What Tempo?

[JiminRussia]

I am pretty much a newbie. I have learned(?) about a dozen Scott’s/Irish fiddle tunes that I play at anywhere from 90 to 110 BPM. Mostly closer to 100. Some of my favorites are “Fishers Hornpipe”, “Devils Dream”, St. Anne’s Reel”. Yes, I also have learned a few American fiddle tunes, the ubiquitous “Arkansas Traveler”, “Turkey in the Straw” and such as that. I play them at a tempo that I can play them without messing them up too badly, and that’s fine for me, but fiddle tunes are DANCE tunes, and I don’t know what tempo dancers want the music played at. It seems to me that they are one’s calling the shots on that issue. So, am I in the approximate range tempo wise? Do I need to do a lot more work to get up to speed? Am I going too fast? In that have never payed for a dance group, I would prefer to NOT be embarrassed the first time that I do. And yes, I understand that each tune will have it’s own “right tempo”, but what is the range of tempos that I need to get to in order to play for dance groups?

[Ranald]

I can't answer your question, but I think that you'll find that "Ste. Anne's Reel" is generally considered to be a French-Canadian tune, Of course, tunes move around and get adapted and played in different regions, becoming part of many regional traditions.

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[Bren]

Indeed Ranald, we foreigners sometimes call it "the Canadian national fiddle tune" but we still mix it with Scots and Irish tunes at the ceilidhs.

Outside of formal dances and competitions, ceilidh dances can vary in tempo and sometimes be very fast indeed.
I just follow the accordion player and hope the old folks out on the floor have taken their heart tablets. None expired on my watch, so far.

[Bren]

Also I think if you learn tunes at a steady pace, somewhere in the region of 90-110bpm as you're doing, you won't have a big problem speeding up when the fiddler or accordion drags you that way. It's easier to play at speed when playing with others than when playing on your own.

[Bren]

(by the way, Fisher's Hornpipe and Devils Dream are well established in the American tradition, the latter known as "De'il Among the Tailors" in Scotland)