I LOVE writing music. Yepper, I do. But I don't do it nearly enough. Sometimes I write for client's projects or as a favour for friends who need a piece of music, but I don't write enough just for the sake of doing it. So when I saw @meno's new songwriting contest I thought, "This is great. I can force myself to write something for each week."
You can read more about @meno's excellent contest here:
https://steemit.com/openmic/@luzcypher/open-mic-songwriters-challenge-week-2-lost-and-found
Now this contest is for singers/songwriters. I want to focus on my fiddle writing, so I do not qualify. No big deal, I just want an excuse to write. So here we go :)
You have to have a sense of humour when you are writing your own material. It can easily fall into a self-loathing spiral :) No one enjoys that. LOL So when I write I try and keep things sounding a little on the weird side. I can then pull it back as I near completion. This keeps me from taking things too seriously and keeps my mind open to new explorations during the writing process.
I love jigs. I play them a lot and I rarely play them the same way twice. There is great deal of room for interpretation in the jig genre.
Jigs are in 6/8 time which means that there are 6 eighth notes in each bar. Try counting 123456 123456. That's a jig. Now put a slight emphasis on count 1 and 4. That gives the dance step of a jig. Those two pulses have a slightly longer hang time than the other counts. Doing this gives us the 'lilt' of a jig. It is an uneven skip or hop. Getting this right can make the song have a nice forward moving pulse while maintaining a solid down beat on the 1 and 4.
You can check out my recording of the jig "The Humours of Glendart" here - https://steemit.com/openmic/@buckydurddle/steemit-openmic-week-60-cover-humours-of-glendart-irish-fiddle-jig
My father and I ofter talk about how much lilt is right or wrong. It is a matter of taste, but can result in some pointed discussions amongst musicians. :) Love it!
((Me and Dad rocking out in a recording session for a CD project a couple of years ago))
Many jigs have and A B form. Both the A and B parts are repeated - AA BB AA BB. That is generally the way it is done.
With respect to tempo, jigs can be performed in a wide range. Playing a jig slow can let you play with a variety of lilt to give it a great deal of groove. Playing a jig fast can be exciting and great to dance to while showing the prowess of the fiddler.
I hope enjoy this jig I've written, "Broken Mirror Jig." It took me an afternoon to write and polish it up. Here are the final pencil/paper version I did. If you like it feel free to play along with me or do a version of your own :)
Enjoy :)
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Cheers,
BuckyDurddle
