Still a beginner, I now have about 50 tunes under my belt memorized & am rapidly improving learning by ear. (The nearing encounter with Kevin Crawford at Gaelic Roots is bolstering the drive, you could say.)
Anyway, the sad thing is, I know twice as many jigs as reels, & it's sort of accidental. It takes me almost no effort to learn many of them recently... I learned Haste to the Wedding (aka Waste in the Bedding) at a real session the other night after only a few go rounds. But many reels slide off my brain like teflon. Well that's an exaggeration, but the more I play with other musicians, I am beginning to understand that reels really are the preferred tune style, that is to say I'm hearing many more sets of reels being played than jigs. Is my perception way off on this? Also, can you recommend any techniques for learning reels by ear? My entire 'to learn' list is always entirely reels these days in an effort to catch up.
See, Emily, I'm the other way round. I'm totally jig deficient, for some reason jigs don't stick with me very well. I learn them well enough at a session to fake playing along after a couple of times through, but the next morning they're gone.
No, you're not off the mark -- reels tend to be more popular than jigs for whatever reason. (And everybody has lots of theories as to why.)
Don't really have any special techniques for learning reels in particular. I just pick the tunes I like and learn them (generally falling in love with somebody or other's setting and playing that recording over and over again), figuring that if I really like them, they'll stick.
Hi Emily,
I feel sometimes jigs get the short shrift at sessions, too. Maybe because traditionally reels are played faster than jigs and hornpipes people feel they "rock out" more than the other types of tunes. And I think in this day and age speed = excitement = rocking out (that topic has been covered before .)
Personally, I like all they types, including polkas, barndances, etc. Besides, playing a couple reels after playing a few jigs and a few polkas for instance, makes the reels sound even more "reel-y
At a flute class at the Willie Clancy week a few years ago, Seamus MacMahon said of this....
"Its all reels played at sessions in Clare. Anybody starting a jig is a visitor, and anybody starting a hornpipe is probably a foreigner!"
That's not too much of an exaggeration.
Seems to me that the 6/8 feel is underserved. The 4/4 of a reel is like Rock & Roll, you can rock 'em up and play as fast as you can.
Players like reels, but I've found that audiences start losing attention with reels (if you're at a session that cares). Throw in a jig and suddenly the pub comes alive again.
Yes, Rayzore, that's true -- I've noticed that with the pub audiences as well -- the kids will get up and dance around to anything, really, but the tunes that really get the adults going tend to be jigs (except for the dancers who actually dance, they like the reels). People who don't really know anything about the music really like the jigs.
Personally, I find reels more interesting, is all. I like the way they flow. I find the melody lines to be more interesting. I actually prefer reels a little slower than really really fast, so I can hear and feel that flow, although of course with the better players it doesn't matter how fast they play them to hear that (which is likely why I have to play them slower to get that, not being one of the better players!).
Jigs are fun to play and relatively easy for anyone to understand -- you tend to play them slower and they have a bit of an automatic swing to them. Reels are more of a challenge to me and to the ear, and so are fun in a different way.
As for learning reels...seems most of us struggle a bit more with reels in the beginning. I'm guessing that's because:
(1) The rhythm and pulse isn't as obvious in reels as in most jigs (although I tend to think that too many jigs are oversimplified into ONE-two-three ONE two-three just because they can be).
(2) The phrases are longer--usually a minimum of four beats, but also commonly 8 to 16 beats to complete a phrase. Most jig phrases are shorter, and can be conveyed with fewer notes. (Also, our ears tend to hear reels in even longer, flowing phrases--sometimes entire halves of tunes--so learning to hear shorter phrases within the tune is an important step.)
(3) The expectation that reels must be played fast.
All of this conspires against us when we're just getting our feet wet in this music. So how do you cope?
First, slow down. Reels don't have to always be played at 240 bpm. Many past masters in this tradition prefer a more pedestrian pace, even on reels, even in sessions. So you have their permission to slow down But don't go so slow that you lose the sense of phrasing.
