Tempo to aim for in Irish tunes

[Rosie]

I’m trying to increase my playing speed for Irish tunes, particularly reels. I’m steadily working through Kevin Burke’s and Niall Murphy’s lessons, which are fantastic. What is a good session speed to aim for, for jigs, reels, hornpipes, polkas and slip jigs. I’m trying to build up using a metronome. Any advice please?
Thank you.

[AgnesM]

I don’t have an answer, just tagging along to find out the answer. Specifically “session speed”

[Casey Willis]

Hi, Rosie & Agnes.

Most irish reels are played at a fairly quick clip. Kevin seems to range betweein 104-110 BPM for his reels, and Niall between 110-120 BPM for his. If you’re looking for some ideas on how to speed up your playing of these Trad Irish fiddle tunes, you should definitely check out Kevin’s lesson How to Play Trad Irish Fiddle Tunes up to Speed.

I hope that’s helpful, and all the best!

C

[Author]

Posts