strathspey@strathspey.org:45431

Steve Wyrick

Re: Reels and Hornpipes

May 31, 2006, 3:29 a.m. (Message 45431, in reply to message 45425)

John, a minor correction: I'm pretty sure you meant _8_ 8th-notes and 2
beats per bar (which works out to cut time).

Incidentally, this business of confusing common (4/4) and cut time
signatures isn't a new issue.  Looking at facimiles of Robert Petrie's and
William Marshall's tunebooks from around the turn of the 18th/19th century,
reels in both collections are notated in either cut or common time, with no
apparent reason for the choice of one or the other!  -Steve


John Chambers wrote:

> Reels are conventionally written, with 4 8th-notes and two beats  per
> bar.  So the correct time signature is 2/2, or the C-with-a-bar (M:C|
> in ABC), which is a synonym for 2/2. It would be better to write them
> with  8 16th-notes per bar, and 2/4 as the time signature.  Sometimes
> you see that, but not often. To understand why, you have to study the
> history of musical notation.  The reason isn't logic; it's history.

-- 
Steve Wyrick -- Concord, California