I'm tired of postings on the site wanting names of tunes. So what if you don't know the name? If you have the tune, why care what it's called?
And these pointless post mortems at sessions when musos debate the name of the tune that's just been played. "It's played as a strathspey in Scotland, but it's actually a middle eastern tune known as 'The Hummus of Ballyloughlin' in Cairo and 'Sonny's Moussaka' in Greece" Spare me the bleeding etymology.
Sometimes it gets philosophical: "Is it that Jenny makes Charley feel welcome, or is it 'Jenny's quite welcome to Charley; no one else will have him?"
And I don't really understand this ABC business - far from that I was reared.
Anyway here's a tune i picked up at a session in some godforsaken hole. I asked about the tune, and didn't get a name, but a long tale of how the tune was from a song about some deaf fella who married a lassie for the land but really preferred the boys, and she left him when she discovered his true proclivities. Who really cares about all that shite when you only want to know the tune?
Here's the only snatch of it I can remember, transcribed as best I can in your ABC; can anybody name this tune? Probably one of you anoraks can identify it:
The Hummus of Castlefin is better. It makes a nice set with Pita Street and Kebabby Casey's.
And your tune is a De Mixeduploadofit unreel, in case you're wondering what category to post it under. I really like the last six notes. It describes the tune perfectly. Actually, the rest of the tune reads pretty well in English, too.
I agree with howsshecutting. It took me the best part of 20 years to learn just the bare basics of ABC. I mean, it's so bloody difficult, I don't know why anyone would bother learning it. I wish I hadn't bothered. All those years wasted when I could've been spending the time learning how to count past 10.
I'm tired of postings on the site wanting names of tunes. So what if you don't know the name? If you have the tune, why care what it's called?
Tired of them Howshecutting? then skip over that type of thread. Pere gave and received useful info about the music that he loves from the people on this site. He's hardly going to ask the man in the street ( in Mallorca) about the tune. Many of us who live far away from regular sessions appreciate being able talk and ask about the music on this site as we can't often talk and play with other musos. Other people have a choice of sessions but often can't be bothered to go. If only....
Many people here would disagree but I think it's very helpful to know the name of a tune. You might be easily able to join in an unknown tune but less likely to recall one or more of them to start a set...unless the tune is actually buzzing around in your head at the time. It's obviously important to many players otherwise there wouldn't be so many tunes with a "handle" on them named after the composer or a particular player e.g. Paddy Fahey's No Whatever
Also, I don't like to get too bogged down in detail with amateur folklorists at sessions either but it can be helpful to know that a tune is actually a strathspey if you're ever in Scotland. If you don't go any further than the back room of your local, I don't suppose it really matters.
Seems Í've put the kybosh on a promising thread.
I disagree with howshecutting on tune names but I'm with Farr, the rest of the original post is class.
I agree with Bosco; this is a discussion site! In any case we need to know tune names in most session situations - what are we going to play next? It's also essential to have names to ensure tunes are remembered for posterity reasons - we can all visualise the Bucks, the Silver Spear, Lark in the Morning, etc but we'll never keep track of the "Gan Ainms"!
Get any of Mike Rafferty's recording, and you'll notice there's no nameless tune on it. That's simply because he renames all the nameless tunes. He sometimes calls tunes differently even if he knows their common titles. For example, see: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3523/comments That's a part of tradition, I believe.
This topic is pointless.
Does it have any bearing on my last topic about the name of a tune?
Anyway my answer is simple, just don't read what you don't care about, and let other people talk about whatever they want.
Somebody (e.g., many of the people who came up with the tunes, many of the people who took the trouble to learn and play the tunes) must "care about all that sh*te" or the tunes would have names to begin with.
The names are part of the tradition, part of what gets passed down and slowly changed by the traditional process of being passed down from one person to the next. Naming is also wired in the human brain--a way we organize and understand our world, associating traits, features, even "hidden" meanings with things.
I suspect cutting gave us a wind up. But just in case s/he's serious, consider how silly our societies would be if no one bothered with people's names. Tunes have names for much the same reasons people have names: to differentiate them, to hint (often in cryptic ways) at their individual personalities (what does the screen name "howshecutting" say to you?), and to make communication more efficient. Much like family names, tune names often also speak to family history--a piece of the story behind the tune. Some people enjoy knowing where their grandparents came from. Some people (me included) enjoy tracing the family trees of tunes. I like having people and places and memories associated with the tunes I know and play. It adds to my enjoyment of the tunes.
The fact that this apparently offends Cutting is his/her problem, not the concern of people who enjoy discussing all aspects of the music.