Second, my own personal experience is that I learn reels more easily if I quit worrying about pouncing on the beats in every bar and focus more on the unique personality of the tune and its phrases. In short, quit trying to make every reel sound the same. Don't force every reel into the same rigid rhythm. Drowsy Maggie and Star of Munster (for example) are both reels but they each respond better to very different pulses.
And third, listen for shorter phrases when you're learning the tune. Lots of players talk about the phrasing as a conversation--someone says something in the first 4 to 8 beats, and then another voice responds in the next 4 to 8 beats. In some tunes, you can almost hear this question-and-answer thing going on. Well, if you were listening to a real, verbal conversation, each person's part could be broken into even smaller phrases. The musical question, "Are you going to Donnybrook Fair" (a jig, I know, but the point's the same) can be split into "Are you going" and "to Donnybrook Fair."
So consider The Scholar:
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: D
(3Abc|dfaf gfeg|fdAG FGA=c|BGGF EFGg|fdec dcBA|
That's the first four bars, the first 16 beats, of the tune. And you might hear it as one long phrase. But try hearing the two voices, like an academic debate.
One scholar makes an assertion:
|dfaf gfeg|fdAG FGA...|
and the other counters it:
c|BGGF EFGg|fdec dcBA|
Now, to my ear, the second scholar gets interrupted there:
c|BGGF EFG--|
by the first coming back in
g|fdec dcBA|
So this breaks it into even smaller phrases.
Pay particular attention to those pick-up notes that come right before the change in voices--these are the "cues" that will help you remember when to switch voices, and the links that tie it all together once you've learned the tune. Rhythmically, they belong to the next bar, not the one they're actually in.
Of course, if you're really new to this music AND your instrument, you might approach reels from the other direction--taking the shortest possible building blocks and linking them together. So The Scholar then looks like:
(3ABc
dfaf
gfeg
fdAG
FGA=c
Yes, it helps to first deal with the technical issues of how to play dfaf, for instance, but as soon as that becomes more or less automatic, you should move past that piece-by-piece jigsaw puzzle approach to *listening* for the bigger chunks:
(3ABc|dfaf gfe
g|fdAG FGA
=c|BGGF EFG
g|fdec dcBA|
and so on.
So now we've walked through a bunch of different ways to break one reel into different size phrases, depending on what you're ready for. The key I think is to devleop an ear for this based on *your own* tastes and inclinations---YOU decide where to break the phrases. That's what makes every player sound different from the rest, and ultimately why this music is so much fun to play together.
Another way to look at this would be to say that there's an art to playing reels, and probably another one to playing jigs. Each of them takes quite a bit of listening and exploration to come to terms with, or to internalize the form.
Seems to me that I too have heard Seamus MacMahon say you wouldn't hear many reels in West Clare. On the other hand, he taught us a couple of jigs at the WW class, and I've since heard him play jigs in public (maybe he forgot!).
I've heard a couple of older whistle-players, both of whom were All-Ireland winners in their youth (not that that means all that much, but it does give them a certain credibility in my mind), say that jigs are a purer form of tune, and that "proper" jig playing is a bit of a dying art. Which is too bad, if it's true.
Will, that's so fabulous, yes it reassures me a great deal, thank you! Star & Drowsy were among the first 2 I learned months ago, & even now, I find myself adjusting things as I play through them with different players. For instance, swinging the A part of Star helped me learn it better, but I prefer to play it fast & rather straight (as I do with many reels). I still have a lot to learn on the swinging vs non-swinging issue, I know there are discussions in the archive, but swinging definitely helps me get the tune under my fingers more quickly, but then I often don't carry that to the public performance level, maybe b/c it does sound more flowing? Anyway, I've picked up nuances on the B part by hearing a good fiddler play it well, listening to bowing techniques & trying to match the sound. But the idea of a conversation, that's great. I guess it doesn't even have to be 2 scholars, maybe other characters in the tune's title, but that's pretty brilliant, esp for us who do like to use the title to help remember the tune.
