January 14, 2024 Workshop with Ryan and Brennish Thomson - Recap

Ryan and Brennish Thomson

Sunday, January 14, 2024, Ryan and Brennish Thomson joined the NHSMC for the first workshop of the new year; and it was a hit. We had a lot of fun laughing and practicing our smiles while learning about playing hornpipes as an orchestra for an audiences’ listening pleasure. It was pointed out that if we had a dancer hanging around, the tempo and accents should be coordinated to help the dancer with lift. All instruments have to work to find that lift, using slurs and air space (think about breathing), with maybe an upward guitar strum every now and then.

Ryan played three original hornpipes on both whistle and fiddle, with Brennish accompanying on guitar. He also played his accordion, demonstrating back up with the left hand. The hornpipes are written straight, without ‘dottedness’, but are played with swing and various ornaments, most of which were triplets.

The three hornpipes presented were written by Ryan to commemorate his great, great grandfather’s immigration from Dunfermline, Scotland, to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1866. The family spent 108 days over land and sea to reach America and begin a new life. The tunes reflect optimism and joy. They are written out simply allowing the players to ornament and feel the music in their own way. But, Ryan admonished, as an orchestral group, we would have to agree when to do a triplet, change a rhythmic pattern, add a double stop and dynamics, etc. Otherwise, he said we’d have quite a mess on our hands.

Brennish reminded us about the importance of keeping a steady beat, not too fast, unless perhaps you are playing for a contra dance and turning a hornpipe into a reel! He also mentioned that the triplets needed to have a taffy feeling (try thinking “trip-o-let” to stretch it out), not a quick flick, when you play a hornpipe. Placement of any ornaments should be judicious. Not too many, not too few, probably at the beginning of measures. Maybe change a half note into two eighths, or perhaps make it a whole note. Brennish also demonstrated a rhythmic variation for accompaniment, playing four beats, then holding a block chord.

For a little more punch adding double stops by playing the appropriate open string and one finger on an adjoining string for fiddlers isn’t too difficult and adds to an accented feel. Plunkies play all kinds of chords, so we could coordinate a couple of brilliant filler spots. I’m sorry wind instruments, I guess you can’t play chords, but maybe you could divide up parts here and there. Piano and accordion, you just have to use more fingers, that’s all there is to it. No excuses.

It really was a fun workshop. Ryan and Brennish really covered all the bases and made learning what appeared to be simple tunes very interesting and full of possibilities for a neat set in the future. Each hornpipe really has a distinct pattern of phrases, rhythms, chord structures, and ways of resolving, which can be used to make a pleasing concert set. So play around with them, get to know them - and have fun adding your own favorite ornaments.

Contributed by Debby DellOrfano, Alan Wilson, Anne Baier