Names are good but not essential (in this game anyway.) More like an added bonus if you can remember them.
In my experience, if someone asks you for the name of a tune after you play it that should, or rather could, be taken as a compliment wrt to your delivery.
If and when this very occasionally happens to me, I usually don't know or get it wrong. As for stories attached to the tune names, again it's good if you know any. There's nothing wrong with cementing the social side of a session with a wee bit of craic referring to the tune. There's also nothing wrong with How's she... giving us his/her opinion even if most of us don't agree and find it a bit of a contradiction in terms as this is where people talk about the music. But it is possible the initial post is, if not a wind-up, a truly felt but deliberately provocatively worded one. And provoke it has. Fair fux to you.
Many of our tunes got renamed. I even forget the real name of one which became known as "The tune your Da hates" when we played with a father and son combo.
I think the history of many tunes will reflect this, as some tunes have about ten names.
On a text document I have a list of medley ideas I've stumbled on and really like. I started it because sometimes I would happen onto really nice tune changes, but I would forget them later if I didn't play them again soon. Now I have the list and I can go back and say, "Oh yea... that was cool!" and try it again. None of this would be possible without tune names. Or maybe possible, but not as easy. I can't think of a better way to keep track of your tune collection.
Wow, lots of comments. I would have replied earlier, but I was out playing music.
It was basically a wind-up. Fair play to all of you who rose to the challenge, and defended our tradition and heritage, at a time when it was neither profitable nor popular. You lads are far too nice to one another on this site, and I like to provoke. I've often found that the session where everybody is excessively pleasant and welcoming can be bland, whereas a slight undercurrent of competitiveness or aggression can induce better performances. Perhaps I should stay in more.
I accept that it is practical and useful to know the names of tunes, but I have senile dimensions, and the more I learn, the more I forget.
A real problem is the variety of names. You can learn a name for a tune at one session that people don't recognise at the next. There have always been more names of tunes than tunes themselves. For example, the 'Maid behind the Bar' is known in county Down (admittedly by only one person) as 'The hoofless donkey who drowned whilst suckling her own milk'.
Hows she..., I think it works both ways. That is, not just more names of tunes than tunes themselves. Just do a couple of searches on the tunes database here for "Sean Ryan's" or "The Kerry" or "Foxhunter's" and see how many *tunes* those *names* represent....or was that another one of your wind ups?
The tune names are only really useful for me to keep track of my collection. If I want anyone else to know what tune I'm talking about -- I'll play a snippet. If they ask me the name I'll tell them what name(s) I have for it, but the snippet is still the best way to convey what tune you're talking about at first.
name that tune, so what?
name that tune, so what?
I'm tired of postings on the site wanting names of tunes. So what if you don't know the name? If you have the tune, why care what it's called?
And these pointless post mortems at sessions when musos debate the name of the tune that's just been played. "It's played as a strathspey in Scotland, but it's actually a middle eastern tune known as 'The Hummus of Ballyloughlin' in Cairo and 'Sonny's Moussaka' in Greece" Spare me the bleeding etymology.
Sometimes it gets philosophical: "Is it that Jenny makes Charley feel welcome, or is it 'Jenny's quite welcome to Charley; no one else will have him?"
And I don't really understand this ABC business - far from that I was reared.
Anyway here's a tune i picked up at a session in some godforsaken hole. I asked about the tune, and didn't get a name, but a long tale of how the tune was from a song about some deaf fella who married a lassie for the land but really preferred the boys, and she left him when she discovered his true proclivities. Who really cares about all that shite when you only want to know the tune?
Here's the only snatch of it I can remember, transcribed as best I can in your ABC; can anybody name this tune? Probably one of you anoraks can identify it:
deAFFagBeD2DedbaBe:BaBE F|ed:BAdGaG
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by howsshecutting
Re: name that tune, so what?
The Hummus of Castlefin is better. It makes a nice set with Pita Street and Kebabby Casey's.
And your tune is a De Mixeduploadofit unreel, in case you're wondering what category to post it under. I really like the last six notes. It describes the tune perfectly. Actually, the rest of the tune reads pretty well in English, too.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by GaryAMartin
Re: name that tune, so what?
Pita Street always seemed too flat to me,
and I never saw the point of Kebabby Casey's.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by joesmith
Re: name that tune, so what?
I agree with howsshecutting. It took me the best part of 20 years to learn just the bare basics of ABC. I mean, it's so bloody difficult, I don't know why anyone would bother learning it. I wish I hadn't bothered. All those years wasted when I could've been spending the time learning how to count past 10.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Dow
Re: name that tune, so what?
