The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #167123   Message #4028432
Posted By: Steve Shaw
15-Jan-20 - 05:45 AM
Thread Name: Types of folk music you like or dislike
Subject: RE: Types of folk music you like or dislike
Not really a "type" of music, but an aspect of "our genre" that I dislike, is what I could misguidedly call unwarranted virtuosity. That's not the same thing as easy felicity, emanating from skill, a deep understanding of the music and the mastery of the instrument which makes the music sound amazing (and the lack of it :-( wot makes me sound positively clunky at times...) I can't listen to stuff that is making the instrument the point of the thing, rather than the music. I find that a lot of the young bucks especially are so anxious to show us how good they are on their fiddles/flutes/whistles, etc., that they can't resist playing flashily and/or with excessive speed. If you're playing a piece of Paganini, well you're supposed to be showing your virtuosity. But when it's applied to some jigs or reels I'm not happy. Know what I mean?