I love a nice slow air played well, especially on a flute. But very rarely, in my experience, are slow airs played at a session. Has anybody noticed any differently? If Im correct is that the musicians are so keen to tear into the next set of jigs, polkas or reels that they dont want the pace of the session to slow down?
We sometimes play a slow tune en masse, such as Da Slocket Light (don't know why we bother), but a proper, solo slow air wouldn't go down too well in the noisy atmosphere of our pubs. Partly, we have engendered that atmosphere ourselves of course. On a quiet night it could work. Or at the end of an evening when the musicians are the stragglers in the pub (or when we've driven everyone out). You haven't got to be too p*ssed though.
We have several locally we play all the time, Eamon an Chnoic, Ar Éireann Neosfoinn Cé Hí, etc. Just for flavor, like a song or two, then we head back to the serious diddling.
Like SWFL, we normally have one or two at mot sessions. Like the songs they're all part of the session tapestry. Most slow airs are best played on a solo instrument although this requires some expertise on the part of the player. It's probably this aspect of slow airs that limits the number we hear at sessions as not every musician would feel comfortable under these conditions. As for airs that can be attempted by the whole session group, Eamon an Chnoic and Ar Éireann Neosfoinn Cé Hí referred to by SWFL are a couple of good examples. Boolavogue and Mountains of Pomeroy are two more that come to mind.
Rare - it requires a competent player and a decent atmosphere. Pub audiences tend to prefer the crash and burn full on jigs and reels!! If the pub has a quiet night someone may play one.
Yes its nice,, like a good traditional song it can change the mood when you've been playing to many fast tunes ,,Is only problem is you need good Order - And thats hard to find in most sessions,esp,, Near the end of an evening .
jim,,,
At the end of the night, we sometimes do Canyon Moonrise or Floating From Skerry. I put links to them a while back in the Comments tab of Celtic Fiddle Festival -
we sometimes play some and it is always nice but there is something so riveting about playing mega fast or fun tunes with a huge group of people that it is very tempting to just play quick tunes
I would always play a few slow airs at a session, on the mandolin. Add in the "Lonesome Boatman" when I use a whistle, and that's at least three a night.
I used to play one or two during the course of the evening (whistle and flute). I stopped because so many people would start to join in. Frankly, I believe playing a slow air is a solo experience. I can't for the life of me figure out how someone is going to 'get inside my head' while I'm playing. There have been some occasions where a very talented individual has played along as a counter melody. This has been rare. It's the instances where two or three people decide to play the air along with me, with various tunings, as many different interpretations, and hearing only themselves. I also feel that it seems more like a performance somehow...
I'm all for a nicely done air at a session most anytime. Of course, the common sense rule applies.
We happened upon a session at the Greenbriar in Boston this past summer. There must have been 40 or more musicians jammed into the place (which gives you some idea of the amenity if the session). Apparently headless, the sessioners would sit staring at each other sipping their pints waiting for someone to start tunes. Then someone started an air and, beautifully played as it was, caused 39 other musicians to sit with their instruments in their laps for 4 or 5 minutes until it was finished. Then another air, then another, then some singing. It was amazing. I never saw so many musicians in one placed not playing together. Now given the cacophony of what the session sounded like when everyone did crank it up, the solo performances (for that is what they really were) were probably more enjoyable to many folks. In the hour and a half or so we were there, at least an hour of the time was spent with one person either playing an air or an individual singing. It was one of the oddest sessions I'd ever been to!
I'm with Imnotirish as far as people joining in is concerned - my heart sinks when it happens.
My "snapshot" of experience is that airs (and songs) were more accepted in the sessions I used to go to *in Ireland* than in the ones I see now that I live elsewhere. Of course, as far as songs are concerned, there is still the tradition in Ireland the the whole pub goes quiet for a song - the "hush for a song" tradition.
It is a deligtful experience to start a slow air in a noisy pub and find the place gradually falling silent to listen. (Doesn't happen often, I hasten to add!)
There is a big difference between playing a slow air in a traditional way and a bunch of people playing a slow tune in unison or with harmonies. I'm a bit surprised to see Boolavogue described as a slow air. Surprised but not bothered.
The Chieftains usually recorded slow airs played as an ensemble, if I remember correctly.
To me it seems as if a rhythmic slow air, maybe left to its introducer alone for a solo start, is an invitation to other instrumentalists to join in; an arhythmic sean-nos one, not so, or less so.
