#1
|
|||
|
|||
What is a 'dotted quaver' feel?
I recently purchased a book of flatpicking solo arrangements of Scottish, Irish and Northumbrian folk songs. In the book, the author recommends playing some of the pieces with a 'dotted quaver' feel. Is it safe to assume that this is the same as 'swing eighths', or am I way off base?
|
#2
|
||||
|
||||
That would be my guess. Something written with straight 8th notes (quavers) but meant to have a dotted 8th/16th feel.
cotten |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
my guess as well. lots of those tunes from the old country have a lilted feel that is easier not to bother notating.
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
That's what a jazz drummer would call a hard swing or short swing. Normal swing is based on the triplet so the note ratio is two:one. Dotted note is three:one, counted as ONE-e-and-A TWO.
__________________
"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar Acoustics 2013 Guild F30 Standard 2012 Yamaha LL16 2007 Seagull S12 1991 Yairi DY 50 Electrics Epiphone Les Paul Standard Fender Am. Standard Telecaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Firebird |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Also, this swing/shuffle feel is often notated (wrongly) as a dotted quaver + semiquaver, as a kind of shorthand attempt to write it in 4/4 without the clutter of triplet "3"s and brackets, or the further clutter of 12/8. True dotted quaver feel (3:1) would be very rare, a very clipped military rhythm. Not folk at all. I'm happy to be convinced otherwise if you know of audio examples of any of those folk tunes in 3:1 ratio.
__________________
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Some of the traditional Irish tunes like Banish Misfortune feel a little bit shorter than a triplet swing to me, just ever so slightly. I like the lively feel they have when played that way, but that's just my preference. The term lilt was used, and that's a good word for it. I can't disagree with you, though. About the only thing I've run across that was truly that short is some jazz in my music collection, and some of my snare drum exercises. I want to say Coltrane recorded some, but I would have to do some searching.
__________________
"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." -Zig Ziglar Acoustics 2013 Guild F30 Standard 2012 Yamaha LL16 2007 Seagull S12 1991 Yairi DY 50 Electrics Epiphone Les Paul Standard Fender Am. Standard Telecaster Gibson ES-335 Gibson Firebird |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Treat it as a triplet swing as others have suggested but if you get in a session where those tunes are played, listen to how the others treat the rhythm and follow that. The rhythmic feel can change from session to session.
|
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Good advice. The notation for such tunes is always a rough sketch, open to improvisation and flexibility of feel when performed.
__________________
"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." - Leonard Cohen. |