| Tam Lynn - by Teed Rockwell an Irish Jig transcribed for touchstyle instruments |
Irish music has become very popular recently, thanks to Irish Musical shows like River Dance. For those of us who have been playing with harp players for years, this popularity is not surprising. Even though Irish music is relatively simple harmonically and rhythmically, it has a very distinctive melodic quality that is quite enjoyable once you get the sounds under your fingers. Part of the reason for this is that Irish music has very distinctive ways of ornamenting and phrasing melodies, which are inspired by the capabilities of Irish instruments, especially mandolin and fiddle. This transcription of the traditional Irish tune Tam Lynn combines elements from both mandolin and fiddle techniques. Mandolins rely heavily on trills, which I play by tapping the same pitch on two adjacent strings (marked with a "t" over each sequence that is trilled). This requires a four fret stretch, playing the note on the higher pitched string with your index finger and the same note on the adjacent lower string with your pinkie. (I described this technique in an earlier issue of the Touchstyle Quarterly) You can also play this trill by tapping the same string with two alternating fingers, which is the standard trilling technique used by most touchstyle players. But the trill doesn't ring out as much, and this melody is a good introduction to the two-string unison trill. Irish fiddles also ornament the melody with pull-offs, which I am using at the places marked with "p" in the sheet music. This arrangement thus alternates between a mandolin sound and a fiddle sound on the same instrument, which sound both distinctively Irish and unique. I would suggest practicing the right hand part until you're sure you've got it, and then adding the bass later. On the MP3 recording, I use whole notes in the bass to mark the first theme, and then bring in a triplet shuffle bass in the second repetition of the second theme. This can make this particular tune sound like Irish rock and roll, because of the B flat, C, D minor chord progression at the end of each theme. But if you can play just the melody so that it sounds Irish, you'll have a whole new musical personality for your instrument. There are certain ways of accenting and phrasing which are unique to Irish music, which make it different even from other Celtic music styles such as Scottish or Welsh. I've even been improvising Irish melodies, which is something that Irish musicians traditionally never did. I'll be teaching more Irish ornamentations at the European Tap-Guitar camp in Belgium this year, along with my usual collection of Indian, South American, and other world techniques. Hope to see you there. Tam Lynn (mp3, 990k) - by Teed Rockwell For more articles by Teed go to his web site.
© 2000 Teed Rockwell. |