Yeah the idea 'people who know nothing about the music really liking the jigs' is becoming more obvious.... but it's sad, b/c they're easy & fun, & audiences like them. Guess that's why they're more of a stepping stone to the more difficult reels. Zina did you always find reels easier? If so, that's impressive!
I guess the other reason I asked is that on many recordings, the track list seems to be pretty evenly split between jigs & reels, or maybe 2 reel sets for every jig set, but that doesn't seem to carry over to real life much.
I think it might have something to do with what both Will and Greg were saying, Emily -- with this music in general, but also specifically jigs, there's an easier way to play it and a harder way to play it, and it has to do with both the art and craft of the thing.
As Will says, and Greg approached it from the other end, it's easy to dumb down the jig and you can still have it come out right enough to get by with. With the reels, that's a lot tougher, you can't fake it with the reels. If you've got the art, as Greg says, then the jigs can become every bit as challenging and flowingly melodic as the reels.
Which of course is easier to find, that art, when you've got great players to listen to. Thank God for recordings, yeah?
Zina
P.S. Yes, I guess I'm just a reel kind of person, so I wouldn't think it's particularly impressive, just sort of the way it is. Perhaps it's because my teachers started me out with reels immediately instead of starting me off with jigs, like a lot of other teachers do, I dunno. Or perhaps it's because of the stepdancing, since I did that first before playing the music, and I love to dance the reel.
BTW, you can also think of the conversation as a question and answer -- John Williams calls the second phrase "the resolve", saying that the first phrase often sounds rather questioning and the second (or fourth) resolves the matter.
I think the art in playing any tune comes from listening to the tune itself, and treating it not as an example of some stereotype of the meter but as an individual tune. Jigs are as idiosyncratic as reels, but it is possible to turn them into elevator muzak by just thumping away on the down beats. Again, it's the organic phrasing of the tune, the dialogue inside the tune, that suggests the rhythm, not mindless adherence to the time signature. And the personality of each tune comes out in the interplay of melody and pulse. In my own playing I tend to think of melody riding over the beat rather than the other way around because I hear the melody telling me what to do with the rhythm and accents to create that pulse. Other players (notably Kevin Burke) tend to fasten the melody onto a more rigid rhythmic foundation. That's not to say that lyrical playing can't be danceable and full of lift, or that rhythmic playing can't be melodic. Just where the emphasis lies. And every type of tune--reels, jigs, hornpipes, even polkas (snicker)--is open to these kinds of interpretation.
It's funny, but in dancing it seems like there's generally two kinds of dancers -- dancers who sort of inherently get the jigs and dancer who just get the reels. They have to work a little harder to get the other time signature. I've seen lots of that with players, too. I wonder why that is?
Also a beginner, I've always thought that jigs are easier to remember and to play. And I also often prefer to listen to jigs on records and at concerts. It IS an older type of tunes than the reel. May be "purer". It seems like it was the most popular stuff in the 19th century. History or not - I believe that it is an under estimated type of tunes. Not only audience, but also musicians often look happy like kids when they play jigs!
All the wise stuff have already been said by others like Will and Zina, so I'll just add a personal reflection from my own struggling with the reels: The last months I've mostly played mandolin instead of the whistle. I've always had problems playing reels on the whistle, while jigs just come naturally.
But when I started to learn the mandolin I found out that it was the opposite - the reels came much "easier" (a k a "not so f*ing impossible") than the jigs. So right now I've got a repertoire mostly consisting of jigs on the whistle and reels on the mandolin!
Hmmm, interesting points. It never occured to me that reels would be harder than jigs or vice versa. For me it goes on a tune by tune basis. Some tunes are hard, some are not. And the ones I expedt to be difficult are sometimes not, and the ones I expect to be easier are sometimes not. Only polkas always seem easy to learn.