(In case you're wondering, I learnt to count to 20 for the purpose of this thread).
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Dow
Re: name that tune, so what?
Count Dow
What is the number of the day?
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Greenwiggle
Re: name that tune, so what?
One post, two posts, three posts, four posts, five posts, six posts, seven posts, ah ah ah!
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Dow
Re: name that tune, so what?
Aha, there's a question worth a thread of it's own.
Which Muppet/Sesame Street character do you identify with?
Mort does a great Beaker impersonation!
Mine would have to be...Pepe the Prawn
Oh by the way, that tune in the top post is called Slippery Slide.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Greenwiggle
Re: name that tune, so what?
I'm tired of postings on the site wanting names of tunes. So what if you don't know the name? If you have the tune, why care what it's called?
Tired of them Howshecutting? then skip over that type of thread. Pere gave and received useful info about the music that he loves from the people on this site. He's hardly going to ask the man in the street ( in Mallorca) about the tune. Many of us who live far away from regular sessions appreciate being able talk and ask about the music on this site as we can't often talk and play with other musos. Other people have a choice of sessions but often can't be bothered to go. If only....
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by cabers
Re: name that tune, so what?
Many people here would disagree but I think it's very helpful to know the name of a tune. You might be easily able to join in an unknown tune but less likely to recall one or more of them to start a set...unless the tune is actually buzzing around in your head at the time. It's obviously important to many players otherwise there wouldn't be so many tunes with a "handle" on them named after the composer or a particular player e.g. Paddy Fahey's No Whatever
Also, I don't like to get too bogged down in detail with amateur folklorists at sessions either but it can be helpful to know that a tune is actually a strathspey if you're ever in Scotland. If you don't go any further than the back room of your local, I don't suppose it really matters.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Johannes J
Re: name that tune, so what?
If you don't like talking about tunes, why log onto a site that, as far as I can make out, is for talking about tunes....
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by bosco
Re: name that tune, so what?
Personally I'm tired of people posting inane s***e on this board when we could be talking about the music - including the names of tunes.
But then I'm in a bad mood this morning......
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by kris
Re: name that tune, so what?
Jayzus, How's she; I haven't laughed out loud at anything I've read on the internet in donkey's...
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Farr
Re: name that tune, so what?
Seems Í've put the kybosh on a promising thread.
I disagree with howshecutting on tune names but I'm with Farr, the rest of the original post is class.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by cabers
Re: name that tune, so what?
I agree with Bosco; this is a discussion site! In any case we need to know tune names in most session situations - what are we going to play next? It's also essential to have names to ensure tunes are remembered for posterity reasons - we can all visualise the Bucks, the Silver Spear, Lark in the Morning, etc but we'll never keep track of the "Gan Ainms"!
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Bannerman
Re: name that tune, so what?
Name that tune. Wasnt that a game show introduced by a paddy by the name of Tom O'Connor?
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Newty
Re: name that tune, so what?
How's she cutting howsshe cutting ? LMAO. Good wind up . I see you got a few easy bites above
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Strathfoyle
Re: name that tune, so what?
Obviously a wind. This is a tunes site after all- nice one howsshecuttin!!
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Shtrum
Re: name that tune, so what?
What about that well known tune "F****ed if I Know" (as the answer to the enquiry "What's that tune called?")
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by mehere
Re: name that tune, so what?
Get any of Mike Rafferty's recording, and you'll notice there's no nameless tune on it. That's simply because he renames all the nameless tunes. He sometimes calls tunes differently even if he knows their common titles. For example, see: http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/3523/comments That's a part of tradition, I believe.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by slainte
Re: name that tune, so what?
"I'm tired of postings on the site wanting names of tunes."
Don't read 'em.
"Who really cares about all that sh*te when you only want to know the tune?"
Somebody must, or they wouldn't ask.
Don't get me wrong, Cutting. I applaud your attitude - let's just play the music and to hell with everything else.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by ragaman
Re: name that tune, so what?
This topic is pointless.
Does it have any bearing on my last topic about the name of a tune?
Anyway my answer is simple, just don't read what you don't care about, and let other people talk about whatever they want.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Pere
Re: name that tune, so what?
Somebody (e.g., many of the people who came up with the tunes, many of the people who took the trouble to learn and play the tunes) must "care about all that sh*te" or the tunes would have names to begin with.
The names are part of the tradition, part of what gets passed down and slowly changed by the traditional process of being passed down from one person to the next. Naming is also wired in the human brain--a way we organize and understand our world, associating traits, features, even "hidden" meanings with things.
