The Roll or Long RollĪ Roll or Long Roll is played by quickly playing five notes in rapid succession. The Casadh or PatĪ Casadh or a Pat consists of three notes played in rapid succession and is like a cut but with two grace notes added before the principal note rather than one, the first grace note is the same as the principal note, quickly followed by a second grace note which is higher than the principle note and finally the principal note itself. On a stringed instrument we 'hammer on' (hence the name tap) quickly tapping a finger onto a sounded note to raise the pitch of the note being played. The TapĪ Tap is the same as a cut but with one difference - the grace note is below rather than above the principal note that it preceeds. On a stringed instrument (such as a fiddle or guitar) cuts are often played by 'hammering off,' a string which is plucked, struck or bowed and immediately a finger is quickly 'lifted off' the sounded string to quickly lower the note.

This additional note is played very quickly sometimes with the note clearly audible but sometimes so quickly that the grace note sounds almost like a stutter rather than a note in itself. Cuts are usually played as a note a tone or semitone above the principal note it preceeds. The CutĪ Cut is the simplest form of ornamentation and is played as a single grace note played quickly immediately before a principal note in a tune. This is achived in different ways depending on the instrument, with a fiddle the bow may change direction to stop and restart the note, on a whistle a couple of dabs of the tongue may be used while on an accordian or concertina a single button may be tapped rapidly using one, two or three fingers. A long note is effectively broken up by two 'stutters'. Single Note TripletsĪ Single Note Triplet is when a note is played three times in very rapid succession, it is soften used to ornament a principal note that is of long duration. In many tunes these triplets have become accepted as a fundamental part of the tune itself. The three notes may rise upwards - example c-d-e, fall downwords e-d-c, they may rise then fall c-d-c or fall then rise c-b-c. The three notes of a triplet are generally (note - there are no set rules in ornamentation) played in the same time as the two principal notes would be without the extra note between. The most common decoration is achieved by adding an extra note between two principal notes of a tune giving a 'triplet'. Here are the commonly known forms of Irish tune ornamentation as they can be written in music: The grace notes are not part of the basic tune. We ornament a tune by adding 'grace' notes to it, to decorate it. Do not add too much ornamentation to a tune, the trick is to keep it simple but effective.Practice the ornamentation so you can add without having to think about it, it becomes a natural process.Don't play a tune too fast, you need to be able to add notes without interfering with the timing and lilt of the basic tune.Make sure you have a tune in your head before you start to add ornamentation.The best musicians are able to vary the ornamentation at will often playing a tune differently each time they repeat it.ĭifferent instruments are played in very different ways and so ornamentation in many cases is instrument specific, what is possible on a whistle may not be possible on a banjo, notes that fall easily on a fiddle may be very difficult on a concertina, and so on.īefore we start it is useful to follow a few guidelines:

Ornamentation is achieved by adding extra notes within the basic notes of a tune to 'decorate' it.

Ornamentation is a key element in making Irish music what it is.

Celtic stringed instrument