Tonight we learnt a 6/8 march called the Hen’s March (not to be confused with a different tune called The Hen’s March Over the Midden). It’s a 4-part march so it took us a while to learn it. We’ll consolidate it at the start of next week’s class.
6/8 marches are played for dances like the Military Two-step and Britannia Two-step.
We also played through Terribus, the 2/4 march we learnt in the first class this term. It would go well with Campbell’s Farewell to Redcastle (which we learnt over a year ago in the class) for a Gay Gordons. The music for both of these tunes is on the music page. If you want to find out more about what to play for different ceilidh dances, the Grand Chain website is a useful resource. It gives instructions for dances, information on what types of tunes to put into sets for each dance, and how many bars of music you’ll need to play.
Tonight we spent some time working on the march we learnt last week. Terribus is a 2/4 march, and works well for the ceilidh dance the ‘Gay Gordons’. A typical set for a Gay Gordons might consist of 4 two-part 2/4 marches. If you want to add a real lift at the end of the set, you might choose to change into a 6/8 march for the last tune instead. If you’re paying for dancing, it’s important to be in control of the tempo, and to have a really strong rhythm, to direct the dancers. It’s particularly important to start the tune with confidence, so the dancers are really clear what tempo they’ll be dancing at, and where the dance starts. So we looked in detail at the first phrase of the tune, and what we can do to help create that confidence in the sound as we start to play.
The tune starts on an upbeat (the open A) Making sure that the first D (which falls on the beat) is played with complete conviction, will help the dancers be sure where the dance starts. You’re also aiming to create a really clear start to the note, and make it fall cleanly on the beat. So how can we achieve this?
Playing with a ‘bounce’ for dancing
We tried out using a hammer-on, playing a C# just before the D, which has the effect of emphasising the D note. As we played the D, we also added a chord, played with the open D below, played in a really percussive style. This further emphasises the D in the tune. We first learnt this technique when we were playing Brae Roy Road. To create a bit of variation to the way you play this phrase each time, you can add the hammer on, or the chord, or both, or neither, each time the D appears in the phrase.
We then moved on to thinking about how to play the notes in the tune cleanly. Using the natural bounce in the bow will help with this. We tried out playing an open A, with short up and down bows in a stead6 rhythm. Using your index finger, you can ‘dig in’ to the start of each bow stroke, by pushing the stick of the bow down into the string with the 2nd joint. If you also pull upwards with the thumb at the same time, this emphasises the effect. At the point where the bow is pushed into the string, you can create a very definite start to the note, with a real emphasis. the hand relaxes as you go through the bow stroke, and at the end of the stroke, the bow bounces just clear of the strings, creating a tiny gap between one note and the next.
After the break we moved into the big room, where we had space for some of us to dance a Gay Gordons while we played the tune. After we’d done this, the dancers then the players gave some feedback. The dancers felt the music had a good strong rhythm to it, and they also found that knowing the structure of the tune helped them to know whereabouts they were in the dance. The players noticed that watching the dancers helped with keeping a steady tempo…and that it was sometimes hard to remember whereabouts they were in the tune when they watched the dancing!
Tonight we spent some time thinking about how to play for dancing, and playing in a way that encourages people to want to get up and dance. We identified several things that can help with this:
Playing at a steady tempo
Playing with a strong sense of rhythm.
Varying the rhythm – not always emphasising the on beat.
Adding dynamics into tunes and sets. This might be about how you play as an individual, or through musical arrangements if you’re playing in a band
Adding points where the music ‘lifts’ – this might be done by changing to a tune with a different time signature (for example from a 2/4 march to a 6/8 march, when playing for a Gay Gordons).
Having a really clear start to a set of tunes, so the dancers know when to start dancing. This might be done by playing a long chord before the first tune starts, or by playing a short phrase of the first tune to lead into the A part.
We started the evening by revisiting our bow hold, holding the fiddle, and using the fingers in the left hand. Then we played some long slow notes from the D arpeggio, paying attention firstly to keeping the bow perpendicular to the strings, and in the space between the bridge and end of the finger board. Then we tried it again, listening to what other people in the class were playing, and focusing on our tuning. Finally we tried playing chords, with any two notes from the arpeggio of D.
In the second half of the class we learnt the 2/4 march Terribus. It’s a great tune to put in a set for dancing the Gay Gordons. It would go well with Campbell’s Farewell to Redcastle, which we learnt in the class recently.
We started off this week’s class by playing through Shetland Times and Tatties, and added in some grace notes and chords. We looked at techniques that will help us to be precise with our timing when we lift the bow from the fiddle. Then we added some dynamics into the tune.