I throw one in on whistle or flute... and sometimes concertina, but it has to be the right time. The pub has to be quiet enough that it will be heard at all, and the musicians have to have gotten a lot of tunes under their belt so they aren't too antsy to play. I really enjoy playing them or listening to others play them. It's a great garnish to a satisfying session.
I would play one occasionally, but yes, it has to be quiet, and perhaps fit into a natural lull in the session, maybe when all the smokers have nipped outside for a fag!
There seems to be a few times in any session where the players naturally seem to want to take a break - sort of 'intermission'. That has always seemed to be a good time for a slow air or a song imo, and the people at the session seem to appreciate the change too.
There's one slow air which I have always thought goes over really well at these times (among others no doubt), but just in my observation, and that is Inisheer. Almost always, a lot of people ask what the tune was, and more often than not it brings the players back to join in as well. Lovely tune. Never fails to please...what's that they say about you can't please all the people all the time? This one comes close.
You see, this is it. I love Inisheer and play it in "intermissions" like you do - but it isn't really a slow air, is it? I'm not exactly sure what we're talking about here. It reminds me of pop music in the 60s when anything slower than all-out rock 'n' roll was called a "ballad." We're either talking about slow airs or slow tunes in general (including slow airs) and we have yet to define in this thread which we're referring to.
You're right, Steve. Strictly it wouldn't be a slow air. I didn't make the distinction in my own mind when thinking about it.
Actually, I was going to add that waltzes seem to go over really well with the listeners, and maybe that is part of the appeal of this tune. A good proportion of the listeners always ask what the tune is. I played it at a wedding on the pipes, and even all the guests wanted to know.
Slow airs like Aisling Gheal, Valentia Island go over really well too and get a very good response, but people don't ask the names of them very often. Curiouser and curiouser, I say.
I think slow tunes such as Inisheer that can be played nicely with accompaniment sort of fulfil the need for contrast when a few sets of quick tunes have been played. They sit more easily in sessions than true-blue slow airs, most of the time anyway. Depending on conditions. Caveats, caveats.
I agree. A full session of accompaniment of something like Valentia Island doesn't ever happen, from memory. It's a solo, sean-nos sort of thing, as a slow air.
I think Steve is absolutely spot on in saying it is the contrast between the slow tune and the faster sets.
Another one that goes over really well, and also gets a join in by all players is Si Beag Si Mor. Is it an air? I don't know, but it's a waltz again, isn't it?
Yes.
True solo slow airs seem to have an essayistic type of 'air' to them, if I can say that, so that listeners seem to 'study' them or something - not just musical technique but imagery conveyable. Whereas things like slow tunes, waltzy types of things, seem to me to make listeners all want to join arms and sway back and forth or wave candles or cigarette lighters in the air in time - Lighted ones that is, but hey, every session to their own.
Years ago, we always used to finish the night at my session with Tabhair Dom do Lámh, because it was the landladie's favourite tune. Another slow 3/4 tune which is not really a walze.
I suppose it's just the way you play them. If something is played like a waltze in 3/4 time such as Tabhar Do Do Lámh, then everyone can join in but is it really a slow air anymore? I don't know if there is a definition anywhere for what constitutes a slow air - one criteria is that they're not constrained by time signatures and a good example of this is where the phrasing follows the words in the song. But then what if there isn't a song as would be the case with the Lament for Staker Wallace? It's easy enough with the likes of Sí Beag, Sí Mór which is a Carolan composition and wouldn't be classed as a slow air but some of the others fall into a kind of grey area.
Yes I wouldn't really consider Tabhair dom do lámh or any other tune when played in this way to be a slow air as such, just a slower sort of tune. I agree a proper slow air should be played freely, without a set time signature, and this is why they really work best played as a solo.
Slow Airs at sessions
Slow Airs at sessions
I love a nice slow air played well, especially on a flute. But very rarely, in my experience, are slow airs played at a session. Has anybody noticed any differently? If Im correct is that the musicians are so keen to tear into the next set of jigs, polkas or reels that they dont want the pace of the session to slow down?
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by BanjoBongo
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
We sometimes play a slow tune en masse, such as Da Slocket Light (don't know why we bother), but a proper, solo slow air wouldn't go down too well in the noisy atmosphere of our pubs. Partly, we have engendered that atmosphere ourselves of course. On a quiet night it could work. Or at the end of an evening when the musicians are the stragglers in the pub (or when we've driven everyone out). You haven't got to be too p*ssed though.
