anytime I have to play A B c B on my flute, such as Father Kelly's, or gd B g d B e c A e c A, such as the third part of Humors of Ennistymon; those drive me crazy, so I spend extra time on them.
On the whistle, probably the hardest bit for me was eCgC aCgC w/ C nats, but I went out of my way to get it down since it shows up in the Chicago, Julia Delaney's and the Humors of Scarriff which are some of my favorites.
Also, the second quarter of the B part of Wise Maid was unusually hard to get down for me.
Hornpipes are tricky bits. tradmoosic; I am looking for who has recorded those tunes. Any suggestions? Harry Bradley has done "The Stage" (aka "Merry Makers' Club" Natalie MacMaster plays "The Western" . . . Does anyone know who plays "The Killarney Wonder" (Finnea Lassies) on "The Irish Music Anthology (40 Classic Songs, Jigs And Reels)"?
Greg the Piano Tuner; try some even trickier bits like "The White Petticoat
Submitted on October 16th 2001 by Will CPT. http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/332
"Humors of Ennistymon" might not seem so difficult. Another slippery one is "The Wild One" http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5891
I listened to the MIDI & think the posted version may be 'off'. There is an interesting audio clip from the comments.
Wild One Medley - The Moving Violations
Posted on March 10th 2007 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious http://www.themovingviolations.com/
Whiddler; good tunes all around. Do you play them all on the D whistle/flute? I play some tunes on G or C whistles & fifes.
Seems as if "tricky bits" might refer to something difficult to play on a given instrument.* Does articulation/ornamentation have any effect on how tricky they are?
Or is it more about getting the 'right' notes in whilst keeping the rhythm (timing)?
*as oppossed to being able to suss out what you hear.
Let yourself grow into the tricky bits of tunes.
First and foremost keep the time of a tune.
So what if you make the odd fvck up. By this time next year you'll be wondering what all the fuss was about. Tricky bit, you say? Where was that? Could you remind me please?
That's my humble opinion based on my own (probably limited) little bit of experience.
F# to Cnat in the second bar of Heathery Breeze - you have to
rock your bow and slide down at the same time with finger two on
both strings. I can do it reliably now but it's still tricky.
No offense Martin but I prefer Charle Lennon's "Kilty Town'
Although I have only heard your tune on MIDI ~ double speed.
Dow might have some good ones in the comments.
It's fairly tricky but it sounds too much like a violin etude.
It needs to be more asymmetrical or something ... not sure
what's missing but it ain't in the Fahey league
That is a wee bit funny you would say that. Sometimes it seems like fiddle players, present company excepted, are working on etudes. You know ~ not tunes. Just every now & again. It passes.
Thats weird I dont even know what an etude is I agree the second half of the turn was kinda unnecessary but thats how it actually started, I just simplified it a bit to make the first bit of the turn . I left it in there cos its was meant to be tricky, I 'ts pretty tricky for me!. I never had no violin lesson in my life, though once a friend showed me a couple of things...
Random - yes, I am familiar with the species. I am not
one of them - mainly because I don't have the 'chops' for it yet
I like to recall something Martin Hayes said -- probably said many times
in many interviews -- 'the more people try to impress me,
the less I am impressed'. But I don't think all of them are out to impress;
they just get a buzz out doing what they can do.
For me, the tricky bits just need a little love and attention, and they usually lose their trickiness. A lot of it has to do with things that are unfamiliar, like strange keys or mode changes, unusual string crossings or arpeggios, or difficulty with the physical requirements of playing a particular part.
Some examples:
Tough bits in unusual keys:
Gc~c2 gceg|fdcB GcBd (Paddy Fahy tune in C)
d2 B BAB|gfe ^de=d (Trip to London in A)
Arpeggio string crossing:
GBd gba|gdB ecA (Maid at the spinning wheel)
Tough fingering (on banjo, at least)
dBB2 bafb|afec ABce (Musical Priest)
=FEF AFA|c=fd cA^F (Boys of Lough Gowna)
And Whiddler, I remember having an issue with the part of Wise Maid that you are referring to. It twists in such a way that I had a devil of a time getting it under my fingers, and I used to freak out about it every time it came around. And then one day, it got easy. I didn't do anything in particular to make it click, it just happened, and I couldn't remember what was so hard about it. Very strange
I don't believe it's strange in the slightest. It's simply what happens when you play rather than practice. You don't do anything in particular, you just play, and it all of a sudden, you notice it gets easy.
