Hi All, On 14 Apr 2009 at 12:43, Anthony Robb wrote:
> > Hello Adrian > Thanks for that. I'm new to this debate and find it all fascinating. You have obviously been out of touch with the latest developments in piping for several years. We all knew of Chris Ormston's preference for the Clough style and repertoire, but Adrian's conversion seemed remarkable and was part of what caused me to re-examine my own playing > I'm obviously one of the damned because I find choyting expressive and > beautiful in the right place. What we each find appropriate in Northumbrian piping depends on our experience. If we associate with those who prefer open gracing and indulge in it ourselves it can become 'normal' and even 'habitual'. Having been on this particular path to perdition, it took me a great deal of effort to eradicate these intrusions and now I find them just that, intrusions into the music. Chris Ormston explained why open gracing from a hgher note is intrusive.Let us consider open gracing a top g with the a above it. This is what Adrian calls a seagull. At some point the a and g holes are both open and this will generally make the a some that louder than it would have been if only the key hole were open. This makes the grace note louder than the melody note. The thought of "moving on" from Billy > Pigg to Tom Clough is as strange to me as "moving on" from York to > Durham. They are both wonderful beautiful places and neither can really > claim superiority. I can understand moving from one to the other but > not "moving on" from one to the other. I think this calls for the Harley Davison motto -' If I have to explain, you wouldn't understand' Billy was taught by Tom and retained many aspects of the style, but also introduced some 'novelty' aspects. These may have seemed OK at the time but after a while they wear a bit thin. It would seem that many of those who sought to emulate Billy's style paid more attention to the ephemeral aspects rather than the the solid technique which underlay it. I doubt that anyone haaas come closer to emulating Billy's playing than Adrian, and if this lead him back to Clough, then I think the rest of us should take notice. > The important thing to bear in mind is that ordinary folk like me just > know what we like. Is this the attitude a teacher should have? Should you not be challenging the pupils and yourself? > That can be nice bouncy dance tunes tunes played "out of context??!!" > for sheer enjoyment in each other's homes or other ways of getting some > some personal expression that goes beyond the rules laid down by one of > the most unique and talented dynasties to stand outside the everyday > tradition of this music. It is a pity if the Clough approach is presented as rules. I see it rather as discipline freely chosen. As far as I am concerned, adopting that discipline gave me more control over the instrument, allowed faster playing and a greater degree of rhythmic expression. > I feel priveleged to have had the music experiences I've had. I was > taught by ear by someone who thought Tom Clough was king and who was > himself taught by ear by someone who was taught by Tom Clough. The > interesting thing is, they both had an openess of mind that allowed for > deviation from the received teaching. The question is, do we move on > from here or go back to a strict obeyance of rules that only > the extremely gifted can live by? That is not the question at all. The Clough approach is a very simple method of palying the pipes which allows anyone to play very well. Luckily there are quite a few players around who have a nice clean style and play delightful rhythmic music without the intrusions of unnecessary grace notes or other embellishments. That is the playing company I seek. Barry ------------------------- Remember the motto of the mediocre: Eagles my soar, but weasels dong get sucked into jet engines To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