Andee. maybe you're right, but I find no difficulties with any jig at all (so far), while I do have difficulties with some reels. I tend to agree with Lars on this, as a whistle player, jigs are much easier to play than reels. In my opinion that is due to two factors: there's usually more notes to be played in a bar; and because of that, it's more difficult to me to put some grace notes or ornaments. A funny thing happens to me with reels as well: I play them better at a fast pace than at a slow one, and I have no explanation for that. On the other hand, the same reels played with the flute sound much better at a slow pace. Am I a freak??
I'd like to share a wee bit of wisdom passed on to me by an astonishingly gifted bones (2 hands) player:
"Reels are faster, Jiggs are louder."
Remember when the world was a simpler place?
I'm new to this site, but saw this discussion and just had to jump in. I have no trouble picking up jigs either, but reels? Sign me up for that Teflon Ear Club, too! I definitely appreciate their complexities and especially the "conversation" aspect Will was talking about (thanks so much for that!), but I have to listen to the daggone things about 1,000 times before they even begin to sink in.
Anyway, our fiddle player and I were just having this chat as we noticed our set list has many, many jigs (hmmm, I wonder who's to blame there???? He's definitely a reel man, and I of course like jigs. I wonder if it is a string player/flute player thing (it's easier to breathe on jigs, I think)? Anyway, I too have noticed that the "casual" crowd seems to respond to jigs more readily, but I also have to say there's nothing like a set of reels ending with the Mountain Road or Gravel Walks or some such to get them up on the bar ..... (darn it)
I think it's sad to think that any session, much less in Ireland, would only play one type of tune. When my daughter was taking step-dancing lessons I gained a new respect for the hornpipe. Personally I enjoy all types of tunes and I'm continually frustrated that singing is not included in many sessions. Irish dance music is rich in it's many forms and it would be a shame to see some of them die out from disuse.
Why does it have to be a competition between reels and jigs?
I feel that any session that is all one or the other is boring in the extreme.
Like West Clare, Belfast seems to have gotten the reel bug and oyung players' repertoires seem to be aout 95% reels. What a pity!
In County Down we like a bit of variety and while the most frequent form is still probably the reel we almost always have flings, barn dances, the odd polka, slides, slip jigs, hornpipes, waltzes, marches, slow airs, a song or two, in between the pipes.
This is one reason I like learning tunes with Zina. We learn mostly reels! Jigs come very easily to me, but the reels generally take me a great deal more effort, especially to play them a little faster than the jigs. So, I concentrate on learning the reels, the jigs come easier, and then my reel/jig count comes out more balanced. Now, I only wish I could find more slip jigs to learn... -Dirk
Ther reason there tend to be more reels than jigs played in sessions is that there are more reels than there are jigs. This is because more reels than jigs are composed or assimilated into the tradition. This is because reels are more popular and get played more in sessions...
jigs vs reels
jigs vs reels
Still a beginner, I now have about 50 tunes under my belt memorized & am rapidly improving learning by ear. (The nearing encounter with Kevin Crawford at Gaelic Roots is bolstering the drive, you could say.)
Anyway, the sad thing is, I know twice as many jigs as reels, & it's sort of accidental. It takes me almost no effort to learn many of them recently... I learned Haste to the Wedding (aka Waste in the Bedding) at a real session the other night after only a few go rounds. But many reels slide off my brain like teflon. Well that's an exaggeration, but the more I play with other musicians, I am beginning to understand that reels really are the preferred tune style, that is to say I'm hearing many more sets of reels being played than jigs. Is my perception way off on this? Also, can you recommend any techniques for learning reels by ear? My entire 'to learn' list is always entirely reels these days in an effort to catch up.
Looking forward to feedback & thanks!
