Gerry Harrington with an Irish Slow Air

[ooooooooser]

there is nothing like a bit of scratch and scrape! brings a bit of feeling in to it, and ads a bit of rawness thats lacking in folk music at the minute. thumbs up for sure!!

[JessManifesto]

@ kodikodiful - pause at 3:07. Bridge is as flat as it needs to be. I am an Irish fiddler and I say I could jam with this guy any day. To all the haters; post a video response next time with your fiddle and bow and do better.

[sLasHHerotic]

ouch!

[kodikodiful]

i play a lot of violin and that looks like a violin not a fiddle? the bridge looks curved not flat?

[sethkar]

@kodikodiful a violin is a fiddle. Most classical players will call their instrument a violin. Fiddlers call it a fiddle. But you get fiddlers who'll call their fiddle a violin on occasion. There is the Hardanger fiddle; but that's for a specific niche of fiddling. Before I started playing fiddle a few years back I was confused whether a fiddle was setup differently to a violin; but that's up to the player, they tend not to be. Fiddler's aren't tied to classical rules, and usually learn by ear.

[dwaynedibbly]

@sethkar not THIS discussion again :D

[sethkar]

@dwaynedibbly Yeah it does get tiresome when it seems to be discussed everywhere on the interwebs :) but I know a lot of people who genuinely don't understand that fiddling is just a style. From an outsiders point of view that confusion can be understandable; so I like to clarify it for people.

[dwaynedibbly]

@sethkar tbh I asked the same thing myself a few months ago :D

[WernerMetapathOrg]

I think the scratchy parts and being slightly off-pitch in places is on purpose --- gives a raw folky groove to it. I like it.

[smviolon]

the song is beautifil, but the playing... vibrato... bow effects...?!?!?

[Kaitlynheartbreaker]

I liked the tune..but Kgillis was correct in some of his comments...it was a bit scratchy..but from what I understand "scratchy" means ya need less rosin..not more..and from what I could hear it was slightly out of tune and a bit harsh to the ear for an air, but this guy could still play me in the grave. Very nice job Gerry!

[moxiemulgrew]

i enjoyed the piece but i think Kgillis should be given the right to comment as he or she feels fit.

[JSCWhistler]

Very nice playing, and just beautiful...

And my word, KGillis, with all due respect, shut up about what you don't know anything about.

[KGillis]

You could use a bit more practice on the violin. Many of your notes were a good bit off, and were painful to the trained ear(most non-musicians wouldn't notice the pitch). You could also use a bit more rosin on your bow, as your tended to scratch and fade out on many of your longer notes. As well, try and move your bow further down towards the frog, as you kept running out of bow on the long notes.

[Legertymusic]

You are obviously not a traditional musician! This is fiddle music, not violin. Many of the things you mentioned as "wrong" were done on purpose. The Irish scale and style is not always what western ears are used to hearing. One of my favorite slow airs and beautifully played here, with gorgeous emotion and phrasing. A few off notes aren't important. Irish music is a living, breathing tradition, played by real people, and music just drips out of Gerry's pores. He's a legend.

Zac

[KGillis]

I understand completely the Irish scale. This does not excuse being completely off on notes, either way. I understand that the form of music this was derived from came from people who were not classically trained on the violin, and thus would have played in this manner. This does not, however, excuse the fact that he is playing at the level of a 9th grade public school orchestra student in a time when the resources are available for him to become properly trained.

[KGillis]

To be honest, if I were to put a 9th grade orchestra student on Youtube, playing this exact piece, at the exact same proficiency, he would probably be ridiculed... but because the performer is a "legend", it is excused. Either way, I do find it a nice piece, and was merely offering my critique.

[Legertymusic]

That's because it takes years to absorb and understand the tradition. There's a difference between just playing the notes - and actually playing the music. I think Gerry is a fair bit nervous here as well. Check out his album with Charlie Piggot and I think you'll feel differently about your critique of his playing.

[Legertymusic]

Again, you are worrying about technicalities, when what is important is the music. Perfection isn't everything. I don't think you really understand the amount of skill and subtlety being displayed here. He also learned this from Maggie Barry, and I suspect plays pretty much the way she sang it, as a good air player does. Few 9th grade students could play this well, indeed, few violinists having played their entire lives could express the sort of depth Gerry is displaying here.

[boxplayer2]

i agree that some of his notes were scratchy,it was the 1st thing that caught my attention but this man is an excellent player. It could have just been one of the days that he wasn't in the mood to play

[greybeardd]

im sorry, but I'm with Kgillis here. this guy is no where near the standard of other Comhaltas players. (some of whom ARE 9th grade school kids!)

legend or not this guy has limited talent and ability. it's not the notes it's his poor playing.

[razalaugh]

so beautiful real good stuff

[isabellanakahara]

That's a beautiful air. Very nice.

[shewolf51]

Yeah, it is insane. Celtic music (especially when played with a fiddle) often involves high notes which sometimes makes it sound out of tune. Try listening to some songs by Davy Spillane. That's the pinnacle of quality in Irish music.

[Connellphotos]

He has an authentic sound, like the way players used to play when they were regular folks who had to work all day. Not like concert violinsts.

[shewolf51]

That's how the song is played.

[slowerairs]

A beautiful air.