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Píobaire, An, Volume 4, Issue 38, Page 10

Píobaire, An, Volume 4, Issue 38, Page 10
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periodical Publisher
Na Píobairí Uilleann
periodical Editor
Chairman, NPU
periodical Title
Píobaire, An
volume Number
4
issue Content
19toire of tunes that suit both instruments. Theduet playing of Paddy Glackin and RobbieHannan is so tight that it is hard to distinguishone instrument from the other and, as withBrowne and O’Loughlin, the playing is in theflat pitch of B which makes the sound of thetwo instruments together even more special.Without a doubt playing pipes with a fiddler isone of the most satisfying experiences one canhave as a piper. Everyone should try it!Before starting on this next point, I must stressthat this is completely OPTIONAL! As I men-tioned before, the pipes are an instrument thatcreate difficulty with tuning. Not only this butthey are an awkward instrument to carryround, to squeeze into sessions and theamount of practice you do will depend on howthe pipes are going. Therefore it’s not a badidea maybe to take up another instrument, andwhat better instrument? You guessed it – theauld fiddle! By actually playing the fiddle youcan absorb a massive amount of music andstyles that will improve your piping. You canget involved in sessions more easily and learnfrom recordings with greater ease. You cantune your fiddle down and play along withEnnis or Reck in the comfort of you ownhome. Playing the fiddle myself, I find it alle-viates the heartbreak when your pipes aren’tworking and lets you get on with the music.Again this is only a small recommendationbased on personal experience. I am not secret-ly trying to undermine the work of our greatorganisation or anything like that!Something that’s really very important here isthat you take this idea of listening to fiddleplaying, not only to improve your own playingbut to help you understand the broader pictureof Irish music, to identify the most influentialmusicians of all time, be they pipers, fiddlersof even mouth organists. There’s a wholeworld of interesting stuff out there. The per-sonalities and stories about these musiciansare tantalisingly interesting. The relationshipsthat existed between them are legendary. Ifthey all didn’t know or hadn’t met each otherat one time or another, you can be sure theyknew of each other. Take for example SéamusEnnis. He knew, played with and recorded alot of the greatest fiddlers of the last century –people like Paddy Killoran, Padraig O’Keefe,Denis Murphy, John Doherty and FrankCassidy. Willie Clancy was involved in duetswith the likes of Michael Gorman and BobbyCasey. Johnny Doran played with fiddlers thelength and breadth of the country. This with-out doubt influenced their style and repertoire.The social scenes where these players met areextremely interesting and exciting, New Yorkof the 1920s and 30s, London of the 1950s and60s, Dublin through the whole of the last cen-tury. The stories of these times are legendary;the pubs and venues in which they playedhave become part of history. These were excit-ing times, but the most important thing is thatthese scenes are a continual thing; everydecade brings new scenes, new venues, newblood, new music, all influenced by what wentbefore. All these great players sought eachother out to learn from each other and moreimportantly to enjoy each other’s company.It’s crucial to seek out good music and musi-cians. It won’t come to you from CDs. CDswon’t give you friends or memories to last alifetime.While writing this I was completely consciousthat I have neglected to point out that listeningto other instruments such as flutes, concertinasand accordions can help your piping stylesalso, but for myself personally and for a lot ofother pipers I know the fiddle has been thebiggest influence outside of piping. I wouldalso like people to be aware of the other sideof the coin where you can get too involved inthe whole fiddle influence and neglect the pip-ing end of things. This is not good as it’sextremely important to maintain the tech-niques and sounds that are unique to the pipes.Finding the right balance is the key (or maybejust forget it all and get a banjo)!18variations which lend well to the pipes. Fromthe Sligo players a good mixture of rhythm,variation and repertoire can be obtained. Therhythm of the Sligo players mentioned had agreat flow and bounce to it and is a perfectrhythm to have if emulating the tight pipingstyles of Patsy Touhey and others. From theDonegal players one will hear interestingrhythm and will stumble across a few gems oftunes that may suit the pipes. Through this, not only will your playingimprove but also your overall feel and appre-ciation for music in general will double, andpiping will seem even more special. In listen-ing to all these great fiddlers you will alsobecome accustomed to the various regionalstyles and eras of music. This is great as youeventually will favour one over others andthus starts the exploration of a certainstyle or era of music, a thoroughlyenjoyable experience which is sure togive you an individual stamp. In thisyou will also come across more thanfiddle playing, you will hear instru-ments like flutes, accordions andconcertinas and how the great playersof these instruments interpreted themusic. You might even start vistitingthose areas and meet some true leg-ends of Irish music, all contributingto your overall enjoyment of music.I would also recommend teaming upwith aspiring fiddlers, make surethey are sound, play good music andare not contenders to win YoungMusician of the Year. Through aplaying partnership with a fiddlerplayer you will be able to play goodmusic that suits your instrument andnot have to worry about being out oftune as the fiddler should tune to you.You can also expirement with tunesthat might not suit solo piping but aredelightful in duet. Try and play withas many fiddlers as you can andexperiment with different repertoires.In helping to improve your duet playing, it’scritical to listen to the great fiddle and pipesduets both past and present. My favouriteswould be James Morrison and MichaelCarney who played together in America in the1920s and 30s. Most of their music is nowavailable on CD. Willie Clancy and BobbyCasey recorded lovely music together andproduced tonal sounds that are unique to thepipes and fiddle duet. Clancy also recorded abeautiful duet with Sligo fiddler MichaelGorman, great spirited music that’s sure tomake you want to dance. Some recent duetsthat are definitely worth listening to would beRonan Browne and Peadar O’Loughlin.There are two wonderful CDs on the Clad-dagh record label that contain a vast reper-Ciarán Mac Fheilimidhe playing at the weekend class held inNovember in Saint Paul’s School, DublinTerry Moylan
issue Number
38
page Number
10
periodical Author
[Periodical]
issue Publication Date
2006-12-01T00:00:00
allowedRoles
anonymous,guest,friend,member

Píobaire, An, Volume 4, Issue 38

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