLLYYYY!! Typin ow im talkin.
Ax
# Posted on November 16th 2004 by Kazoo and Bones Player
Re: REALLY good tunes
...just finished moving my tune site to http://worldfiddlemusic.co.uk - have a look there...more tunes added....there's a fair old mixture. And it's free!
Jim
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Worldfiddler
Re: REALLY good tunes
Hi crazycordie,
Here's my top 5:
1) The Tolka Polka
2) The Guns of the Magnificent 7
3) Winnie Hayes'
4) An Phis Fhliugh
5) Dennis Langtot's
Good to finally see a discussion about good tunes instead of bad tunes.
Sjoerd
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Dark Raven
Re: REALLY good tunes
1. The Strayaway Child (slip jig)
2. Mayor Harrison's Fedora (reel)
3. The Tailor's Twist (hornpipe)
4. The Glen of Aherlow (reel)
5. The Old Grey Goose (jig)
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: REALLY good tunes
The ones I currently play the best tend to be the best to use to impress. Right now I'm having lots of fun with Exile of/from Erin, even though it doesn't fall into the aforementioned category yet. Guns is another good one. The Girl Who Broke My Heart. Bunker Hill, for an oldie but goodie. But let's face it, what impresses the punters or your family isn't what necessarily is going to impress your muso friends. Funnily, I've noticed that what the punters at sessions tend to whoop and holler during is stuff like Silver Spear and McMahon's. So I guess it depends on who I'm trying to impress at the time (if I should ever try to do such a tom-fool thing, given my level of playing!).
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: REALLY good tunes
Very subjective of course, but maybe it depends on what instrument you play, or at what level you're at, and as there's nothing in your bio, that makes it difficult for me at least.
That said, try these:
The Contradiction Reel
The Stage (Hornpipe)
The Acrobat (H/pipe)
Connie O'Connell's jig
The Gooseberry Bush (Reel)
I am able to play only the first one.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Rudall the time
Re: REALLY good tunes
I hope I never play a tune to impress anybody.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Will Harmon
Re: REALLY good tunes
Its nice to impress people with great tunes, not show off, just so they think -'Gotta learn that brilliant tune' and then you can all play it together.
It'd be horrible if everyone just thought "oh, no - here we go again...another c*ap tune from beebs".
But Will - I assume you mean the whole "Party Piece" idea- There is nothing worse ever, ever in a session than somebody playing some c*ap tune they think is really hard just purely to impress everybody. I hate that - doesnt help that ithe tunes tend to be 'The moving cloud', The Masons Apron etc or some equally irritating tune.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by bb
Re: REALLY good tunes
The "Party Piece" doesn't really belong in a session, but sometimes I think that session-goers can be misleading in the way they might ask a visiting musicians to play a tune. He/she may feel that they are expected to do something great and make the mistake of veering towards the Party Piece. Maybe it is because they know it's the only tune they can safely play well. But as usual it backfires with everyone saying how great it was but thinking "what a dick-head"!
Usually it is not that they think the tune is hard to play (they know it is easy) but it sounds hard to many others, especially the punters.
Ideally the best session party pieces are the sort of party that everyone can join in on.
To hark back to something Zina said about The Silver Spear: John Carty played that tune about 7 times through for dancers in a concert showing sides to the tune that I never would have believed existed. This was not showy, it was for the dancers but many people came up and commented on that particular set afterwards. So maybe if you are in a situation where you need to pick a party piece it is best to take an everyday tune and try to give it something a little extra. Then if others enjoy it enough (the listening) they may not join in or if they like and feel compelled they will join you.
Hey this is one of my longer postings - this takes a while at my rate of typing.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Donough
Re: REALLY good tunes
Uh oh, I like Eliot's playing, so I was off to learn Moving Cloud (finally), until I saw it on Beeb's c*ap list! Well, I'll go ahead & learn it, but only play it in California & not Sydney-- I'll give Dave the heads up haha. ;)
Just goes to show you can impress some ppl by playing, impress others by not. & not to pull a Clinton with endless semantic games, there's always the diff between 'trying to impress' & 'making an impression..' you know? Hmmm too late/early for all this.....
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by emily_bmore
Re: REALLY good tunes
A "party piece" is just something I might play for a bit of a laugh, eg the Maggie May mandolin part, Teddy Bear's picnic, or a bit of Mantovani on the fiddle. Anything at all as long as it isn't taken too seriously. It needn't be very difficult and shouldn't be done to impress.
Yes, I like to play and learn some difficult tunes too but only if I like them or am obliged to do so for some performance. I wouldn't just "pull them out of the hat" for the sake of it. The situation would have to be right.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by John J.
Re: REALLY good tunes
People like to be impressed if they go out and even pay to see a band that is there to entertain them. So what I do for them is separate from my real musical personality.
As a serious show piece we have Master Crowley's or the Star of Munster. For a laugh we have the song The Little Beggarman followed by Soldier's Joy. People like it when the accordionist and me (fiddle) step down from the stage and do each round faster. This is more of sports exercise than music, I agree. But as long as we are quite able to tell the difference I don't see any harm in it.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by kuec
Re: REALLY good tunes
I play the guitar and mandolin at work when I'm working nights, A few people have requested " over the hills and far away" But most seem to like - The leaving of liverpool, Greenholm, And St Lawrence jig.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by dean24
Re: REALLY good tunes
Who do you want to impress? And Why?
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by llig leahcim
Re: REALLY good tunes
crazycordie: The text of your posting sort of contradicts your subject. Are you asking for people to tell you what they think are "REALLY good tunes" or for what their "party-piece-trying-to-impress" tunes are?
These are different questions, and I suspect that some of the responses have been geared towards the "party-piece" bit.
