I am new to putting together sets but have been playing music for years. Does anyone have a few good sets that I could try? Also, is it ok to have a set made up of both jigs and reels?
It is certainly ok to mix jigs and reels. The Bothy Band did it; they have a famous long set of a jig and five reels. The switch of rythm creates a nice "lift" as you go into the reel.
Here's a set that I play a lot:
Sarsfield's Jig/Boys of the Town(Jig)/Music in the Glen(Reel)
I don't know why, but some sets just naturally suggest themselves. You'll be playing a tune and the next tune just pops into your mind. It's the transition you might stumble on unless you practice it. Right now we are playing the Martin Hayes set:"Martin Rochford's_Green Gowned Lass" , reels in Ddorian
and F.
I prefer to mix keys of D & G, in either reels, or jigs, and find mixing jigs and reels in the same set rather awkward unless they you make an "arrangement" and practice the transitions. Smooth transitions (without dropping a beat) provides the "lift" you hear in sets.
There is a famous jig into reel set while just the jig one is here: http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1514
I need more practice on the reel setting. Maude Miller would go nicely with My Mind Will Never Be Easy in G.
Ofcourse it's OK to do the jig into reel thing, but it can be awkward in a session. You have to let people know what you're gonna do, which then smacks off "arrangement", which for me defeats the object of a session in the first place. That aside though, we often play that big Bothy Band set. Everybody knows where it goes so well that the whole set feels like just one long tune.
My two favorite sets for contra dances are made up of two jigs and a reel. One set is Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket (A), Sean Ryan's Jig (am), and Star of Munter (am). The other favorite of mine is Calliope House (E), Morrison's Jig (em), and Cooley's Reel (em). Dancers love the switch into the reel. They think we've increased the tempo, and they whoop and kick up their feet a little higher.
But don't try that for stepdancers or Irish set dancers or figure or ceili dancers, or you'll get a major crusty (the kind of dances they do for each tune are very specific). I agree with Michael -- nothing wrong with it for performances or even at sessions, but it does smack of "having to know", which is a little unfriendly if there's lots of people who don't know what you're going to do.
Zina wrote: "I agree with Michael -- nothing wrong with it for performances or even at sessions, but it does smack of "having to know", which is a little unfriendly if there's lots of people who don't know what you're going to do." This brings up an interesting point: When I was in Ireland, I noticed at some of the better sessions I observed that the musicians would often discuss what tunes they would like to play next. They would play small snippets of the tune until all around who knew the tune could recognize it, and they would discuss what order etc. (even jigs-to-reels were possible) and the back-up player knew what key changes might occur -- and off they went -- and it was really fun. I tried the idea when I returned to SF and the locals accused me of trying to "control the session" *sigh* It's amazing how close-minded we can be when we're engaged in activity that's supposedly just the opposite. It seems that most musicians at sessions prefer to appear spontaneous and unrestrained when playing, yet the enforcement of their spontaneity is what sometimes places limits on the possibilities.
I went to a lovely session in Clare led by Jackie Daly, where he played a snippet of each tune before starting the set. No discussion. I have no idea if they were tried and true combinations of tunes or if he was constructing them on the spot. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the music was great. There wasn't as intense a feeling of anxiety, panic, and exhilaration or dispair as you make or don't make the transition from one tune to the next, which I think is usually mistaken for spontaneity. Sometimes there's a spontaneous decision (but I think more often than not it only seems spontaneous to the players who aren't leading that set of tunes).
Most decent sessions have a mix of worked out sets, spontaneous sets, standard sets (Tarbolton, Longford Collecter, Sailors Bonnet. etc), sets that work, sets that peter out, sets that go on a bit. etc etc. That's what makes a good session fun.
I was at one last night where a group of young lads came in, and just shouted out the tunes as they changed. That happens pretty often. Or occasionally the fiddler might mutter, right, I'm gonna do so-and-so, then such-and-such, and then we'll finish off with whatsaname. OK, off we go. Sometimes they will play a snippet as an "aide memoire".
I like it when not everybody knows all the tunes. That way you get a de facto "arrangement" as instruments drop in and out of the mix. Its good though when you finish up on a pretty well-known one and everybody comes back in. Sometimes listeners will ask "How do you know when to start and stop?" as if there was - heaven forbid - a plan.
Sets
Sets
I am new to putting together sets but have been playing music for years. Does anyone have a few good sets that I could try? Also, is it ok to have a set made up of both jigs and reels?
# Posted on April 8th 2004 by bartolj
Re: Sets
It is certainly ok to mix jigs and reels. The Bothy Band did it; they have a famous long set of a jig and five reels. The switch of rythm creates a nice "lift" as you go into the reel.