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
We have several locally we play all the time, Eamon an Chnoic, Ar Éireann Neosfoinn Cé Hí, etc. Just for flavor, like a song or two, then we head back to the serious diddling.
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Like SWFL, we normally have one or two at mot sessions. Like the songs they're all part of the session tapestry. Most slow airs are best played on a solo instrument although this requires some expertise on the part of the player. It's probably this aspect of slow airs that limits the number we hear at sessions as not every musician would feel comfortable under these conditions. As for airs that can be attempted by the whole session group, Eamon an Chnoic and Ar Éireann Neosfoinn Cé Hí referred to by SWFL are a couple of good examples. Boolavogue and Mountains of Pomeroy are two more that come to mind.
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by Bannerman
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Rare - it requires a competent player and a decent atmosphere. Pub audiences tend to prefer the crash and burn full on jigs and reels!! If the pub has a quiet night someone may play one.
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by Tarrantella
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Yes its nice,, like a good traditional song it can change the mood when you've been playing to many fast tunes ,,Is only problem is you need good Order - And thats hard to find in most sessions,esp,, Near the end of an evening .
jim,,,
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by FIDDLE4
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
At the end of the night, we sometimes do Canyon Moonrise or Floating From Skerry. I put links to them a while back in the Comments tab of Celtic Fiddle Festival -
http://www.thesession.org/recordings/display/176
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by domnull
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Jeez I wouldnt class it as a session without a nice slow air.
We play at least three at each session.
I love slow airs. the fairest rose is my favourite at the moment.
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by session savage
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
we sometimes play some and it is always nice but there is something so riveting about playing mega fast or fun tunes with a huge group of people that it is very tempting to just play quick tunes
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by frafyduck
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I would always play a few slow airs at a session, on the mandolin. Add in the "Lonesome Boatman" when I use a whistle, and that's at least three a night.
We can control our noisy audience.
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I used to play one or two during the course of the evening (whistle and flute). I stopped because so many people would start to join in. Frankly, I believe playing a slow air is a solo experience. I can't for the life of me figure out how someone is going to 'get inside my head' while I'm playing. There have been some occasions where a very talented individual has played along as a counter melody. This has been rare. It's the instances where two or three people decide to play the air along with me, with various tunings, as many different interpretations, and hearing only themselves. I also feel that it seems more like a performance somehow...
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by Imnotirish
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I'm all for a nicely done air at a session most anytime. Of course, the common sense rule applies.
We happened upon a session at the Greenbriar in Boston this past summer. There must have been 40 or more musicians jammed into the place (which gives you some idea of the amenity if the session). Apparently headless, the sessioners would sit staring at each other sipping their pints waiting for someone to start tunes. Then someone started an air and, beautifully played as it was, caused 39 other musicians to sit with their instruments in their laps for 4 or 5 minutes until it was finished. Then another air, then another, then some singing. It was amazing. I never saw so many musicians in one placed not playing together. Now given the cacophony of what the session sounded like when everyone did crank it up, the solo performances (for that is what they really were) were probably more enjoyable to many folks. In the hour and a half or so we were there, at least an hour of the time was spent with one person either playing an air or an individual singing. It was one of the oddest sessions I'd ever been to!
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by daddae
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I'm with Imnotirish as far as people joining in is concerned - my heart sinks when it happens.
My "snapshot" of experience is that airs (and songs) were more accepted in the sessions I used to go to *in Ireland* than in the ones I see now that I live elsewhere. Of course, as far as songs are concerned, there is still the tradition in Ireland the the whole pub goes quiet for a song - the "hush for a song" tradition.
It is a deligtful experience to start a slow air in a noisy pub and find the place gradually falling silent to listen. (Doesn't happen often, I hasten to add!)
# Posted on February 19th 2008 by Lingpupa
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
There is a big difference between playing a slow air in a traditional way and a bunch of people playing a slow tune in unison or with harmonies. I'm a bit surprised to see Boolavogue described as a slow air. Surprised but not bothered.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
The Chieftains usually recorded slow airs played as an ensemble, if I remember correctly.
