strathspey@strathspey.org:63100

jo.pickering

Re: Are Hornpipes and Reels the same thing?

Sept. 10, 2012, 5:18 p.m. (Message 63100, in reply to message 63094)

For me a hornpipe is a slowish piece with a strong dotted rhythm for
example the High Level Hornpipe or the Trumpet Hornpipe (that used to
introduce Captain Pugwash
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lk2ILzWZPQ).  That said, dances like
Clutha or The Sailor, which are often called hornpipes, have a sort of
'and a one two three' rhythm which historically was called a Scots
Measure (this was the original description of East Neuk of Fife and
Flowers of Edinburgh which fit this pattern).  So I think we should
distinguish between the dance we call 'a reel' which can be danced to
any 4/4 tune played at the right speed and the tune called 'a reel'
(like Sleepy Maggie) which has a particular fast 4/4 rhythm.  I see
little point in distinguishing them in dance descriptions as it
doesn't seem to make any difference to the tunes that are played!

Jo