Phrasing and Timing
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Irish music, unlike many other types of music, consists largely of an uninterrupted stream of notes. If you simply play them all with the same length, loudness, and other emphasis, there is very little to give a "groove" to the tune. One way to make the tune easier to grasp by the listener is to "group" the tune into phrases by various means, similar to the way punctuation separates phrases in a sentence (which is why it benefits you to sing tunes to yourself - pay attention to the syllables you use when you do this). You can insert breaks in the tune through the use of tonguing or breath rests; you can substitute a longer note, for example a dotted quarter note or a half note, in place of a figure of the same length; or, you can emphasize the first or last note of a phrase through ornamentation. There are many ways to do this.
You should be aware of which notes are the "important" ones in a tune. Even without using other means to phrase a tune, certain notes in almost any tune stand out because they are uniquely pitched, or occur in certain places. Try to listen for these notes in every tune, and use them to help decide how you want to phrase the tune.
Another thing you should be aware of, and something that I have hinted at earlier in this guide, is the amount of "swing" in a tune. "Swing" is how I refer to the degree of accent the first note (and perhaps middle note, as well) in each bar gets, usually through its length. For example, if you play a reel straight, you give each note an equal, or almost equal, amount of time. The more swing you put into it, the more you hold the first note in the bar and diminish the second, making the rhythm more bouncy in the process. Be aware of this when you listen to other players, and if playing along, try to match their timing.