But perhaps you just used the "party-piece" phrase as a figure of speech, and you really just want to know what tunes people really like, so that you can pick some to work on? Here are some that I enjoy the most, only some of which I play, and only at varying degrees of (in)competency:
The Boy in the Gap (reel) (by Paddy Taylor?)
The Lonely Fireside and The Ballyoran (hornpipes) (by Sean Ryan)
The Mill Pond (jig) (by Padraig O'Keefe?)
The Haunted House (jig) (by Vincent Broderick)
The Reel of Rio (reel) (by Sean Ryan)
Eileen Curran (played on Paddy Carty's CD, I don't know the origin)
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by browndog
Re: REALLY good tunes
I think there's def a difference between "impress" and "show off". Nothing wrong with wanting to make a good impression, or at least a competent one, but there's def something suspicious smelling about wanting to show off. (Or for that matter, show UP.)
Since my playing is not at a level where I can impress anyone with it, I make sure that I have nice tunes that other people will like to play along with or enjoy listening to simply because it's a nice tune.
It's a nice, comforting thing to be complimented on having nice tunes. Makes up for some of the caterwauling I do, I hope. Heh.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: REALLY good tunes
I thought playing music was all about trying to woo women.
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: REALLY good tunes
Something I like to do is pair a tune some session folks might consider a bit hackneyed with a lesser known tune that compliments the better-known tune. A case in point is Little Beggarman with Far From Home (you can find it in O'Neil's). It involves a key change and a change of rhythm despite that they are both reels. This technique perks up the first tune, and does more to feature the second. Sometimes the process is turned around, as you will see below.
My favorites
Farewell to Ireland
Cup of Tea/Glass of Beer
Drowsy Maggie (slow version learned from Matt Malloy)/Maids of Micheltown
Rolling in the Ryegrass/The Wind That Shakes The Barley
For the Sake of Old Decency/The Mason's Apron
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by Ailin
Re: REALLY good tunes
thanks everybody for their opinion on really good tunes. my motive of bringing up the discussion was to find more good tunes for myself. to do this i wanted names of peoples' best tunes. i am also a believer in playing some of the simple tunes well and often i get more satisfaction in creating new variations and new ornamntation in simple tunes than difficult ones. i dont try to impress anyone, i play what tunes i like. thanks everyone for their view!
# Posted on November 17th 2004 by crazycordie
Re: REALLY good tunes
Reel - The Bank of Ireland (in O'Neills).
Play the A slower and speed up the B part.
(And follow with the Moving Cloud).
# Posted on November 18th 2004 by geoffwright
Re: REALLY good tunes
But I could be wrong.
# Posted on November 19th 2004 by An Goban Saor
Re: REALLY good tunes
I like the idea of pairing a less familiar tune or tunes with a more familiar tune to end the set, like Ailin suggested above. That way everyone gets to jump aboard for the "big finish" and feels more like they are part of things. I have seen session players use this encouraging technique very effectively to help a newbie feel like they are part of the action.
My current favorites (Although I like challenging tunes, I enjoy playing simple tunes the most):
Out on the Ocean-Jig
Banish Misfortune-Jig
Garrett Barry's Jig
Red-Haired Boy-Reel
Merry Blacksmith-Reel
AL Brown
# Posted on November 19th 2004 by AlBrown
Re: REALLY good tunes
Hm.
For jigs (obviously not a set)
The Old Grey Goose
Off to the Races
My Former Wife
Reels:
Eileen O'Callgahan's
Bill Harte's
# Posted on November 20th 2004 by sifudave54
Re: REALLY good tunes
Yeah, in a sesh a mixture of common tunes and new ones keeps it fresh but still sociable.
I find it funny that quite a few people try to make out that they never try to impress people with their music. The difference between showing off and impressing is hilighted above and I agree with this..... but..... I still don't understand why people like to say that they play music purely for themselves. And a lot of people DO say this. For me it is a sociable thing. Of course I'd like to impress. I strive to be as good as I can and it's always gratifying if other people gain some enjoyment out of my music.
I have concluded that maybe it is because people don't like being put on a scale where people are 'better' than them and others 'worse'. We don't like our session environment to actually be a competition. Thats not what it's about. I agree with this HOWEVER....
... I don't feel that there is a finite amount of impression that can be given in a night..... i mean if I play well and it is acknowledged and another fiddler plays well after and it is acknowledged that doesn't reduce the previous praise that I recieved. Of course a problem arises because players in sessions are at all different levels and so some won't get favourable comments and others will. This COULD be awkward, sure..... but ... doesn't have to be. We can still all be tactful and polite and usually EVERY player has something to offer even if it is the connection you get when playing a tune with someone rather than the actual sound.....
..... and besides it's the thought that counts (sometmes) I mean, if you're playing in public people WILL judge you. They WILL. They might not say anything. But they will THINK it. And sure Im sure some people can reply to this saying they neeeeever judge others but I would suggest you are in the minority.
As musicians you develop a critical ear, therby you have to criticise or you are not actually listening. (good evidence of this is ~ all irish tunes sounding the same to people that listen to club anthems, which to me all sound the same)
Thing is, this doesn't have to be a big deal. It's just life. We meet people they form impressions of us. Thats part of being sociable. I have to say that I enjoy playing this game (yes even the aspects of it that I'm not very good at ~ I can improve) and so in a way I ALWAYS try to impress.... that is make a good impression rather than a poor one.
Sorry if Im reading tooo much into comments above Will and Micheal.
Aleeks xxx
# Posted on December 6th 2004 by Kazoo and Bones Player
Re: REALLY good tunes
'martin wynne's no. 2' (a reel in D, starts Bm) _one of the top class tunes in my book
# Posted on December 21st 2004 by lisaniska