The way to listen to tunes to get more enjoyment out of the music, learn to play a tune in less time, or to anticipate better for dancing, is to listen for the phrases.

Except for Slip Jigs, which are covered in the first article of this series, all jigs without the word “slip” have the same timing.
In Irish music, a “Jig” is a tune type with 6/8 timing. The other terms are insignificant or even unknown to musicians unless they’re a feis musician. In the dance world, the terms Light, Heavy/Treble, and Single (sometimes called Hop) indicate steps and speed. The most confusion for dancers recognizing the music is around the Single (sometimes called Hop) jig, so here’s the explanation and diagram of …

After the infamous slip jig, hornpipe rhythm generates the most questions.  Hornpipes have their own rhythm and melodic structure that distinguishes them from reels.
Rhythm
Most musicians, and probably many dancers, have been told hornpipes have bouncy or swingy rhythm. This is most apparent when played slowly for dancers, and it fits those steps very well. The diagram shows the subdivision “triplet” that gives this character, distinguishing it from a reel. If you look at the subdivisions and hum the first measure (don’t count the first two lead in …

Why are slip jigs are the most difficult tunes for people to understand?  Because slip jig timing is almost unheard of today, the tendency is for the listener to try to fit the slip jig melody into the more common timing of most music.  The typical practice by beginning dancers of counting out their 12345 step to a tune leads to mistakes because it doesn’t take into account the unusual timing of the slip jig.  Another method often used with beginner dancers, singing 12345 to a well-known tune, leads to the …

Would you like to:

Improve your timing for dancing and playing music?

Know how to recognize a slip jig, or any other tune?

Improve you starting in dancing, especially with unfamiliar tunes?

Learn new tunes by ear in less time?

Execute or design dance steps with more musical impact?

Play music that better matches dancers’ steps?

In this series of articles you’ll learn how to really understand Irish dance music so you can improve your playing and dancing.
The first article will be: “Slippery” Slip Jigs! What are they and why do they …