So really what makes tune an aire. and not a waltz or a slow reel or even a slow jig?....or is it all in the Tempo...I'm stuck on this thought....(how a thought can consume productive time)
OK, disclaimer here, I am in no way greatly experienced with airs. But my impression of them is that tempo/strict rhythm is less important than in a waltz/slow reel/slow jig. The emphasis seems to be more on expressiveness and feeling than keeping time. By all means, correct me if I'm wrong.
You are wrong to say there is less emphasis in airs on time keeping. Just because ther is no "conventional" rythmn as such, does not meen the length of the notes are not vital to the tune. As for what you call them, it doesn't really matter. Though "songs" is as good a name as any.
'Free time' seems essential to the Sean Nos tradition. Of course the length of the notes is crucial - notes only have two basic dimensions, length and pitch. But any notion of strict tempo is alien to Sean Nos, as I understand it; it's more to do with a kind of instinctive pulse, which might be very uneven, but which follows the necessary shape of the melody and the stresses in it, as well as allowing room for decorations and pauses and so forth.
I would say that airs are either originally song melodies, or that they obey the form of song melodies, even if they never had any words.
It is certainly an interesting discussion. I've been told by several people lately that if I wanted to be accompanied, I would *have* to fix the tempo of a song, as it was 'impossible' to accompany a song in free time. But I don't agree. I'm even thinking of making up a 'free time' compilation to prove my point. Listen to Na Fili, for example - they play airs together in free time, and accompany songs in free time, no problem at all...
I think it's just a matter of knowing and understanding the tune and having a familiarity of each other's way of playing it.
The replies above, especially Nell's, are full of truth and common sense. Don't go looking for a definitive answer to this question.
Not all airs are songs
Not all Gaelic songs are in the Sean Nos tradition
Some older players refer to O'Carolan tunes as airs, regardless of tempo or rhythmic structure, because they are not dance music.
...and so on.
We define things by or own experience, and happily there are many acceptable definitions or airs, or slow airs. Like everything in traditional music, the longer you are involved the more your experience will lead to greater intuition about these things. In the meantime, it's great that you care enough to ask questions.
I think that phrasing is what makes an air, well, an air...
The wriitten notes are not as important as the feeling that goes into them...you can hold a half note, play the 16ths like a kid tripping down the stairs, etc without having such a regard as to the note, but phrasing and rhythym will go hand in hand
I agree that there is probably not strict definition that works. I would point out to kris though, that most, if not all of Carolan's pieces were composed as songs, though almost all examples of lyrics for these have been lost. Therefore Traditional players would be correct in referring to them as airs under the defination given.
The proper meaning of the term 'air' is the melody (as opposed to the text) of a song. However, it is sometimes used to refer to any tune which is not a dance tune (jig, reel, hornpipe etc.), including, for example, O'Carolan's compositions (although some of these have dance rhythms). In the Irish tradition, the term 'slow air' has come to mean a particular type of non-dance instrumental music - variously described above by Michael, Nell, Kris and Sunnybear. A slow air is not defined so much by the tune itself as by the manner in which it is played (Many jigs and reels are, in fact, the same 'airs' squeezed into dance rhythms, with a few notes added or subtracted where necessary).
A waltz is a dance tune, and is therefore played with a strict metric rhythm. As far as I am aware, the concept of the 'slow reel', 'slow jig' etc., is relatively new in Irish music. People just played at whatever speed they played at - if they were not playing for dancers, they were free to play as fast or slow as they liked (Hence the contrast in preferred playing speeds of, say, Paddy Canny and Johnny Doherty). Thus, slow reels and slow jigs are dance tunes, played in strict time, but much slower than dance tempo (although some tunes are composed to be played specifically as 'slow reels' etc.). An exception, perhaps, is the 'slow strathspey', which, in the Scottish fiddle tradition, is not played in strict tempo. It does, however, have a fixed rhythmic structure.
I'm happy I go that out of my system. I recommend you ignore it.
O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
So really what makes tune an aire. and not a waltz or a slow reel or even a slow jig?....or is it all in the Tempo...I'm stuck on this thought....(how a thought can consume productive time)
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by Tim_Fiddler
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
OK, disclaimer here, I am in no way greatly experienced with airs. But my impression of them is that tempo/strict rhythm is less important than in a waltz/slow reel/slow jig. The emphasis seems to be more on expressiveness and feeling than keeping time. By all means, correct me if I'm wrong.