# Posted on February 2nd 2003 by emily_bmore
Re: jigs vs reels
See, Emily, I'm the other way round. I'm totally jig deficient, for some reason jigs don't stick with me very well. I learn them well enough at a session to fake playing along after a couple of times through, but the next morning they're gone.
No, you're not off the mark -- reels tend to be more popular than jigs for whatever reason. (And everybody has lots of theories as to why.)
Don't really have any special techniques for learning reels in particular. I just pick the tunes I like and learn them (generally falling in love with somebody or other's setting and playing that recording over and over again), figuring that if I really like them, they'll stick.
Zina
# Posted on February 2nd 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: jigs vs reels
Hi Emily,
I feel sometimes jigs get the short shrift at sessions, too. Maybe because traditionally reels are played faster than jigs and hornpipes people feel they "rock out" more than the other types of tunes. And I think in this day and age speed = excitement = rocking out (that topic has been covered before .)
Personally, I like all they types, including polkas, barndances, etc. Besides, playing a couple reels after playing a few jigs and a few polkas for instance, makes the reels sound even more "reel-y
# Posted on February 2nd 2003 by Andee
Re: jigs vs reels
At a flute class at the Willie Clancy week a few years ago, Seamus MacMahon said of this....
"Its all reels played at sessions in Clare. Anybody starting a jig is a visitor, and anybody starting a hornpipe is probably a foreigner!"
That's not too much of an exaggeration.
# Posted on February 2nd 2003 by Kenny
Re: jigs vs reels
Seems to me that the 6/8 feel is underserved. The 4/4 of a reel is like Rock & Roll, you can rock 'em up and play as fast as you can.
Players like reels, but I've found that audiences start losing attention with reels (if you're at a session that cares). Throw in a jig and suddenly the pub comes alive again.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Rayzore
Re: jigs vs reels
Yes, Rayzore, that's true -- I've noticed that with the pub audiences as well -- the kids will get up and dance around to anything, really, but the tunes that really get the adults going tend to be jigs (except for the dancers who actually dance, they like the reels). People who don't really know anything about the music really like the jigs.
Personally, I find reels more interesting, is all. I like the way they flow. I find the melody lines to be more interesting. I actually prefer reels a little slower than really really fast, so I can hear and feel that flow, although of course with the better players it doesn't matter how fast they play them to hear that (which is likely why I have to play them slower to get that, not being one of the better players!).
Jigs are fun to play and relatively easy for anyone to understand -- you tend to play them slower and they have a bit of an automatic swing to them. Reels are more of a challenge to me and to the ear, and so are fun in a different way.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: jigs vs reels
As for learning reels...seems most of us struggle a bit more with reels in the beginning. I'm guessing that's because:
But don't go so slow that you lose the sense of phrasing.
(1) The rhythm and pulse isn't as obvious in reels as in most jigs (although I tend to think that too many jigs are oversimplified into ONE-two-three ONE two-three just because they can be).
(2) The phrases are longer--usually a minimum of four beats, but also commonly 8 to 16 beats to complete a phrase. Most jig phrases are shorter, and can be conveyed with fewer notes. (Also, our ears tend to hear reels in even longer, flowing phrases--sometimes entire halves of tunes--so learning to hear shorter phrases within the tune is an important step.)
(3) The expectation that reels must be played fast.
All of this conspires against us when we're just getting our feet wet in this music. So how do you cope?
First, slow down. Reels don't have to always be played at 240 bpm. Many past masters in this tradition prefer a more pedestrian pace, even on reels, even in sessions. So you have their permission to slow down
Second, my own personal experience is that I learn reels more easily if I quit worrying about pouncing on the beats in every bar and focus more on the unique personality of the tune and its phrases. In short, quit trying to make every reel sound the same. Don't force every reel into the same rigid rhythm. Drowsy Maggie and Star of Munster (for example) are both reels but they each respond better to very different pulses.