To me it seems as if a rhythmic slow air, maybe left to its introducer alone for a solo start, is an invitation to other instrumentalists to join in; an arhythmic sean-nos one, not so, or less so.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by nicholas
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I wouldn't call it an air unless it's sean-nos. It's just a slow tune.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by kjay_bc_box
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I throw one in on whistle or flute... and sometimes concertina, but it has to be the right time. The pub has to be quiet enough that it will be heard at all, and the musicians have to have gotten a lot of tunes under their belt so they aren't too antsy to play. I really enjoy playing them or listening to others play them. It's a great garnish to a satisfying session.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Phantom Button
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I would play one occasionally, but yes, it has to be quiet, and perhaps fit into a natural lull in the session, maybe when all the smokers have nipped outside for a fag!
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by cathycook
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Fag? Don't you mean puff? a drag? Oh bugger.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by RockyRoader
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
There seems to be a few times in any session where the players naturally seem to want to take a break - sort of 'intermission'. That has always seemed to be a good time for a slow air or a song imo, and the people at the session seem to appreciate the change too.
There's one slow air which I have always thought goes over really well at these times (among others no doubt), but just in my observation, and that is Inisheer. Almost always, a lot of people ask what the tune was, and more often than not it brings the players back to join in as well. Lovely tune. Never fails to please...what's that they say about you can't please all the people all the time? This one comes close.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
You see, this is it. I love Inisheer and play it in "intermissions" like you do - but it isn't really a slow air, is it? I'm not exactly sure what we're talking about here. It reminds me of pop music in the 60s when anything slower than all-out rock 'n' roll was called a "ballad." We're either talking about slow airs or slow tunes in general (including slow airs) and we have yet to define in this thread which we're referring to.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
You're right, Steve. Strictly it wouldn't be a slow air. I didn't make the distinction in my own mind when thinking about it.
Actually, I was going to add that waltzes seem to go over really well with the listeners, and maybe that is part of the appeal of this tune. A good proportion of the listeners always ask what the tune is. I played it at a wedding on the pipes, and even all the guests wanted to know.
Slow airs like Aisling Gheal, Valentia Island go over really well too and get a very good response, but people don't ask the names of them very often. Curiouser and curiouser, I say.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I think slow tunes such as Inisheer that can be played nicely with accompaniment sort of fulfil the need for contrast when a few sets of quick tunes have been played. They sit more easily in sessions than true-blue slow airs, most of the time anyway. Depending on conditions. Caveats, caveats.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I agree. A full session of accompaniment of something like Valentia Island doesn't ever happen, from memory. It's a solo, sean-nos sort of thing, as a slow air.
I think Steve is absolutely spot on in saying it is the contrast between the slow tune and the faster sets.
Another one that goes over really well, and also gets a join in by all players is Si Beag Si Mor. Is it an air? I don't know, but it's a waltz again, isn't it?
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
It doesn't sound quite so waltzy as some other waltzes. I saw one book in which it had a 6:4 time signature.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Steve Shaw
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Yes.
True solo slow airs seem to have an essayistic type of 'air' to them, if I can say that, so that listeners seem to 'study' them or something - not just musical technique but imagery conveyable. Whereas things like slow tunes, waltzy types of things, seem to me to make listeners all want to join arms and sway back and forth or wave candles or cigarette lighters in the air in time - Lighted ones that is, but hey, every session to their own.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Maybe it's the swaying back and forth with the candles that causes the slow air. (Just had to throw it in, sorry)
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Duijera Dubh
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Years ago, we always used to finish the night at my session with Tabhair Dom do Lámh, because it was the landladie's favourite tune. Another slow 3/4 tune which is not really a walze.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by cathycook
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I suppose it's just the way you play them. If something is played like a waltze in 3/4 time such as Tabhar Do Do Lámh, then everyone can join in but is it really a slow air anymore? I don't know if there is a definition anywhere for what constitutes a slow air - one criteria is that they're not constrained by time signatures and a good example of this is where the phrasing follows the words in the song. But then what if there isn't a song as would be the case with the Lament for Staker Wallace? It's easy enough with the likes of Sí Beag, Sí Mór which is a Carolan composition and wouldn't be classed as a slow air but some of the others fall into a kind of grey area.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by Bannerman
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
Yes I wouldn't really consider Tabhair dom do lámh or any other tune when played in this way to be a slow air as such, just a slower sort of tune. I agree a proper slow air should be played freely, without a set time signature, and this is why they really work best played as a solo.
# Posted on February 20th 2008 by cathycook
Re: Slow Airs at sessions
I'm talking about slow airs like, "Were You at the Rock," and "The Bonny Bunch of Roses" etc.
# Posted on February 21st 2008 by Phantom Button