Tutorial • 2 • Ornamentation
Simply put, ornaments , or those twiddly bits if you prefer, are what give colour, expression and a lift to the music. Even if you are not that confident with playing our Siobhan ni duibhir, it's time to add some cuts to the tune.
Cuts
Go back to the music and look at the first note. Each has a little note hanging above it just to the left. This note is called a CUT. Notice that all similar notes in the tune have one!
With all six fingers in place ready to play the note, blow, and at the same time rapidly lift and replace your third finger only (just a flick).
A couple of things just happened: it gave a good clear start to the note, and, you just played your first (deliberate) ornament!
Whilst we're on a roll..!
Rolls
At the very thought or mention of the word, a lot of folks make a sharp intake of breath and display the body language common to the dentist's waiting room. Some tutors say 'learn the tune first and add the ornaments later'.
My own personal experience would have preferred to learn ROLLING very early on, because the other way requires an amount of un-learning as well as learning.
Get the hang of it now, and you will be able to apply that unmistakable brashness to your tunes, and give a real life to the music.
I sincerely hope that the following explanation will be grasped without too much head-scratching, and inspire you to explore other methods than the simple example given.
Play a note - let's say E (5).
Now do a cut - flick the A (3) finger.
Do another - this time we'll call it a TAP - on the note below D (6) flick of the finger.
You should have played E, A, E, D, E (5,3,5,6,5)
Fingers 1,2,4 and 5 should not have moved. 3 and 6 did all the work.
Practice rolling slowly, getting separate clear notes.
Let's go up a note - play F# (4).
Do a cut with A (3).
Do a tap on the note below E (5).
You should have played F#, A, F#, E, F# (4,2,4,5,4)
Fingers 1,2 and 4 did not move. Fingers 3 and 5 did all the work.
Using the given examples, work out rolls up and down the whistle. You will have to use your own ingenuity here and there. The general rule is the note, a note above, the note, a note below, the note again.
This has been but one method, hopefully it will whet your whistle to discover other variations. Talk to other musicians, listen to recordings. No doubt there are those amongst you who will be able to slip a slow roll or two into our air, Siobhan ni Duibhir.
However, the time has arrived to step up a cog in tempo, to a tune with a set rhythm structure.
Get Jigging
The next stage is to Get Jigging - Tutorial Part 3.
Download this complete tutorial as a printable PDF.
