Several people have commented on the subject of tempi so I thought I'd
also get  my two cents worth in. I have been "metronoming" Cape Breton
fiddlers periodically for more that 40 years. My interest was initially
in attempting to learn why it was that among the best fiddlers, there
were some who had reputations as great "dance" players, [for both "step"
and community "square" dances] and others considered equally skilled did
not. The difference between them was truly remarkable; at the former's
dances there was a rush to get on the dance floor to the extent that
space was sometimes not available. I thought it must be tempi, but while
tempi is very important, it did not explain the differences as in at
least  some cases, the tempi was the same. Some have what I call
"rhythmic drive" and some don't. I'm still searching for the answer.
Here are the results of my metronome work in Cape Breton:

Jigs:                                         120 to126

Reels [in 2/4] see below           108 to116, interestingly, identical
to tempi recommended by Alastair Hardy in                         "The
Caledonian Companion"

Hornpipes                                Same tempi as reels when played
as part of a square dance medley, otherwise a little slower.

Strathspeys    176 to 184 for step dance strathspeys, and many different
tempi for the many different other types.

There is a tendency among this generation of  CB players to play at a
faster tempi.

There is a related subject which interests me and which was discussed by
someone, Nigel Gatherer, I believe and that is time signature. Some
reels are written 2/4 and others 4/4. To my ear the difference between
strathspeys and reels is not just tempi but also "pulse". J. Murdock
Henderson in "Flowers of Scottish Melody" says "Strathspeys are written
in common time, designated by C or 4/4 while reels are in 2/4 time.
Writing reels, contra dances and hornpipes in common time gives a wrong
idea of pulse,......." I'm told that this is done in other music
including American pop and resulted from the fact that in older times
when music had to be written by hand, it was less expensive in terms of
hours of work and quantities of ink to write 2/4 music in 4/4; for
example reels written in 2/4 required two beams for the four note
[1/16th]  note clusters versus one if written in 4/4. At any rate it has
confused the issue of designating tempi as has already been discussed
and does as Henderson says "give a wrong idea of pulse"

Alexander


Posted to Scots-L - The Traditional Scottish Music & Culture List - To 
subscribe/unsubscribe, point your browser to: http://www.tullochgorm.com/lists.html

Reply via email to