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by sts
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
There isn't a tempo, but phrasing is very important.
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by act
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
You are wrong to say there is less emphasis in airs on time keeping. Just because ther is no "conventional" rythmn as such, does not meen the length of the notes are not vital to the tune. As for what you call them, it doesn't really matter. Though "songs" is as good a name as any.
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by llig leahcim
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
'Free time' seems essential to the Sean Nos tradition. Of course the length of the notes is crucial - notes only have two basic dimensions, length and pitch. But any notion of strict tempo is alien to Sean Nos, as I understand it; it's more to do with a kind of instinctive pulse, which might be very uneven, but which follows the necessary shape of the melody and the stresses in it, as well as allowing room for decorations and pauses and so forth.
I would say that airs are either originally song melodies, or that they obey the form of song melodies, even if they never had any words.
It is certainly an interesting discussion. I've been told by several people lately that if I wanted to be accompanied, I would *have* to fix the tempo of a song, as it was 'impossible' to accompany a song in free time. But I don't agree. I'm even thinking of making up a 'free time' compilation to prove my point. Listen to Na Fili, for example - they play airs together in free time, and accompany songs in free time, no problem at all...
I think it's just a matter of knowing and understanding the tune and having a familiarity of each other's way of playing it.
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by Nell
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
The replies above, especially Nell's, are full of truth and common sense. Don't go looking for a definitive answer to this question.
Not all airs are songs
Not all Gaelic songs are in the Sean Nos tradition
Some older players refer to O'Carolan tunes as airs, regardless of tempo or rhythmic structure, because they are not dance music.
...and so on.
We define things by or own experience, and happily there are many acceptable definitions or airs, or slow airs. Like everything in traditional music, the longer you are involved the more your experience will lead to greater intuition about these things. In the meantime, it's great that you care enough to ask questions.
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by kris
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
I think that phrasing is what makes an air, well, an air...
The wriitten notes are not as important as the feeling that goes into them...you can hold a half note, play the 16ths like a kid tripping down the stairs, etc without having such a regard as to the note, but phrasing and rhythym will go hand in hand
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by Sunnybear
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
I agree that there is probably not strict definition that works. I would point out to kris though, that most, if not all of Carolan's pieces were composed as songs, though almost all examples of lyrics for these have been lost. Therefore Traditional players would be correct in referring to them as airs under the defination given.
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by Murph
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
Good point, Murph. I did know that, but wasn't thinking along those lines when I wrote, right enough.
# Posted on November 25th 2004 by kris
Re: O.K.... I'm still stuck in the Aire
The proper meaning of the term 'air' is the melody (as opposed to the text) of a song. However, it is sometimes used to refer to any tune which is not a dance tune (jig, reel, hornpipe etc.), including, for example, O'Carolan's compositions (although some of these have dance rhythms). In the Irish tradition, the term 'slow air' has come to mean a particular type of non-dance instrumental music - variously described above by Michael, Nell, Kris and Sunnybear. A slow air is not defined so much by the tune itself as by the manner in which it is played (Many jigs and reels are, in fact, the same 'airs' squeezed into dance rhythms, with a few notes added or subtracted where necessary).
A waltz is a dance tune, and is therefore played with a strict metric rhythm. As far as I am aware, the concept of the 'slow reel', 'slow jig' etc., is relatively new in Irish music. People just played at whatever speed they played at - if they were not playing for dancers, they were free to play as fast or slow as they liked (Hence the contrast in preferred playing speeds of, say, Paddy Canny and Johnny Doherty). Thus, slow reels and slow jigs are dance tunes, played in strict time, but much slower than dance tempo (although some tunes are composed to be played specifically as 'slow reels' etc.). An exception, perhaps, is the 'slow strathspey', which, in the Scottish fiddle tradition, is not played in strict tempo. It does, however, have a fixed rhythmic structure.
I'm happy I go that out of my system. I recommend you ignore it.
# Posted on November 27th 2004 by CreadurMawnOrganig