I'll take the plunge and advertise one of my videos somewhere else than in the Newbies group - with our 23 members, I guess not many people will see it here anyway! My love of this tune dates back to when I met my mandolin teacher. I asked him if he could give me lessons, he said that it would depend on the sort of music I'd like to learn and played me this jig. I said that this was just the sort of music that I wanted to learn to play, and about eighteen months later I'm learning this very tune! There's a lot of notes to remember and it may have come a bit early for me, but I'm persisting.
A commendable effort! Your picking is clean and it's good to see your left hand fingers working well - you seem very comfortable playing. Another good point is that you are putting accuracy ahead of speed at this stage; it can be so easy to try to get too fast too soon then everything starts to suffer.
Thank you for your kind words! I do love playing, and I wish I could be even more comfortable while doing it. The ability to relax more will come with control, which will come with time and practice. Recording myself adds a layer of pressure, as does playing to my instructor. We just established in our last lesson that I get nervous when playing my "homework" and end up launching into the tune faster than I can play. My next priority is to improve the phrasing, to give extra emphasis to the notes that need it. If you have any tips for me, I'd appreciate the help.
lovely tune G, well played, i'll have to add that to my to learn list.
My take on the tune... Barebones dots and tab can be found here ... (very barebones)... https://crosseyirishmandolin.files.w...en-new-tab.pdf
Very nicely done, Aidan. I really like this jig and the three parts add a layer of interest. I posted this video some months ago - one of my very first public efforts. I wouldn't play it the same way now, but it is out there in the public realm, so... I have mixed the Irish version with the two-part Cape Breton jig, Northfield Kitchen, which is really the same tune.
The performance anxiety in front of your teacher quiets down over time. I’ve been at it about 3 years now and even when I think I have a tune “ down” I flub at lesson time. But as the relationship with your teacher grows it’s less intimidating . A guitar teacher once told me he played better in the privacy of his studio than in front of an audience ,too. I find playing along with my teacher’s version of a tune on The Amzing SlowDowner helps a lot. Slow it down and gradually speed it up. You did a nice job to my ears! And having the willingness to post, well I admire that!
I didn’t realize the thread was an old one. I’d be very interested in how it sounds today, if you are still around
@Richard. I think it's quite amazing how your playing style has developed in less than a year. Your playing is now a lot less busy and where you *do* decide to ornament a phrase, those ornaments themselves are less busy and deployed to better effect. That's quite a steep trajectory and I would have liked to have had that degree of momentum when I first played mandolin. My progress was much more gradual...
Thank you both, very kindly. Ed, my performance anxiety comes with push the red button to record. Tunes that flowed flawlessly from my fingers are now an awful stumble. There are mistakes in the first bar or two that were never there before. At least this is my story... Aidan, you are very kind. When I recorded this early in the year I was going through a phase of thinking everything had to be ornamented because that would mark me out as a proper player, not a beginner (I had been playing for just over a year at that point). No doubt I am more competent now, but also more confident (notwithstanding the previous paragraph). Anyway, I had another go at it today. Fewer ornaments, and these are cleanly executed (with one exception). And a much sparer guitar accompaniment too.
Very nice - the two settings work well beside each other. I like the approach. It's a bit like stripping down, clearing away the varnish, sanding back and then applying a sympathetic stain. :-) And cheers back at you!
Thanks, Aidan. Good metaphor. Perhaps, in the circumstances, we should say reducing and clarifying the sauce. (And SoundCloud crops the pic so that you can't see I am in the kitchen cooking - just makes me look like a lush.)
:-)