And third, listen for shorter phrases when you're learning the tune. Lots of players talk about the phrasing as a conversation--someone says something in the first 4 to 8 beats, and then another voice responds in the next 4 to 8 beats. In some tunes, you can almost hear this question-and-answer thing going on. Well, if you were listening to a real, verbal conversation, each person's part could be broken into even smaller phrases. The musical question, "Are you going to Donnybrook Fair" (a jig, I know, but the point's the same) can be split into "Are you going" and "to Donnybrook Fair."
So consider The Scholar:
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
K: D
(3Abc|dfaf gfeg|fdAG FGA=c|BGGF EFGg|fdec dcBA|
That's the first four bars, the first 16 beats, of the tune. And you might hear it as one long phrase. But try hearing the two voices, like an academic debate.
One scholar makes an assertion:
|dfaf gfeg|fdAG FGA...|
and the other counters it:
c|BGGF EFGg|fdec dcBA|
Now, to my ear, the second scholar gets interrupted there:
c|BGGF EFG--|
by the first coming back in
g|fdec dcBA|
So this breaks it into even smaller phrases.
Pay particular attention to those pick-up notes that come right before the change in voices--these are the "cues" that will help you remember when to switch voices, and the links that tie it all together once you've learned the tune. Rhythmically, they belong to the next bar, not the one they're actually in.
Of course, if you're really new to this music AND your instrument, you might approach reels from the other direction--taking the shortest possible building blocks and linking them together. So The Scholar then looks like:
(3ABc
dfaf
gfeg
fdAG
FGA=c
Yes, it helps to first deal with the technical issues of how to play dfaf, for instance, but as soon as that becomes more or less automatic, you should move past that piece-by-piece jigsaw puzzle approach to *listening* for the bigger chunks:
(3ABc|dfaf gfe
g|fdAG FGA
=c|BGGF EFG
g|fdec dcBA|
and so on.
So now we've walked through a bunch of different ways to break one reel into different size phrases, depending on what you're ready for. The key I think is to devleop an ear for this based on *your own* tastes and inclinations---YOU decide where to break the phrases. That's what makes every player sound different from the rest, and ultimately why this music is so much fun to play together.
Hope this helps
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Will Harmon
Re: jigs vs reels
Another way to look at this would be to say that there's an art to playing reels, and probably another one to playing jigs. Each of them takes quite a bit of listening and exploration to come to terms with, or to internalize the form.
Seems to me that I too have heard Seamus MacMahon say you wouldn't hear many reels in West Clare. On the other hand, he taught us a couple of jigs at the WW class, and I've since heard him play jigs in public (maybe he forgot!).
I've heard a couple of older whistle-players, both of whom were All-Ireland winners in their youth (not that that means all that much, but it does give them a certain credibility in my mind), say that jigs are a purer form of tune, and that "proper" jig playing is a bit of a dying art. Which is too bad, if it's true.
Greg
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Gzeg
Re: jigs vs reels
Will, that's so fabulous, yes it reassures me a great deal, thank you! Star & Drowsy were among the first 2 I learned months ago, & even now, I find myself adjusting things as I play through them with different players. For instance, swinging the A part of Star helped me learn it better, but I prefer to play it fast & rather straight (as I do with many reels). I still have a lot to learn on the swinging vs non-swinging issue, I know there are discussions in the archive, but swinging definitely helps me get the tune under my fingers more quickly, but then I often don't carry that to the public performance level, maybe b/c it does sound more flowing? Anyway, I've picked up nuances on the B part by hearing a good fiddler play it well, listening to bowing techniques & trying to match the sound. But the idea of a conversation, that's great. I guess it doesn't even have to be 2 scholars, maybe other characters in the tune's title, but that's pretty brilliant, esp for us who do like to use the title to help remember the tune.
Yeah the idea 'people who know nothing about the music really liking the jigs' is becoming more obvious.... but it's sad, b/c they're easy & fun, & audiences like them. Guess that's why they're more of a stepping stone to the more difficult reels. Zina did you always find reels easier? If so, that's impressive!