Playing for dancers
We learnt Egan’s Polka, and talked about playing for dancers. There are a number of things to think about if you want to play in a way that encourages people to want to dance.
playing with a bouncy style
rhythm
timing
tempo
dynamics
colour – if you’re playing in a group, bring instruments in and out
leaving spaces in the music
It’s also helpful to think about the musicians themselves. Some of the things you do when you’re playing can significantly affect the atmosphere at an event:
musicians visibly enjoying themselves
musicians having eye contact/interaction with the dancers
musicians moving in time to the music, with energy (have a look at this video!)
We finished off the class by playing through all the tunes we have learnt this term.
We’ll be meeting in the Diggers again on Monday 2nd December from 8pm for an informal session. If you’re interested in joining the class next term, why not join us at the session?
String Circle fiddle class – January 2014
The new term starts on Tuesday 14th January 2014. Enrolment opens on 9th December.
This week we got into a long discussion about fiddle bows. We ended up dismantling my bow to have a look at how the mechanism for tightening the bow hair works. When you’re tightening your bow before playing, tighten it so there is just enough space to slip a pencil in between the hairs and the stick, at the centre of the bow. It’s important to loosen the bow again before putting it back in your case – leaving the bow hairs tight can eventually lead to the bow warping.
If you’re buying a new bow, it’s important to try out a number of bows, and get a feel for what you like. Find a bow that does what you want it to do (reliably!) and creates a sound that you like, when you play with it on your own fiddle. Different people will find they prefer the feel of different bows. You’ll know if you have found a good bow for you, as it will feel like an extension of yourself. It will help you achieve what you want, rather than hinder. A good bow should have a straight stick, and feel well balanced. You can check to see if the stick is straight by turning the bow over so the hair is at the bottom, and the stick at the top. if you look along the length of the bow from the frog to the tip, you can see if the if the wood is straight or not, in relationship to the bow hair. Check the grain of the wood before buying a bow – it should go straight along the shaft of the stick.
In the class we learnt Shetland Times and Tatties, a lovely tune written by Robbie Leask, who plays with the band Corran Raa. We’ll do some more work on this tune next week.
If you’re learning to play as an adult, one of the big challenges is learning how to play the fiddle in tune. If you’ve never played an instrument that needs to be tuned before, there are some things you ca do that will help to make this easier. The first thing to do is to make sure that your fiddle is in tune each time you play it. Get into the habit of tuning before you start to practice. It’s also important to be aware that a fiddle can go out of tune very quickly in some situations. Here’s some situations that might mean you need to re-tune your fiddle more often than usual:
when it’s very warm (fiddle strings tend to go flat)
when it’s very cold (fiddle strings tend to go sharp)
if you’ve replaced any of the strings in the last couple of weeks (fiddle strings tend to go flat)
if you’re fiddle has been knocked or dropped
if any of your pegs are ill-fitting and prone to slipping
Part of the challenge is being able to hear what ‘in tune’ sounds like. With modern electronic tuners it’s very easy to check if your fiddle is in tune. It can be easy to rely on your electronic tuner when you’re tuning your fiddle, but learning to tune by ear is a method to train your ear to hear when notes are in tune. Check back to this post if you want a reminder about learning how to tune your fiddle by ear.
It can be really helpful to have more than just your own note to listen to – if you have another ‘point of reference’ it can make it easier to hear if what you’re playing on your fiddle is in tune or not. Try playing along with an instrument with a fixed pitch (accordion, concertina, melodeon, etc), or a fretted instrument. If you’re playing with other fiddles, it can be helpful if someone is playing a drone on an open (tuned!) string, or a harmony.
Tonight we learnt a very short tune – an Arabian childrens’ song called Yalla Awled (the written music is on the music page). Both the tune and the harmony can be played in the upper or lower register of the fiddle. It also works well with A and E drones. Once we’d learnt the tune and harmony, every second person round the room played tune, while the others played the harmony. We did this while paying careful attention to our tuning and timing. Then half of us played our part up the octave, while the others tried playing it on the bottom octave. After this, we tried playing any part, or a drone, and all wandered around the room, so we could hear what others were playing as well.
After the break we spent some time looking at emphasising up bows. We tried this out on Bill Sullivan’s Polka. We looked at one short phrase in the B part of the tune, and worked on emphasising on up beat within the phrase. Here’s some things we tried out, to increase the emphasis on that one note:
making the rest of the notes quieter
playing a chord on the up beat
using a faster bow stroke
playing towards the heel of the bow
Half the class played the phrase while the other half listened, and then gave feedback. We found it much easier to hear ourselves in a smaller group!
