AABB vs ABAB repetition
Gary C. Gruberth
are performed by repeating the first section "A", then moving on to
two rounds of sectin "B", then repeating the whole procedure if
desired.
Once in a while, though, I hear an ABAB pattern of repetition;
sometimes one tune in a set will use one format, then the rest of the
tunes will use the other.
Is this all a matter of the performer's preference? Is there a more
or less "standard" format for playing in sessions.
If this gets us back into the jig/reels/hornpipes discussion,
please forgive me ;-) although I imagine this could well be
dictated by dance forms...
-Gary Gruberth ggru...@indiana.edu
lvm...@primenet.com
>From: "Gary C. Gruberth" <ggru...@indiana.edu>
>Subject: AABB vs ABAB repetition
>Date: 2 Jul 1995 19:29:06 GMT
Sometimes, in order to "spice" things up a bit, performers will alter the
structure of tunes, especially if the tunes are well-known. In our band we
play the "Chorus Reel" as ABAB, and IMHO it seems to be less repititious
that way.
However, there are many tunes that don't fit the AABB format - alot of
ABAB, some AABBCC, ABCD, etc. There's one version of the reel "Trip to
Durrow" that goes AABCBC ! And then there's "Gravel Walk" which I believe
is AABBCCDD where the A, B and C are 4 bars and D is 8 bars.
BTW, when playing for contra-dancers, they seem to want 32 bar (AABB) tunes so
us Celtic types have to be careful about our selection of tunes. ;-)
Joe Root
Anselm Lingnau
> BTW, when playing for contra-dancers, they seem to want 32 bar (AABB)
> tunes so us Celtic types have to be careful about our selection of tunes.
> ;-)
`Us Celtic types' have to be careful even when playing for, say,
Scottish Country Dancing. Depending on the structure of the dance, AABB
may be called for rather than ABAB in a 32-bar dance. There are also
dances where the music is best played in the order ABBA.
Anselm
--
Anselm Lingnau ......................... lin...@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de
Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons
afterwards. --- Anon.
Dennis J. Gormley
->I've noticed that most traditional tunes which have two main sections
->are performed by repeating the first section "A", then moving on to
->two rounds of sectin "B", then repeating the whole procedure if
->desired.
->Once in a while, though, I hear an ABAB pattern of repetition;
->sometimes one tune in a set will use one format, then the rest of the
->tunes will use the other.
->Is this all a matter of the performer's preference? Is there a more
->or less "standard" format for playing in sessions.
->If this gets us back into the jig/reels/hornpipes discussion,
->please forgive me ;-) although I imagine this could well be
->dictated by dance forms...
-> -Gary Gruberth ggru...@indiana.edu
->
Dennis J. Gormley
There seems to be a body of tunes that are 4 bars long, rather than the
standard length of 8 bars. Many of theses seem to be from the Donegal
tradition. I believe the "Sword in Hand" medley from the Bothy Band's "Out of
the Wind, Into the Sun" album has a few of these tunes. I know that several
of the tunes recorded by Altan follow this form also. I've also heard this on
the "Fiddlesticks" anthology of Donegal fiddling, as well as on recordings of
Johnny Doherty (sp. - sorry!)
John Ward
On Sat, 8 Jul 1995, Michael Robinson wrote:
> Anselm Lingnau (lin...@tm.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de) wrote:
>
> : `Us Celtic types' have to be careful even when playing for, say,
> : Scottish Country Dancing. Depending on the structure of the dance, AABB
> : may be called for rather than ABAB in a 32-bar dance. There are also
> : dances where the music is best played in the order ABBA.
>
> Scottish country dancers also have the dreaded 40 bar reel, which requires
> something like ABABB!
>
> How could they come up with a dance which fits to no known piece of music?
>
> MR
>
>
If you think that's bad, try looking at some English country dances, such
as Picking Up Sticks, which requires something like AAAAAAABCCABCCBCC.
As a musician, I don't like the 40 bar dances because they mess up the
way the music is best played. Perhaps the worst dance is Mairi's
Wedding, which is a 40 bar reel, but the tune is so well known in either
an ABAB or AABB version. It's a real pain to play it ABABB, or ABBBA, or
any of the other versions necessary to get to 40 bars.
John, a Scottish fiddler from Maryland.
Michael Robinson
F. J. TAYLOR
the pattern. In fairly modern times AABB has become the norm, to
accomodate the fact that music is less played for dancing than in
times gone by. See B. Breathanach's excellent article.
Lee Kennedy
Don't forget the AABABBAB.
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/ Lee Kennedy Just another piper in the bunch! \
\ lken...@feldspar.com Bagpipes are the rule! Not the Exception! /
/ Howard Kennedy \
\ /
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