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Tune Of The Month, June 2015: Vedder Michel


Jim Besser

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We have a winner: the sprightly German tune Vedder Michel.

 

According to the notes with this video, it's a traditional Rheinländer from the north of Germany. But it also appears to have been a pop song in German. Maybe some of our European participants can fill in some of my many blanks.

 

It was on the melodeon.net May tune of the month poll, which is where I first came across it.

 

Whatever its origins, it's a fine tune and easy to play. So let's learn it and each of us find ways to make it our own!

 

Here's the only notation I could find. But really, this tune is easy to learn by ear.

Edited by Jim Besser
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It's also TotM on mel.net :-)

 

All the better!

 

As I said, I first heard this tune when perusing a melnet poll, but for some reason I thought it was from a previous month.

 

It will be fun to compare the results!

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It's also TotM on mel.net :-)

Not to my surprise, with this cheerful video supporting it... :)

 

Yes. :)

 

We never did a german tune as TOTM on Melnet. Therefore I looked for a catchy tune together with a charming clip. (I had to search for quite a long time.) I suggested Vetter Michel for TOTM of May, but than it lost against Harlequin Air (which is in fact a real lovely tune). But in June it got elected. :)

 

 

We have a winner: the sprightly German tune Vedder Michel.

 

According to the notes with this video, it's a traditional Rheinländer from the north of Germany. But it also appears to have been a pop song in German. Maybe some of our European participants can fill in some of my many blanks.

 

It is a well-known tune originally from Mecklenburg in northern Germany and dates form the late 18. century. Here is a video where my Concertina tutor Rainer Schwarz plays the melodeon:

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It is a well-known tune originally from Mecklenburg in northern Germany and dates form the late 18. century.

Interesting. It's a tune that's familiar to me from years ago, and not in a German context. I'm pretty sure I remember it from English dancing. Well, why not? As has been mentioned elsewhere, many tunes travelled widely... even before the internet. ;)

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It is a well-known tune originally from Mecklenburg in northern Germany and dates form the late 18. century.

Interesting. It's a tune that's familiar to me from years ago, and not in a German context. I'm pretty sure I remember it from English dancing. Well, why not? As has been mentioned elsewhere, many tunes travelled widely... even before the internet. ;)

 

 

I had the same feeling. It's an itch I can't seem to scratch. Maybe a German adaptation of an English dance tune - or the reverse!

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Is this a hornpipe? I get a very Maritime/Navy vibe from the videos. Sailors dancing.

The large class of tunes called hornpipes generally have nothing whatsoever to do with the sea, Don. You could polka very well to this tune. Or indeed a rant step would fit it nicely.

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Is this a hornpipe? I get a very Maritime/Navy vibe from the videos. Sailors dancing.

 

The large class of tunes called hornpipes generally have nothing whatsoever to do with the sea, Don. You could polka very well to this tune. Or indeed a rant step would fit it nicely.

Alright, then is it a Sailor's Hornpipe (not the Sailor's Hornpipe)?

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Is this a hornpipe? I get a very Maritime/Navy vibe from the videos. Sailors dancing.

The large class of tunes called hornpipes generally have nothing whatsoever to do with the sea, Don. You could polka very well to this tune. Or indeed a rant step would fit it nicely.

Alright, then is it a Sailor's Hornpipe (not the Sailor's Hornpipe)?

I wouldn't think so. When "hornpipes" were used on shipboard, it was because they were very strenuous excercise, which at the time was believed to prevent scurvy. But to me this tune is quite relaxed, suggesting a step close to the ground, e.g., a polka, rant, or schottische, depending on how it's emphasized.

 

By the way, the "Sailor's Hornpipe" was originally known as the "College Hornpipe". I've heard it said that it got the "Sailor's" title from being used in a popular maritime-themed theater production in the late 1800s.

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It is a well-known tune originally from Mecklenburg in northern Germany and dates form the late 18. century. Here is a video where my Concertina tutor Rainer Schwarz plays the melodeon:

 

 

What a fun version!

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It strikes me (just now, anyway) as too happy and straightforward a little tune to bear the weight of a lot of labored arrangement and multitracking, so here it is solo, on Anglo, in the simplest of settings, on the first take. In C, even!

 

http://youtu.be/WNkHFLi4hRg

 

(I did indulge myself in one obvious quotation.)

 

Bob Michel

Near Philly

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My fingers want to switch into Bonny Kate when playing it. There are a couple of very similar phrases.

 

Yes, Paul. That was my first thought when I heard the tune. There is a certain similarity between the A part of Michel Vedder and the B part of Bonny Kate.

 

Chris

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Hi Bob and Jim,

 

nice ideas as yet, but to my ears getting this tune really going is a pretty subtle affair. My arrangement is pretty basic as well, but demands lesser mistakes than I'm still making to truly convey that plain conception of mine...

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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Hi Bob and Jim,

 

nice ideas as yet, but to my ears getting this tune really going is a pretty subtle affair. My arrangement is pretty basic as well, but demands lesser mistakes than I'm still making to truly convey that plain conception of mine...

 

Best wishes - Wolf

 

My "conception," at this stage, is just to make it not sound like a Morris dance tune. But I may give in and actually record it the way I'd play it for dancers. Some things are just too strong to fight.

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