A name is not a tune

I mentioned yesterday that I had intended to post about tunes and their names. The fan says it’s within the (Byzantine) etiquette of sessions to take a little list of tunes you know, just to remind you what you might want to play. But the problem is that remembering the title of a tune doesn't necessarily mean you remember the tune. I find this when I practice: a tune comes to mind, and I play it. Sometimes another comes to mind, sometimes I just start playing and a tune appears (which I love!), and sometimes I stop and have to try to remember what tunes I know. But what comes to mind – what I am trying to think about – is not the tunes themselves, but their names, and sometimes when I have recalled the name I still can’t remember what the tune is.

I'm not sure what to do about this. I can’t not remember the tune titles, because they are at least a guide. I also think that the bit of my brain that remembers words and text is separate from the bit that remembers tunes. The fan often says that when you can hum a tune you know it well enough to play it. My humming tends not to be accurate. I listened to Seudan in the car on the way home yesterday, and to Allan MacDonald singing along with his pipes. I know that Canntaireachd was used to teach tunes, and I know that I don’t know Canntaireachd, but I did wonder if I could warble wordlessly to myself (is this what is called “diddling”?) and that might help with the tune. I tried this yesterday with the King, but it certainly didn't have instant results.

I now wonder if what I actually need is words for the tunes, because I remember words quite easily, and maybe they will remind me of the tune. Some tunes do have words, or course, and I find if  I Google a tune once I put the name in it will always add “lyrics” as part of a suggested search. I've often wondered why people want words to tunes, but perhaps it’s to help them remember. If words and music are remembered differently, or in different parts of the brain then possibly I can use the strength of my word-memory to improve my music-memory. On the other hand, maybe my word memory will just be used to patch gaps in my music memory, which won’t then flourish. Perhaps I should be trying to build up my ability to remember music, but I'm not sure how I train myself to do that other than as I am now – playing or listening to tunes over and over (but making sure that when I am “listening” I am concentrating and really noticing and not just tuning out with the music as a pleasant background).

No actual playing this evening. The temperature has dropped and I have mittens to knit.