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Author Topic: new style vs old repertoire. ..  (Read 3257 times)

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sqwzboxstudent

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new style vs old repertoire. ..
« on: September 17, 2014, 04:02:28 PM »

So for the last 12 months I have been tweaking my style a fair bit, on all the new tunes I have been learning, finding various bass accompaniment,  twiddly bits and chords, and im realy happy with how my style is starting to pan out, but the bulk of the tunes that I allready play ( and play the most ) all seem very basic and uninteresting to my ears now... should I revisit my old repetoire and re-learn tunes with my new stylistics, or just keep learning new tunes the way I am, and play the old tunes how I allways have ? I would be interested to hear your toughts :) tommy
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arty

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2014, 04:39:32 PM »

Surely your 'style' is a work in progress and all the tunes in your repertoire will naturally change to fit in with this. I would have thought a lot of these changes would happen unconsciously.
If your old tunes sound basic and uninteresting to your ears now, then that's probably how they will sound to your audience. I doubt you'll have to re-learn those old tunes, you'll just have to add to them, develop them and make them as interesting as the new ones.
It would be interesting to hear recordings of both old and new.....hint, hint!
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sqwzboxstudent

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2014, 04:46:22 PM »

I shall try and record something tonight :)
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pbsalt

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2014, 05:14:29 PM »

 I think it is up to you to experiment to decide on your favourite version of each tune,  i.e you could apply your new skills to your old repertoire and see which version you prefer.  I think it also depends on the techniques you have learnt and the tunes you want to play  - e.g. my tendency is to keep accompaniments to dance tunes simple so that they still sound danceable whereas  I would experiment more with airs etc.
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Mcgrooger

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2014, 05:29:39 PM »

If you're like me you might want to re-visit your bass notes and chords for tunes you learnt to start off with.  I'd say that the bass side is what's changed the most over time for me.  I'd imagine that any 'twiddly bits' will come out when you play anyway. It also depends a bit on whether you think your early tunes are ones you'd want to keep in your repertoire or not.  Way back in the early 80s, I learnt to play tunes like Red River Valley and the Camptown Races for the first dance band I was in - I've not kept 'em in my repertoire as the years have rolled by.  Everyone'll no doubt have there own views on this but in the end it'll come down to what feels right for you. Good luck. (:)
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george garside

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #5 on: September 17, 2014, 07:36:06 PM »

For what its worth my advice would be to never chuck a good tune away!  Keep  them all  and as others  have rightly said   revisit them  applying your  more recently  honed skills - it can make a lot of difference! 

As well as  learning 'new' tunes I regularly play tunes that I first played   fifty or so years ago  simply because  I still like them but  ,with  bit of luck,  the way I play them has 'matured', 'improved'  or whatever over the years.

I still remember  my  first handful of  tunes  which included -  Dawning of the Day,  the Glasgow highlanders, Loch Lomond, Bluebell Polka, Duke of Perth, & happy wanderer  and Madamoiselle from Armentiers ( complete with very rude words!).  I still  play them regularly!

george
« Last Edit: September 17, 2014, 07:39:00 PM by george garside »
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sqwzboxstudent

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #6 on: September 17, 2014, 08:59:28 PM »

Yes, all my old tunes get played regularly,  so a revisit with newly aquired skills is the way forward then ?
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Anahata

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #7 on: September 17, 2014, 09:21:53 PM »

Yes, all my old tunes get played regularly,  so a revisit with newly acquired skills is the way forward then ?

Yep. Not only newly acquired skills, but new ideas about how to play them. It's amazing what you can discover if you haven't played a tune for a while and you come back to it with fresh ears.
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Bob Ellis

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2014, 12:18:58 AM »

Yes, all my old tunes get played regularly,  so a revisit with newly aquired skills is the way forward then ?

I'm not so sure it is as simple as that. I went through a similar experience a few years ago (and I suppose I will continue to experience it as long as a keep acquiring new skills). My conclusion was that certain types of music I play (e.g. tunes from the Yorkshire Dales and Morris tunes) would benefit from retaining the simple ornament-free style with which I have always played them, whereas tunes from other genres (e.g. French and Scandinavian) would benefit from employing more ornate bass lines together with right-hand ornaments and chords.