(Note: I'm not saying it all of a sudden gets easy, but that you don't notice it because there is no pressure)
Yeah, maybe "strange" was the wrong choice of words. It was a strange sensation for me at the time, however. Because it was the first time I had that happen. This was maybe a year into my playing, and it was a indication of a bit of a plateau.
The interesting thing about that sensation of something tricky becoming easy, is that it happens to me all the time now, but it will happen minutes into learning a tune instead of months later.
An example of tricky bits
An example of tricky bits
A few times members have mentioned learning the tricky bits of tunes. Any examples worthy of discussion?
# Posted on November 9th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
those crossing bits in the stage hornpipe and the western after that. the killarney wonder hornpipe as well.
# Posted on November 9th 2008 by tradmoosic
Re: An example of tricky bits
anytime I have to play A B c B on my flute, such as Father Kelly's, or gd B g d B e c A e c A, such as the third part of Humors of Ennistymon; those drive me crazy, so I spend extra time on them.
# Posted on November 9th 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: An example of tricky bits
On the whistle, probably the hardest bit for me was eCgC aCgC w/ C nats, but I went out of my way to get it down since it shows up in the Chicago, Julia Delaney's and the Humors of Scarriff which are some of my favorites.
Also, the second quarter of the B part of Wise Maid was unusually hard to get down for me.
# Posted on November 9th 2008 by Whiddler
Re: An example of tricky bits
The second part of the Blarney Pilgrim is a bit of a finger-twister.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by justjim
Re: An example of tricky bits
Hornpipes are tricky bits. tradmoosic; I am looking for who has recorded those tunes. Any suggestions? Harry Bradley has done "The Stage" (aka "Merry Makers' Club" Natalie MacMaster plays "The Western" . . . Does anyone know who plays "The Killarney Wonder" (Finnea Lassies) on "The Irish Music Anthology (40 Classic Songs, Jigs And Reels)"?
Greg the Piano Tuner; try some even trickier bits like "The White Petticoat
Submitted on October 16th 2001 by Will CPT.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/332
"Humors of Ennistymon" might not seem so difficult. Another slippery one is "The Wild One"
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5891
I listened to the MIDI & think the posted version may be 'off'. There is an interesting audio clip from the comments.
Wild One Medley - The Moving Violations
Posted on March 10th 2007 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
http://www.themovingviolations.com/
Whiddler; good tunes all around. Do you play them all on the D whistle/flute? I play some tunes on G or C whistles & fifes.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
Last Tuesday our accordion player introduced a jig set;
Jimmy Ward's/Blarney Pilgrim/Cook in the Kitchen.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
The last part of The singing stream is a killer on the fiddle
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by bb
Re: An example of tricky bits
|dFAd FAdG|AdFA dgfe|
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by bb
Re: An example of tricky bits
Seems as if "tricky bits" might refer to something difficult to play on a given instrument.* Does articulation/ornamentation have any effect on how tricky they are?
Or is it more about getting the 'right' notes in whilst keeping the rhythm (timing)?
*as oppossed to being able to suss out what you hear.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
I bet some fecker is already thinking about writing a tune consisting of just the the tricky bits.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by ...
Re: An example of tricky bits
It wouldn't be the 1st time.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
Michael Coleman recorded all of them, i think you should look there first! lol!
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by tradmoosic
Re: An example of tricky bits
Seamus Walshe does an amazing version (on box) of the Stage, followed by Queen of the West
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by millionyears_bc
Re: An example of tricky bits
Let yourself grow into the tricky bits of tunes.
First and foremost keep the time of a tune.
So what if you make the odd fvck up. By this time next year you'll be wondering what all the fuss was about. Tricky bit, you say? Where was that? Could you remind me please?
That's my humble opinion based on my own (probably limited) little bit of experience.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Rudall the time
Re: An example of tricky bits
I find this pattern tough and also on the other strings - rocking on the
third finger. Sometimes I hit it and sometimes not:
|c2ec gcec|
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Hup
Re: An example of tricky bits
from Tamlin, but this pattern or similar comes up elsewhere
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Hup
Re: An example of tricky bits
Here's another nasty bit (from Road to Recovery)
|DA,B,C D_B, ~_B,2|F_B,DB, GCEC|
I don't even like this tune, but it's a nice little challenge
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Hup
Re: An example of tricky bits
F# to Cnat in the second bar of Heathery Breeze - you have to
rock your bow and slide down at the same time with finger two on
both strings. I can do it reliably now but it's still tricky.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Hup
Re: An example of tricky bits
I think it's only a matter of time before we have a new tune, "Tricky Bits", added to the database
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: An example of tricky bits
Indeed - and it needs to be in 5/4 time of course
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Hup
Re: An example of tricky bits
The last 4 bars of The Reconciliation (on the fiddle).