I guess the other reason I asked is that on many recordings, the track list seems to be pretty evenly split between jigs & reels, or maybe 2 reel sets for every jig set, but that doesn't seem to carry over to real life much.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by emily_bmore
A dying art
gzeg, we were posting at the same time. what great stories & anecdotes, thanks!
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by emily_bmore
Re: jigs vs reels
I think it might have something to do with what both Will and Greg were saying, Emily -- with this music in general, but also specifically jigs, there's an easier way to play it and a harder way to play it, and it has to do with both the art and craft of the thing.
As Will says, and Greg approached it from the other end, it's easy to dumb down the jig and you can still have it come out right enough to get by with. With the reels, that's a lot tougher, you can't fake it with the reels. If you've got the art, as Greg says, then the jigs can become every bit as challenging and flowingly melodic as the reels.
Which of course is easier to find, that art, when you've got great players to listen to. Thank God for recordings, yeah?
Zina
P.S. Yes, I guess I'm just a reel kind of person, so I wouldn't think it's particularly impressive, just sort of the way it is. Perhaps it's because my teachers started me out with reels immediately instead of starting me off with jigs, like a lot of other teachers do, I dunno. Or perhaps it's because of the stepdancing, since I did that first before playing the music, and I love to dance the reel.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Zina Lee
BTW, you can also think of the conversation as a question and answer -- John Williams calls the second phrase "the resolve", saying that the first phrase often sounds rather questioning and the second (or fourth) resolves the matter.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: jigs vs reels
I think the art in playing any tune comes from listening to the tune itself, and treating it not as an example of some stereotype of the meter but as an individual tune. Jigs are as idiosyncratic as reels, but it is possible to turn them into elevator muzak by just thumping away on the down beats. Again, it's the organic phrasing of the tune, the dialogue inside the tune, that suggests the rhythm, not mindless adherence to the time signature. And the personality of each tune comes out in the interplay of melody and pulse. In my own playing I tend to think of melody riding over the beat rather than the other way around because I hear the melody telling me what to do with the rhythm and accents to create that pulse. Other players (notably Kevin Burke) tend to fasten the melody onto a more rigid rhythmic foundation. That's not to say that lyrical playing can't be danceable and full of lift, or that rhythmic playing can't be melodic. Just where the emphasis lies. And every type of tune--reels, jigs, hornpipes, even polkas (snicker)--is open to these kinds of interpretation.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Will Harmon
Re: jigs vs reels
You can interpret polkas? Wow. Who knew?
It's funny, but in dancing it seems like there's generally two kinds of dancers -- dancers who sort of inherently get the jigs and dancer who just get the reels. They have to work a little harder to get the other time signature. I've seen lots of that with players, too. I wonder why that is?
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: jigs vs reels
Also a beginner, I've always thought that jigs are easier to remember and to play. And I also often prefer to listen to jigs on records and at concerts. It IS an older type of tunes than the reel. May be "purer". It seems like it was the most popular stuff in the 19th century. History or not - I believe that it is an under estimated type of tunes. Not only audience, but also musicians often look happy like kids when they play jigs!
All the wise stuff have already been said by others like Will and Zina, so I'll just add a personal reflection from my own struggling with the reels: The last months I've mostly played mandolin instead of the whistle. I've always had problems playing reels on the whistle, while jigs just come naturally.
But when I started to learn the mandolin I found out that it was the opposite - the reels came much "easier" (a k a "not so f*ing impossible") than the jigs. So right now I've got a repertoire mostly consisting of jigs on the whistle and reels on the mandolin!
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by lars
Re: jigs vs reels
Hmmm, interesting points. It never occured to me that reels would be harder than jigs or vice versa. For me it goes on a tune by tune basis. Some tunes are hard, some are not. And the ones I expedt to be difficult are sometimes not, and the ones I expect to be easier are sometimes not. Only polkas always seem easy to learn.