At the end of the class we played through Her Mantle So Green, The Shetland Molecule, and then the True Lovers Lament.
Playing expressively using the full length of the bow
Tonight we worked on using different parts of the length of the fiddle bow to change the quality of our sound. It’s easy to get into a habit of playing in the centre of the bow all the time – it can feel like a comfortable place to play, and the bow might feel easier to control. But moving to the tip or the heel will give a very different quality to our playing sound. It’s another useful skill for helping us to become more expressive when we’re playing.
We started off by playing a G scale, using the bow in our normal playing position, which for most folk in the class tends to be right in the centre of the length of the bow. Then we tried playing the same scale using the tip of the bow, then at the heel of the bow. We noticed that playing at the tip made it harder to feel in control of where the bow was going. It also created a more delicate subtle sound. Using the heel of the bow naturally added more weight to the bow on the string, and allowed us to play louder, with more attack, and with a certain amount of ‘grunge’. We played around with all three of these options. Then we moved on to trying out the different parts of the bow while playing tunes.
We played through Bill Sullivan’s Polka, thinking about how we’d like different parts of the tune to sound. We tried out playing through the A part, using different parts of our bows to create different sound effects for each phrase.
Then we tried the same thing with Braeroy Road. Finally we tried playing the tune just thinking about the sort of sound we wanted to make in each phrase, rather than focusing on which part of our bow we were using. Our playing had much more energy when we did it this way!
After the break we played through a harmony to Her Mantle so Green. Then 2 people had a go at trying to find their own harmonies while the rest of us played the tune.
We spent some time discussing bows, and also talking about how to go about buying a new bow or fiddle.
After this, we tried playing without so much structure. We started with a riff, which we repeated for a while. There’s a range of options for what each individual could do as we played:
continue playing the riff
stop playing and listen
create something new to play along with the riff – harmonies, rhythms, drones…or things that clash.
copy what someone else is doing
echo what someone else is doing, or play something in response to them
sing or make other sounds
It’s a useful exercise to get us more used to playing around with some notes, letting our subconscious brain take charge, rather than playing a learnt structured tune. We found we could also play about with influencing the group through what we played.
At the end of the evening, we played through Road to Banff, Lay Dee at Dee, and the Shetland Molecule
In tonight’s class we learnt the retreat march The True Lovers’ Lament.
Once we’d got the notes under our fingers, we added some chords and a hammer-on to the opening phrase. We played an open D beneath the D in the tune, at the start of the first bar. We also tried out playing the open D with the b in the lad notes into the tune. We were playing these chords in a percussive style, to add rhythm right at the beginning of the tune. We also added a hammer on from a C# onto the D at the start of the tune.
We played through Lay Dee at Dee again, and had another go at emphasising the off beats in the B part where we’re crossing from the E to the A string. W also tried out adding in a chord (an open E played along with the D in the tune that falls on the offbeat) to add to the effect of the emphasised off beat.
At the end of the evening we played through Her Mantle So Green, Braeroy Road, and Bill Sullivan’s Polka.
We discussed the possibility of joining up with members of Corinne Clarke’s Session Tunes Workshop to play in a session together. Possible dates for this are either Monday 18th November, Monday 2nd December, or Tuesday 3rd December. We’ll confirm details next week in class once Ros has checked with people who weren’t at the class this week.
Some of us are also planning on going along to the Come All Ye ceilidh on Friday 8th November, at 7.30 in the Wash House, Adelphi Grove, Portobello.
Tonight we worked on various aspects of technique that will help us to control our speed when playing fiddle tunes. Learning to play faster tunes can be difficult skill to pick up when you’re first learning to play. Often what happens is that we unconsciously speed up when we’re playing the trickier parts of a tune. The tune then gets out of our control as it reaches speeds beyond our abilities. In the early staged of learning to play the fiddle, our attention is mainly focused on playing all the right notes in the right order. We tend to pay little attention to the rhythm and timing of the music.
When people are listening to music, tempo and rhythm is really important. A dropped note, or a phrase played differently, often goes completely un-noticed by the audience, if they are engrossed in the rhythms and beat of the music. But if the timing falters, the ‘spell’ is broken.
So how can we ensure we are playing in time, and that we have control over the tempo of the tunes we’re playing?
Part of the answer lies in having strong enough technique that you can be sure exactly when you will hit each note. Having a strong sense of rhythm is a start, but until you have the ability to place the notes exactly when you want them, you won’t be able to play confidently in time.