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by west-coaster
Re: An example of tricky bits
for me, the tricky bits include:
tuning, tempo and remembering
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by DubChieftain
Re: An example of tricky bits
this is a bit tricky: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/scottskinner/display.php?ID=JSS0208
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by RichardB
Search for tricky bits?
The Tricky Tune
Submitted on July 18th 2001 by martin t.
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/198
No offense Martin but I prefer Charle Lennon's "Kilty Town'
Although I have only heard your tune on MIDI ~ double speed.
Dow might have some good ones in the comments.
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
credit where credit is due.
"The Tricky Reel" Gm
composed by jeff_lindqvist
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
I'm not giving any body any credit...
http://www.personalloansmadeeasy.co.uk/loans-uk-info/credit_crunch.jpg
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by Hugo Chavez
Re: An example of tricky bits
Funny you should mention that greg...just submitted Church Island, AKA tricky bits
sorry Hup, its not in 5/4
# Posted on November 10th 2008 by piobagusfidil
Re: An example of tricky bits
It's fairly tricky but it sounds too much like a violin etude.
It needs to be more asymmetrical or something ... not sure
what's missing but it ain't in the Fahey league
# Posted on November 11th 2008 by Hup
Re: An example of tricky bits
That is a wee bit funny you would say that. Sometimes it seems like fiddle players, present company excepted, are working on etudes. You know ~ not tunes. Just every now & again. It passes.
# Posted on November 11th 2008 by Ben Steen
Re: An example of tricky bits
Thats weird I dont even know what an etude is
I agree the second half of the turn was kinda unnecessary but thats how it actually started, I just simplified it a bit to make the first bit of the turn . I left it in there cos its was meant to be tricky, I 'ts pretty tricky for me!. I never had no violin lesson in my life, though once a friend showed me a couple of things...
# Posted on November 11th 2008 by piobagusfidil
Re: An example of tricky bits
Random - yes, I am familiar with the species. I am not
one of them - mainly because I don't have the 'chops' for it yet
I like to recall something Martin Hayes said -- probably said many times
in many interviews -- 'the more people try to impress me,
the less I am impressed'. But I don't think all of them are out to impress;
they just get a buzz out doing what they can do.
# Posted on November 11th 2008 by Hup
Re: An example of tricky bits
For me, the tricky bits just need a little love and attention, and they usually lose their trickiness. A lot of it has to do with things that are unfamiliar, like strange keys or mode changes, unusual string crossings or arpeggios, or difficulty with the physical requirements of playing a particular part.
Some examples:
Tough bits in unusual keys:
Gc~c2 gceg|fdcB GcBd (Paddy Fahy tune in C)
d2 B BAB|gfe ^de=d (Trip to London in A)
Arpeggio string crossing:
GBd gba|gdB ecA (Maid at the spinning wheel)
Tough fingering (on banjo, at least)
dBB2 bafb|afec ABce (Musical Priest)
=FEF AFA|c=fd cA^F (Boys of Lough Gowna)
And Whiddler, I remember having an issue with the part of Wise Maid that you are referring to. It twists in such a way that I had a devil of a time getting it under my fingers, and I used to freak out about it every time it came around. And then one day, it got easy. I didn't do anything in particular to make it click, it just happened, and I couldn't remember what was so hard about it. Very strange
# Posted on November 11th 2008 by Reverend
Re: An example of tricky bits
I don't believe it's strange in the slightest. It's simply what happens when you play rather than practice. You don't do anything in particular, you just play, and it all of a sudden, you notice it gets easy.
(Note: I'm not saying it all of a sudden gets easy, but that you don't notice it because there is no pressure)
# Posted on November 11th 2008 by ...
Re: An example of tricky bits
Yeah, maybe "strange" was the wrong choice of words. It was a strange sensation for me at the time, however. Because it was the first time I had that happen. This was maybe a year into my playing, and it was a indication of a bit of a plateau.
The interesting thing about that sensation of something tricky becoming easy, is that it happens to me all the time now, but it will happen minutes into learning a tune instead of months later.
# Posted on November 11th 2008 by Reverend