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Andee
Re: jigs vs reels
Andee. maybe you're right, but I find no difficulties with any jig at all (so far), while I do have difficulties with some reels. I tend to agree with Lars on this, as a whistle player, jigs are much easier to play than reels. In my opinion that is due to two factors: there's usually more notes to be played in a bar; and because of that, it's more difficult to me to put some grace notes or ornaments. A funny thing happens to me with reels as well: I play them better at a fast pace than at a slow one, and I have no explanation for that. On the other hand, the same reels played with the flute sound much better at a slow pace. Am I a freak??
# Posted on February 3rd 2003 by Toni Ribas
Re: jigs vs reels
I'd like to share a wee bit of wisdom passed on to me by an astonishingly gifted bones (2 hands) player:
"Reels are faster, Jiggs are louder."
Remember when the world was a simpler place?
Grav
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by Gra5ity
Effordless & effordlessness ...
... or Energy & Generator .... Emily don
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by crannog
Re: jigs vs reels
I'm new to this site, but saw this discussion and just had to jump in. I have no trouble picking up jigs either, but reels? Sign me up for that Teflon Ear Club, too! I definitely appreciate their complexities and especially the "conversation" aspect Will was talking about (thanks so much for that!), but I have to listen to the daggone things about 1,000 times before they even begin to sink in.
He's definitely a reel man, and I of course like jigs. I wonder if it is a string player/flute player thing (it's easier to breathe on jigs, I think)? Anyway, I too have noticed that the "casual" crowd seems to respond to jigs more readily, but I also have to say there's nothing like a set of reels ending with the Mountain Road or Gravel Walks or some such to get them up on the bar ..... (darn it)
Anyway, our fiddle player and I were just having this chat as we noticed our set list has many, many jigs (hmmm, I wonder who's to blame there????
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by cwildeky
Re: jigs vs reels
I think it's sad to think that any session, much less in Ireland, would only play one type of tune. When my daughter was taking step-dancing lessons I gained a new respect for the hornpipe. Personally I enjoy all types of tunes and I'm continually frustrated that singing is not included in many sessions. Irish dance music is rich in it's many forms and it would be a shame to see some of them die out from disuse.
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by radriano
Re: jigs vs reels
Why does it have to be a competition between reels and jigs?
I feel that any session that is all one or the other is boring in the extreme.
Like West Clare, Belfast seems to have gotten the reel bug and oyung players' repertoires seem to be aout 95% reels. What a pity!
In County Down we like a bit of variety and while the most frequent form is still probably the reel we almost always have flings, barn dances, the odd polka, slides, slip jigs, hornpipes, waltzes, marches, slow airs, a song or two, in between the pipes.
Makes for an altogether more satisfying session!
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by breandan
Erratum
Must have been a Freudian slip - should have read in between the PINTS of course
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by breandan
Re: jigs vs reels
Yay, Breandan--I agree wholeheartedly!
# Posted on February 4th 2003 by Andee
Re: jigs vs reels
This is one reason I like learning tunes with Zina. We learn mostly reels! Jigs come very easily to me, but the reels generally take me a great deal more effort, especially to play them a little faster than the jigs. So, I concentrate on learning the reels, the jigs come easier, and then my reel/jig count comes out more balanced. Now, I only wish I could find more slip jigs to learn... -Dirk
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by dirk
Re: jigs vs reels
You mean, like the fact that we decided on Monday night to come up with another jig set and then immediately figured out a new reel set, Dirk? *sigh*
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by Zina Lee
Re: jigs vs reels
Ther reason there tend to be more reels than jigs played in sessions is that there are more reels than there are jigs. This is because more reels than jigs are composed or assimilated into the tradition. This is because reels are more popular and get played more in sessions...
# Posted on February 5th 2003 by CreadurMawnOrganig