We started off tonight’s class by playing through a couple of the tunes we have learnt this term. Then we spent some time working on Lay Dee at Dee. We worked on the B part of the tune, reminding ourselves of the technique of using a clockwise circling action with the wrist to move the bow from one string to the other. We also focused on really emphasising the notes that are on the beat. By using the wrist action for the section of the tune where we’re crossing from the E to the A string, the notes on the beat fall on a down bow each time, which helps us to accentuate them.
Then we moved on to working on the run in the B part (A B C# D E D C# B A). We tried out playing this while tapping our feet on the beat, and really emphasising the note that fell on each foot tap (which is the the A, E and A in this run). We played this run using individual bow strokes for each note. We also tried out tapping one foot on the beat, and the other foot on the off beat. We worked on using a strong bowing action for the notes on the beat, using a little pressure with our first finger to dig the bow into the strings at the start of the notes on the beat. To make as big a distinction as possible between the notes on the beat and the other notes in the run, we played the remaining notes very quietly, using a very small length of the bow, and playing them much more lightly.
In the last phrase of the B part, we worked on adding in some Shetland bowing, playing a 1 down and 3 up pattern in the 2nd last bar.
After this, we tried playing the first run in the B part again, but this time we all closed our eyes, and concentrated on listening to everyone else in the class, while we aimed to play the notes on the beat exactly in time with each other. Initially we were tending to speed up, but after a few goes at it, we were able to control our speed, and were playing much more in time as a group. We did the same thing while playing the whole tune, which was definitely more of a challenge!
We finished off the night by playing through the jig Brae Roy Road together.
Tonight we learnt the Irish slow air Her Mantle So Green.
We started the evening by working on techniques for beginning to play with vibrato. You can follow the link to remind yourself of the steps involved to practice the action for wrist vibrato. We concentrated on working on the action keeping our forearm still, and using the wrist to generate the vibrato movement in the hand. we tried out the vibrato action in pairs, with one person holding the other person’s forearm steady while they played.
Once we had learnt the tune, we talked about things we can do to improve our tone when we play. We came up with quite a list!
Playing in tune
Keeping the bow perpendicular to the fiddle strings throughout the bow stroke
Keeping the wrist flexible, and allowing the wrist to ‘lead’ the bow stroke. This will also help with keeping the bow perpendicular to the strings throughout the full length of the bow stroke
Keeping both arms and hands relaxed, and avoiding tension in the neck and shoulders
Keeping the bow in the ‘sweet spot’ on the fiddle strings
Using the speed of the bow to add a ‘shape’ or dynamics to the longer notes
Using slurs
We tried playing through the tune again, thinking about the tone we were creating.
We also talked about more effective ways to learn. When we practice, we’ll often pick on something we want to do better, and play it round and round for a long time, until we feel we’ve made some progress. Often learning in this way doesn’t seem to stick well, or get bedded into our playing.
Our brains are more likely to focus on things that are new or different. When we repeat one thing for a long time, we tend to be less stimulated, and start to lose concentration. Practicing a few different things, and rotating from one to another after a short spell, is likely to keep us more engaged, as we’re keeping ourselves interested with new material. You can read about this in more depth in an article written by Dr Noa Kageyama, performance psychologist.
When playing slow airs, tuning is really important. It may seem obvious, but it’s important to be able to hear when a note is in or out of tune – if we can’t hear it, it will be impossible to learn to play consistently in tune. We talked through things we can do to help us learn to hear what is in tune.
Tune your fiddle by ear whenever possible. Check it with an electronic tuner afterwards, if you’re not sure if you have it in tune. This helps to train your ear to hear when notes are in tune. Find out more about tuning your fiddle.
Get into the habit of tuning your fiddle in the same way each time. Tune the A string first (either to a tuner, or to a fixed pitch instrument, pitch pipe or tuning fork). Then loosen each string in turn before tuning it, so you are always tuning from flat to in tune. Play a chord with the adjacent open A string while you are tuning the D string. Once the D is in tune, play a chord with the open D string while you are tuning the G. The A string can also be used for a chord while tuning the E string.
Play the start of a tune that you know really well, that begins with a fifth jump. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star works well! Listen to that opening interval, and see if you can hear if it’s right or not
Playing in tune
Playing chords in tunes also helps with hearing when particular notes are in pitch.
Play tunes and check any suspect notes against an electronic tuner.
If you can sing in tune, try singing while you play.
We tried out playing the tune together in the group, all following one person’s timing.
We finished off by playing through Ramnee Ceilidh, then Lay Dee at Dee together
