strathspey@strathspey.org:63096

Mike Briggs

Re: Are Hornpipes and Reels the Same Thing?

Sept. 10, 2012, 3:37 p.m. (Message 63096, in reply to message 63094)

In my book, they're not the same (musically speaking).  Both (today)
have time signatures of 2/2 or 4/4 (although a couple of centuries ago
there were hornpipes in 3/2).  Sticking with today's conventions,
hornpipes for SCD are played at the same speed as reels, and are
recognizable (in 4/4) by the three emphatic quarter-note (crotchet)
beats in the last measure, whereas a reel (in 4/4) has a final measure
containing (typically) four smoothly flowing (legato) eighth notes
followed by a half note (minim).  To confuse the issue slightly
further, the same hornpipe tunes played for Irish and English dancing
go much slower (a hair or two faster than a strathspey played for SCD,
and at about the same tempo as music for the Sailor's Hornpipe in
Highland dancing).

Dance-wise, I'm not sure that it makes much difference if the band
plays a "hornpipe" or a "reel," except that if you as a dancer
associate a hornpipe tune with a given dance (e.g., The Sailor) you
will certainly sense that something is off if the band plays a reel.
And I guess that when John called a dance a "hornpipe" he was
specifying the character of the music rather than the character of the
dance, just as he might have done if he'd called the dance a jig
rather than a reel.

Finally (and this is maybe best left to another thread), it gets my
goat when a polka tune (such as those played for Trip to Bavaria) is
described as a reel.

Best of British luck with this one. This was just my two cents' worth.

Mike Briggs  



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