Here's a set that I play a lot:
Sarsfield's Jig/Boys of the Town(Jig)/Music in the Glen(Reel)
-Jonathan
# Posted on April 8th 2004 by jdave
Re: Sets
I don't know why, but some sets just naturally suggest themselves. You'll be playing a tune and the next tune just pops into your mind. It's the transition you might stumble on unless you practice it. Right now we are playing the Martin Hayes set:"Martin Rochford's_Green Gowned Lass" , reels in Ddorian
and F.
I prefer to mix keys of D & G, in either reels, or jigs, and find mixing jigs and reels in the same set rather awkward unless they you make an "arrangement" and practice the transitions. Smooth transitions (without dropping a beat) provides the "lift" you hear in sets.
# Posted on April 8th 2004 by wvwhistler
Re: Sets
There is a famous jig into reel set while just the jig one is here: http://thesession.org/tunes/display.php/1514
I need more practice on the reel setting. Maude Miller would go nicely with My Mind Will Never Be Easy in G.
# Posted on April 8th 2004 by slainte
Re: Sets
Ofcourse it's OK to do the jig into reel thing, but it can be awkward in a session. You have to let people know what you're gonna do, which then smacks off "arrangement", which for me defeats the object of a session in the first place. That aside though, we often play that big Bothy Band set. Everybody knows where it goes so well that the whole set feels like just one long tune.
# Posted on April 8th 2004 by ...
Re: Sets
I really like the combination of a jig into a slip jig and back into a jig. Or try slides into polkas - Sliabh Notes does a nice set of those.
# Posted on April 10th 2004 by Ceolagusrince
Re: Sets
My two favorite sets for contra dances are made up of two jigs and a reel. One set is Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket (A), Sean Ryan's Jig (am), and Star of Munter (am). The other favorite of mine is Calliope House (E), Morrison's Jig (em), and Cooley's Reel (em). Dancers love the switch into the reel. They think we've increased the tempo, and they whoop and kick up their feet a little higher.
# Posted on April 11th 2004 by rocking bow
Re: Sets
But don't try that for stepdancers or Irish set dancers or figure or ceili dancers, or you'll get a major crusty (the kind of dances they do for each tune are very specific). I agree with Michael -- nothing wrong with it for performances or even at sessions, but it does smack of "having to know", which is a little unfriendly if there's lots of people who don't know what you're going to do.
# Posted on April 11th 2004 by Zina Lee
Re: Sets
Zina wrote: "I agree with Michael -- nothing wrong with it for performances or even at sessions, but it does smack of "having to know", which is a little unfriendly if there's lots of people who don't know what you're going to do." This brings up an interesting point: When I was in Ireland, I noticed at some of the better sessions I observed that the musicians would often discuss what tunes they would like to play next. They would play small snippets of the tune until all around who knew the tune could recognize it, and they would discuss what order etc. (even jigs-to-reels were possible) and the back-up player knew what key changes might occur -- and off they went -- and it was really fun. I tried the idea when I returned to SF and the locals accused me of trying to "control the session" *sigh* It's amazing how close-minded we can be when we're engaged in activity that's supposedly just the opposite. It seems that most musicians at sessions prefer to appear spontaneous and unrestrained when playing, yet the enforcement of their spontaneity is what sometimes places limits on the possibilities.
# Posted on April 11th 2004 by Phantom Button
Re: Sets
Jack, the difference is, they discussed it.
# Posted on April 11th 2004 by ...
Re: Sets
I went to a lovely session in Clare led by Jackie Daly, where he played a snippet of each tune before starting the set. No discussion. I have no idea if they were tried and true combinations of tunes or if he was constructing them on the spot. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and the music was great. There wasn't as intense a feeling of anxiety, panic, and exhilaration or dispair as you make or don't make the transition from one tune to the next, which I think is usually mistaken for spontaneity. Sometimes there's a spontaneous decision (but I think more often than not it only seems spontaneous to the players who aren't leading that set of tunes).
# Posted on April 11th 2004 by GaryAMartin
Re: Sets
Most decent sessions have a mix of worked out sets, spontaneous sets, standard sets (Tarbolton, Longford Collecter, Sailors Bonnet. etc), sets that work, sets that peter out, sets that go on a bit. etc etc. That's what makes a good session fun.
# Posted on April 11th 2004 by ...
Re: Sets
I was at one last night where a group of young lads came in, and just shouted out the tunes as they changed. That happens pretty often. Or occasionally the fiddler might mutter, right, I'm gonna do so-and-so, then such-and-such, and then we'll finish off with whatsaname. OK, off we go. Sometimes they will play a snippet as an "aide memoire".
I like it when not everybody knows all the tunes. That way you get a de facto "arrangement" as instruments drop in and out of the mix. Its good though when you finish up on a pretty well-known one and everybody comes back in. Sometimes listeners will ask "How do you know when to start and stop?" as if there was - heaven forbid - a plan.
# Posted on April 11th 2004 by Bren