Talk:Tommy Potts

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Inaccurate use of Terms[edit]

Tommy Potts was not an "improvisational fiddle player". An improvisational fiddle player is one who can improvise music while playing, in real time. Tommy Potts did not do this, he wrote out variations in notation (often lifted directly from snippets of light classical music) and then learned these off. This is not improvisation; Tommy Potts could not improvise. “…simply inventing them [variations] as he went along” is what improvisation means; Potts was not on any account an improvisational fiddle player.

“iconic status” Meaning what? Admired by some Dublin musicians, perhaps? “virtuoso musicianship”? I know that there is a tendency in Irish traditional circles to blow the abilities of traditional players out of proportion, but this is meant to be an encyclopaedia article so it might be an idea to be more honest and more accurate. He was not a virtuoso musician (perhaps the term should not be applied to traditional music at all), he was a competent traditional fiddle player who could read and write musical notation. This is meant to be an informative and accurate encyclopaedia article, accessible to those who might be unfamiliar with the trad-circle's fondness for hyperbole.

“The addition of odd, extra beats is reminiscent of Donegal fiddle traditions, personified by John Doherty.” Far from personifying the Donegal tradition, John Doherty was not even that representative of the tradition in this respect. Adding extra bars and half-bars to tunes was something that John Doherty did, but this is not a common feature of Donegal fiddle music, it’s just something John Doherty did on very rare occasions (borrowing the idea from some eastern European music that was circulating in east Donegal in the early 20th century, music mostly imported by immigrant soldiers in the aftermath of World War One). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.42.241.28 (talk) 03:56, 22 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]