I suspect cutting gave us a wind up. But just in case s/he's serious, consider how silly our societies would be if no one bothered with people's names. Tunes have names for much the same reasons people have names: to differentiate them, to hint (often in cryptic ways) at their individual personalities (what does the screen name "howshecutting" say to you?), and to make communication more efficient. Much like family names, tune names often also speak to family history--a piece of the story behind the tune. Some people enjoy knowing where their grandparents came from. Some people (me included) enjoy tracing the family trees of tunes. I like having people and places and memories associated with the tunes I know and play. It adds to my enjoyment of the tunes.
The fact that this apparently offends Cutting is his/her problem, not the concern of people who enjoy discussing all aspects of the music.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Will CPT
Re: name that tune, so what?
Er, that should be "wouldn't" in my first sentence.
Editor! You're fired!
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Will CPT
Re: name that tune, so what?
Come on "Hows She" !!
Jump in and defend yourself or at least take the boxing gloves off!!
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Shtrum
Re: name that tune, so what?
Names are good but not essential (in this game anyway.) More like an added bonus if you can remember them.
In my experience, if someone asks you for the name of a tune after you play it that should, or rather could, be taken as a compliment wrt to your delivery.
If and when this very occasionally happens to me, I usually don't know or get it wrong. As for stories attached to the tune names, again it's good if you know any. There's nothing wrong with cementing the social side of a session with a wee bit of craic referring to the tune. There's also nothing wrong with How's she... giving us his/her opinion even if most of us don't agree and find it a bit of a contradiction in terms as this is where people talk about the music. But it is possible the initial post is, if not a wind-up, a truly felt but deliberately provocatively worded one. And provoke it has. Fair fux to you.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by Alf Tupper
Re: name that tune, so what?
Many of our tunes got renamed. I even forget the real name of one which became known as "The tune your Da hates" when we played with a father and son combo.
I think the history of many tunes will reflect this, as some tunes have about ten names.
# Posted on May 10th 2006 by bodhran bliss
Re: name that tune, so what?
On a text document I have a list of medley ideas I've stumbled on and really like. I started it because sometimes I would happen onto really nice tune changes, but I would forget them later if I didn't play them again soon. Now I have the list and I can go back and say, "Oh yea... that was cool!" and try it again. None of this would be possible without tune names. Or maybe possible, but not as easy. I can't think of a better way to keep track of your tune collection.
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: name that tune, so what?
"I think the history of many tunes will reflect this, as some tunes have about ten names."
Take the tune "Heaven Forbid," for example:
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/5515
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by joesmith
Re: name that tune, so what?
LOL!
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by Will CPT
Re: name that tune, so what?
Wow, lots of comments. I would have replied earlier, but I was out playing music.
It was basically a wind-up. Fair play to all of you who rose to the challenge, and defended our tradition and heritage, at a time when it was neither profitable nor popular. You lads are far too nice to one another on this site, and I like to provoke. I've often found that the session where everybody is excessively pleasant and welcoming can be bland, whereas a slight undercurrent of competitiveness or aggression can induce better performances. Perhaps I should stay in more.
I accept that it is practical and useful to know the names of tunes, but I have senile dimensions, and the more I learn, the more I forget.
A real problem is the variety of names. You can learn a name for a tune at one session that people don't recognise at the next. There have always been more names of tunes than tunes themselves. For example, the 'Maid behind the Bar' is known in county Down (admittedly by only one person) as 'The hoofless donkey who drowned whilst suckling her own milk'.
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by howsshecutting
Re: name that tune, so what?
Hows she..., I think it works both ways. That is, not just more names of tunes than tunes themselves. Just do a couple of searches on the tunes database here for "Sean Ryan's" or "The Kerry" or "Foxhunter's" and see how many *tunes* those *names* represent....or was that another one of your wind ups?
:~}
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by Alf Tupper
Re: name that tune, so what?
Name that tune, So What? - "So What" is of course already the name of a brilliant tune: http://www.youtube.com/w/Miles-Davis-&-John-Coltrane--SO-WHAT?v=ibM5utBwB0s
(Wow! - I like that sort of music too!)
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by RichardB
Re: name that tune, so what?
The tune names are only really useful for me to keep track of my collection. If I want anyone else to know what tune I'm talking about -- I'll play a snippet. If they ask me the name I'll tell them what name(s) I have for it, but the snippet is still the best way to convey what tune you're talking about at first.
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: name that tune, so what?
I can learn to play nameless tunes quickly enough, but can never recall them at a later date as I store them away by name.
# Posted on May 11th 2006 by geoffwright