Tune sets.

[Mutiny]

My band has been starting to put some sets together and was wondering about set in different keys. what keys go together best? playing in Gm and going into a Am tune seemed to work pretty well.
Also whats the best way to tie them together. just go straight between them or add a little tie together peice?
Thanks.

[Bob DeVellis]

There are likely to be lots of opinions here and I personally believe that just about anything can be made to work. One principle some people apply is that a progression from minor to major and from lower to higher keys provides an opportunity to build energy through the set. I'm perfectly happy with changes directly from one tune to the next. If you find a transition that everyone likes, that's great but I wouldn't work at constructing a bunch of transitions because I think that can seem forced. If the tunes sound good back-to-back (which should be the ultimate criterion), then a transition shouldn't really be necessary. Some bands will end one tune with all instruments forcefully playing the last note in unison for half its normal duration, followed by silence for the remaining half, then right into the next tune. But again, if these devices are overdone, they can get in the way and flowing directly from one tune to the next suits my ears just fine most of the time.

[mancmando]

I agree with bobd, the whole thing is up to you, and I would stick with whichever tunes you like. I would avoid putting completely different tunes together (ie keep them roughly the same flavour), although it can be effective to go from a jig into a reel keeping the same tempo. I also think it is nice to vary the key/mode as it would sound pretty boring if they were all in the same key.

Quite an interesting key change that will wake the audience up is to go from F#m minor into G (ie up a semitone - jennys chickens into the flogging reel is an example).

Some people think that going up in 5ths works well (eg G to D to A) http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[POB]

It's a matter of choosing tunes that sit well together (your ears should tell you if they do or if they grate against one another) but don't sound too similar.

Some melody players have a tendency to follow one tune with another that sounds very similar, just because the first tune reminds them of the second. This is fine as far as it goes, but if you're playing for an audience who don't know that much about the music, it will all sound the same to them pretty quickly.

I remember doing a stage gig with a guy who was a really good musician, but who played 6 sets in a row, each consisting of a jig in D followed by a jig in Em, all at the same tempo. We lost the audience after the second of these sets and never got them back.

As regards nice key changes, I like going from a minor key to the major a 4th above (Em to Amaj, for example).

[Aidan Crossey]

I would suggest that you give the "bridge" idea a miss, Mutiny! It sounds contrived to my ears, although some bands pull it off really well.

As for constructing tune sets, one of the tips I've given to people recently is to go to the tunes section of "the session" http://www.thesession.org

If you've learned a new tune and you want some ideas as to combine this in a set, then search for that tune. The database automatically throws up links to recordings where the tune has featured. You can use these as suggestions for weaving the tune into a set.

What such an exercise will show is that there are really no rules for set construction; Irish music is more about taste than hard and fast rules. But overstep the taste boundaries (e.g. as in POB's salutary tale) and things can start to come apat at the seams.

[plunkett5]

Here is a site that lists way too much info about Irish Tunes. You get see the full tune sets on every album track they list, including alternate names. This site really is amazing and a delightful mix of objective and sibjective information.

http://www.irishtune.info/

[otterly2k]

Hey, Mike...
Is "sibjective information" the stuff told you by your brother and sister? (thanks for the link.. I'll explore it!)
*(-;
KE