My advice would be not to make a blanket decision to ornament or not to ornament, but to consider each tune individually in the context of the genre to which it belongs and decide how you want to ornament that particular tune. Some you might want to keep very simple and unadorned; but others you might want to embellish with some of the new skills you have acquired.
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pikey

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #9 on: September 18, 2014, 08:00:12 AM »

Tommy, just play the way you want to play on all of your tunes !
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george garside

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #10 on: September 18, 2014, 09:06:44 AM »

I agree with Bob. 

When I refered to 'more recently honed skills'  I was assuming that one of these  is knowing  when and when not to tart things up a bit.
 
I am all for the simple ornament free style  for some types of music  but of course well honed by fine tuning of dynamics and phrasing rather than being a glorified version of right notes in right order played loudly!

george
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Anahata

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #11 on: September 18, 2014, 10:28:23 AM »

I also agree with what Bob said! Perhaps I didn't read Tommy's first post carefully enough.

Yes: revisit tunes with fresh ideas about how to play them.
No: that doesn't mean blindly sprinkling fancy chords and newly leaned twiddles on everything so they all sound the same.

I meant listening to the tune and finding new ways to bring out the best in it - it could be changes in speed, rhythmic emphasis, dropping the basses for a few notes to highlight a nice bit of the melody - anything or maybe none of the above, if not appropriate to the tune.
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robotmay

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #12 on: September 18, 2014, 10:57:44 AM »

I've been going back to tunes I previously learnt at the start of the year, and found that I'd improved enough to the point of being able to play them much better and in new ways. I wasn't able to play The Abbes or Les Deux Frères in January but I recently found them much easier to learn, which is a nice indicator for my progress :D

I especially need to go revisit a lot of morris tunes, as I originally learnt them quite simply but I expect there's quite a few variations I could try out on some tunes.
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Matthew B

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #13 on: September 18, 2014, 11:53:38 AM »

If you have any old recordings of your "old style" playing tucked away it's worth digging them out and comparing them to your current versions of the same tunes.  I'll bet you find that your new style has seeped into your playing in all sorts of unexpected ways.  I've been playing a lot with a very talented young fiddler over the past couple of years and as her style has evolved I've had to change things around to keep up with her.  I find that subtleties like fingering tricks, phrasing, and interpretation have all changed in the tunes we play together and now those things pop up in other tunes that I haven't played for years.  For example there's that lovely little bit of hang time that fiddlers put in when a tune has a catchy pick-up note or two.  I've finally figured out how to do it on the box, and now it shows up when I least expect it. 

No point in fighting it, just go with the flow!
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Nick Collis Bird

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #14 on: September 18, 2014, 12:48:45 PM »

It really is amazing how you do change over the years.
I was rummaging in an old box a while back and found a cassette tape. On playing it I thought wow that's good. It wasn't til later I found out it was me!
Hell do I need some practice to get back to that point.  :'(
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sqwzboxstudent

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #15 on: September 18, 2014, 04:12:12 PM »

Thanks all much appreciated as always :)
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pikey

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #16 on: September 18, 2014, 05:16:34 PM »

Tommy, I love everything you do, just keep playing all of your repertoire how you want to.  (:)
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sqwzboxstudent

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #17 on: September 18, 2014, 06:12:13 PM »

 ;D
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Steve_freereeder

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #18 on: September 20, 2014, 01:20:19 AM »

Yeah! What Pikey said  (:)
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Chris Ryall

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Re: new style vs old repertoire. ..
« Reply #19 on: September 20, 2014, 08:19:24 AM »

I'm presently trying to rearrange some "old" songs (eg seven gypsies, squeezboxstudent might approve there?) in a new and more modern way, frankly with variable success, but it's fun. Have tried the same with tunes for some considerable time, but it is all too easy to make them sound the same when the beauty lies in their differences. I try to find what is at their essence, and then try to bring that out in a fresh way.

There will always be a tension in folk music between tradition bearing and self expression, and in the latter we will generally make different choices from Grandpa? But therein, the fun?

Incidentally it's not just us. I recall a quite heated debate in my my kitchen between Bruno le Tron, his Lille friends and a few others, about the experiments thay were making within the Breton tradition
« Last Edit: September 20, 2014, 08:22:59 AM by Chris Ryall »
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