"Christoph Gluck used to pound his staff on his foot. He pounded it so much that he got gangrene and it had to be amputated."

The French composer Lully did that, and he died. The perils of being a musician.

Last time I posted here I speculated about how one of the reasons Irish music and Bluegrass feel different is that Bluegrass takes the beat from the bass player, and in Irish the rhythm comes from the strings and the melody players, and the bodhran follows it. Which is something I'd never thought about before.

But I compared notes with a friend this afternoon who hadn't thought about it either, and he agreed it made sense, and explained why, even when the same tune gets played in the two traditions, it feels different.

And it also explained a few glitches that happened in a session earlier in the week that he was at with players from both traditions.

So is this other people's experience as well? Is this a generalisation that successfully crosses the Atlantic and the Great Plains? (Yes, I know this is drifting a bit, but it's all about rhythm. I'll start another thread if anybody's would like.)