how to put bounce into reels

[george garside]

I should have put this under the above heading but ''accidentaly '' included it under the general heading of british folk music where it may not be readily found. It consists of the sheet music for 2 of the most popular reels on which I have suggested which notes need a bit of extra emphasis to get the bounce. It is intended mainly to help newish players or those who have no experience of 'country dance' music.

george

 

[Soulsaver]

Now I have to admit to having a couple of drams, George, but I just don't follow this conundrum...
I give up... where's the sheet music?

Ed

 

[george garside]

sorry about that. they can be got at by the following route tunes and how to play them - british folk music - playing technique for british folk music - page 10 - 7 aug

BUT HAVE JUST HAD A BETTER IDEA AND HAVE ATTACHED THEM TO THIS

as I can't transfer the original explanatory posting I am writing it again here

''There are several techniques that can be used to add a bit of bounce and a great many trad musicians, particularly those who are dancers themselves, just do it more or less automatically on the hoof

However a great deal of how to do it is not shown in written music, particularly which notes to emphasise etc. To (hopefully) help those new to this type of musi I am attaching the music for two very well known reels and have modified them to suite English ceilidh/barn dance/country dance style. For simplicity I have 'dotted' the notes to be emphasisied but have not shortened the valaue of the following note to compensate as this would normally be done on the hoof.

With apologies (well not really!) to those brought up to play exactly as written I am not using the dotting to indicate increasing the length of notes by 50% but in the trad sense of giving them a bit of welly! i.e. if the dotted notes are played a little louder than the non dotted notes the former will inevitably come out slightly longer than its original value anad this is enough to add bounce.

( the dot in the 3rd and 15th bars of winster gallop were already there with the following note duly shortened. Same,
for 15th bar of Jamie Allen)

Finally the notes I havae indicated as benefitting from a bit of 'clout' are simply my choice and are not written on tablets of stone - so feel free to experiment

george

 

[Soulsaver]

I've not had chance to try/experiment with this George -and the opportunity is much apprciated, but for the avoidance of doubt- are you suggesting more time is given to the note indicated or just more bellows emphasis? Or, indeed, both?

 

[george garside]

Effectively both - but the trick is to suddenly increase the volume on the dotted notes ( which requires very good bellows control ) .The effect of this ''quick but refined shove'' is that unless you are a genius the note is a bit longer than it would otherwise be. The precise amount of 'longer' is not that cruciall but its nothing like 50% so just let it happen all by itself without giving conscious thought to length. The shortening of the following note to compensate does not require conscious thought either as in a reel all notes should be staccato/crisp/ separate or whatever.

It can also be regarded as '''playing the gaps'' which should not be the same between notes ( even if the dots suggest they are) Playing about with the 'gaps' , note lengths , volume/dynamics is a key feature in good folk /trad dance music and is gauged entirely by listening skills rather than by trying to precisely follow the music score.

( shortening or lengthening notes is usually done whilst retaining a written notes nominal value rather than changing it to one of a different value. i.e. you can't write .78 of a crochet or nine tenths of a quaver but you can play it! )

george

 

[goldtopia]

Bounce. A trampoline would give a lot of bounce - a bit hard on the shoulders though.

 

[Soulsaver]

Bounce. A trampoline would give a lot of bounce - a bit hard on the shoulders though.

Definitely with the accordion on, too...

 

[george garside]

at the risk of prolonging this frivolity on what is intended to be a seriarse and helpful thread going on a trampoline mit box is likely to result in one going arse over tip. -- or is that what those of a classical disposition would refer to as an inversion!

george

 

[Bill V]

A simple way is to listen to a good player and copy,it will filter through to your brain,and then you won't need to think about it.

 

[goldtopia]

A simple way is to listen to a good player and copy,it will filter through to your brain,and then you wont need to think about it.

Is that with or without the trampoline ?.

 

[george garside]

Bill, that is indeed true for some people but there are many who , particulary if not used to playing this type of music, find it difficult to replicate what the ''good'' player is actualy doing with the box to get the required sound out of it.

george

 

[jarvo]

Nice to see that I do not have the monopoly on silliness..........I have been nowhere near this thread and already it has got very silly....well done ....and keep it up, down, up, down......

 

[george garside]

and if anybody has any tips on getting the bounce into reels or requires more info etc etc it would make a nice change from the aforementioned 'sillyness' queries, comments et from beginners very welcome. Perhapas we should have ''naughty corner'' thread where silliness could abound :lol:

george :tdown: :tup:

 

[jarvo]

George ....I'm having difficulty getting the tune into the music at the moment....never mind bouncing it !! :lol:



.......and before anyone says ...."the best thing that you can do is get a teacher"....try googling etc...Accordion teachers for the North East of England......I think I got one affiliated to The Tynedale Fiddle and Accordion Club or some similar name ....and it seems that he is always away gigging.......... :hb :mrgreen: :tdown:


:ch

Jarvo

 

[george garside]

Jarvo and anybody else in range of Gateshead! Folkworks based as The SAge, Gateshead will be holding an absolute beginners accordion day on 7th September and also run regular intermediate classes on a Tuesday evening. http://www.thesagegateshead.org . I can thoroughly recommend them!

george

 

[Soulsaver]

Yep we can be a bit light hearted occassionally - but in Bill's defence (he started it... ) it did 'bump' the thread which was going nowhere soon.
The post was much appreciated by me, light comments or no.

 

[Bill V]

My own experience is all I can speak of course,I wanted to play the Strathespey Sidlaw Hills[40 years ago].Found a tape by Jimmy Shand a great exponent of bounce and listened to it over and over again.I could play the tune but the timing eluded me,like jarvo there were no teachers around that I knew of,so a tape recorder was a great help to instil it into my brain.A side effect of that was other strathspeys came much easier,I still have Sidlaw Hills echoing in the dark recesses of my brain!I did find a teacher eventually I think the tape recorder was the best option in this case.

 

[BobM]

Im having difficulty getting the tune into the music at the moment....never mind bouncing it !! :lol:

Hi Chris,

Here it comes again.... Are you able to play the tune well on it’s own (no LH), with no clams and with with very little thought? Because when you can, you can start to think about interpretation, making it musical etc.

I used to teach music to degree standard, (not the accordion), and I’m sure that most experienced teachers will tell you to break the difficult parts into ever smaller sections, until you come to the actual notes causing the problem, and then re-assemble.

If it helps, I’m finding the PA hard to learn as well... :roll:

BobM

 

[jarvo]

It's not the notes that are the problem.....it's the player ! now if we could slow that nitwit down..........and take him apart and put him together again we would have a chance..... :lol:

Srsly tho' you are right ......it was how I learned The Entertainer and Maple Leaf Rag umpteen years ago on the piano......now sadly defunct in the brain box..altho' I may resurrect them as a fingering exercise.....and a tempo control.....they should be played smoothly and slowly......

 

[BobM]

now if we could slow that nitwit down..........

http://www.dawsons.co.uk/korg-ma-1-digital-metronome-red