Jan. 28, 2005, 3:01 p.m. (Message 40455, in reply to message 40436)
To add to the mix, one must remember that ... pasa doble two step schottishce strathspey skip change of step polka rant etc., are all really the same step in that in 4 units of music there three steps and a hop on the last beat or on the up beat of two beats to the bar. One must remember that there is no evidence of ther being a specific difference between the version of this step used for dances we call Strathshspeys, jigs, or reels as they are all three steps and a pause (done however). If one looks at the different traditions that have survived, outside of the EFDSS and RSCDS, one will see some very strathspeys (say as we should do Glasgow Highlanders, or very slow duple dances, as in "Gentle Shepherd" as recorded by the RSCDS on a 78rpm disc. Our, the RSCDS, distinction between the two steps, is purely an RSCDS convention with no historic record prior to Miss M. As far as the difficulty of doing 12/8 as a strathspey in one bar, it is easy depending on the speed, since many strathspeys, escpcially as edited by Skinner have a series of triplets in 4/4 time, which is the same as 12/8. For the same reason, a jig at 6/8, time is the same speed as two triplets in 2/4, time or 16th notes at 12/8. Some of my oldest Scottish music and Irish music, some of which have an implication of dancing in their titles, have no bars indicated at all, only phrases. While not too difficult to site read on my string or wind instruments, it drives me crazy on the piano, because the bar lines help me visually align the notes for the right and left hand. It is hard to sight read when scanning left to right one meets the melody line first, and then the first note of the base line under the second melody note, because of no alignment. I can cope with 8 notes in the G clef, and 4 in the F, but try no bar lines with 32 in the treble and 16 in the bass.