Will that 6/8 jig be my ruination, or rebirth?

[Boomslang]

Please, ""forgive me father, for I have sinned..."" Strayed from the boredom of 4/4 to (the challenge) of 6/8...It was that dang thing (of beauty), called "Ye Banks and Braes" that started it all !
Boomslang-

[JeffD]

Good tune. Jigs are fun. Wait till you get to 9/8. You will be totally addicted by then.

[foldedpath]

Ye Banks and Braes is a pretty song, but it's not a jig. It's a song in 6/8.

Jigs are (usually) faster-paced dance tunes with a different rhythm emphasis; a whole 'nother animal. It's a deep well, if you fall into it.

[Randi Gormley]

Ditto on the 9/8 addiction, though. Can't get enough of them slip jigs. It bewilders people who just play standard bluegrass or country, which is an added attraction!

[Bertram Henze]

Good tune. Jigs are fun. Wait till you get to 9/8. You will be totally addicted by then.

...and after that, enter the nirvana of more modern 7/8 tunes, like Fluke's Wrong Foot Forward. (one of the few telltale tune names).

[Mike Anderson]

...and after that, enter the nirvana of more modern 7/8 tunes, like Fluke's Wrong Foot Forward. (one of the few telltale tune names).

Flook, dude, Flook.

[Bertram Henze]

...ok, entering nirvana isn't doing me any good

[roberto]

There's an ancient kind of dance tunes in Spain that is 5/8. Complicated to accent on string instruments, but beautiful!

[Gelsenbury]

I was lucky enough to see Craobh Rua play at the Canterbury Festival last month ... only a few metres away from where I live!

I liked the way they explained the difference between jigs and slip jigs. I was already familiar with how saying "apples and oranges" reflects the jig rhythm. What I didn't know was "apples and oranges gobbled up" for slip jigs!

[James Rankine]

Billy Mag Fhlionn, Bouzouki instructor on the online academy of irish music, has the following aide memoirs:

Black and Decker 4/4
Pineapple Mandarin 6/8
Pineapple Mandarin Apricot 9/8
Holly Ivy Hornpipe

Learning some new jigs with the ceilidh band the other week I realised that some jigs really slowed down make lovely waltzes

[gortnamona]

you's have completed lost me ??

have to agreed James, some jigs are beautiful played slowly, the lilting banshee is a favourite of mine.

[citeog]

There are a lot of 6/8 marches in the Scottish tradition that can be played at a more sedate pace.

And I'm a big fan of 6/8, 9/8 and even 12/8 tunes myself.

Join the club.

Paul

[Randi Gormley]

James just gave you some words that describe rhythms. If you are playing a jig and can't remember what the rhythm is, you say to yourself (carrots and cabbages, carrots and cabbages) and you get the one-two-three, one-two-three beat. Reels? say to yourself, black and decker, black and decker and you get the correct beat with emphasis. fwiw

[John Flynn]

Jigs were my ruination and the reason I rarely play Irish anymore. I worked for years to get DUDU right. I've made my personal choice that it's just not worth the effort to break that habit.

[gortnamona]

or you could always just tap your foot and count to 3! have to say i was the opposite John once i changed to DUD DUD , i couldn't stop playing jigs.

[Loretta Callahan]

I feel your pain, John. It took me over a year to unlearn my terrible jig picking (ala fiddle player teacher). I stuck it out and now play jigs daily. I got a lot of help from the kind folks here at the cafe and two stellar mandolin players: Zak Borden and Marla Fibish. Without them, I would probably be playing reels and waltzes only.

Jigs were my ruination and the reason I rarely play Irish anymore. I worked for years to get DUDU right. I've made my personal choice that it's just not worth the effort to break that habit.

[James Rankine]

Strangely I was the other way round. I learnt in an ad hoc approach without any attention to pick direction - definitely not recommended. I spent so much time playing jigs and watching others on youtube that I developed a natural DUD DUD as it turns out. The flip side was I couldn't play reels in a convincing manner because I didn't have a strict DUDU approach and I had to really work on this.