Jump to content

Poll: Tune Of The Month For December, 2013


Jim Besser

Poll: Tune of the Month December 2013  

33 members have voted

You do not have permission to vote in this poll, or see the poll results. Please sign in or register to vote in this poll.

Recommended Posts

For your consideration for the December Tune of the Month, here are four tunes in a variety of genres; hopefully there's something you'd like to learn and record!

 

Yes, I know its holiday time, and that will be reflected in December's Theme of the Month.

There have been complaints that the examples I offer are either complex arrangements beyond the skills of most of us, or played on instruments other than concertinas, which makes it harder for people to make an informed choice.

I hear your pain, but the reality is that it isn’t always easy to find recordings that are available publicly - ie that don’t infringe on any copyrights - that also feature both concertinas and simple arrangements.

When possible I will offer such examples - sometimes tapping the skills of other c.net participants, sometimes recording a simple version myself. But please understand: it’s not always possible to offer you simple examples played on concertina.

For this month, here are some fun options.

William and Nancy: this is a classic Cotswold Morris tune with plenty of bounce. I generally play it in G, keeping the local melodeon players happy, but lately I've been doing it in A, and am enjoying that a lot. Here’ a quick and dirty example - I play it once without chords, the second time more like I’d play it for a bunch of rowdy Morris dancers. Search YouTube for plenty of examples of the dance.

Jämtlands Brudmarsch: This was suggested and played by our own Jim Lucas. My experience with Scandinavian music is limited, but what I’ve played, I’ve really enjoyed. Here's Jim demonstrating the tune. Oh yes, he said he can provide dots if this is the December winner.

Whistling Rufus: a classic cakewalk that works nicely on all concertina systems. There are many versions of this, but I am partial to this great arrangement on Anglo. (please help me: this is a c.net member, right? I’m blanking)

Winnie Hayes: A lovely Irish jig. Here's a clip with C’net’s own Peter Laban playing it (on pipes) with Kitty Hayes on Anglo. I love the modest pace of this version; it's the real deal. It's also on the wonderful Anglo International CD compilation performed by Tom Lawrence.

That's it: make your choice and let's get down to the business of learning and recording.

 

Remember, the TOTM will work only if we get a critical mass of participation - both voting in the polls and recording and posting the tunes. This isn't a competition and it's not just for advanced players; the idea is to push ourselves a little, expand our musical horizons and get constructive feedback from our peers.

Edited by Jim Besser
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Err…not to complain about your choices, but how do these reflect the holiday season. You indicated they would, and I don't see it. OOOPS edited: I see what you are saying….

Edited by cboody
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jämtlands Brudmarsch: This was suggested and played by our own Jim Lucas. My experience with Scandinavian music is limited, but what I’ve played, I’ve really enjoyed. Here's Jim demonstrating the tune. Oh yes, he said he can provide dots if this is the December winner.

Since I'm the one who suggested this tune, I'll give a bit more information here:

Actually, I submitted a few Swedish tunes as possibilities, and from them Jim B. selected this one for December's "competition". Be forewarned that others may appear in future months. ;)

  • Considering the number of wedding marches in the tradition, one might think that marriage is very popular in Sweden (and it is), but the folk musicians don't just play them at weddings. They're beautiful tunes, worth playing at any time.
  • For my sound file I've recorded the melody as it's written in the (24 volume) Svenska Låtar (Swedish Tunes) collection published in the first half of the 20th century. Deliberately, it's just the tune, without harmonies or chording, because there are many possibilities for harmony/chording (including none), and I want to leave those choices entirely up to the players who will try these tunes.
  • As I've heard it played in Jämtland, a solo fiddler would typically add a few ringing double stops. But more often there will be from two to several fiddles, with second and even third "voices". Those may simply be improvised, though I have "the dots" for a 3-part arrangement that I'm told is from the Östersund folk musicians' association. (Interestingly, it came to me via an American friend, who got it from a Swede who moved to the US.)
  • The melody in that 3-part arrangement is slightly different in detail from the version in Svenska Låtar, as is common with folk tunes. Also, the repetition is more regular (twice through the A part, twice through the B part) than in my recording, and that repetition pattern seems to be more common these days. (I'm thinking I should do another sound file, playing that melody variant with that repetition pattern, so you can get a sense of the variability. Probably not today, though.)
  • I did find a few YouTube videos for this "Jämtlands Brudmarsch" (or "Jämtlandsk Brudmarsch", etc.) Here's one, but beware! I've also found some others by that name that are completely different tunes, though the one I've presented is the only one I've heard given that name in the part of Jämtland where I've been hanging out.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • I did find a few YouTube videos for this "Jämtlands Brudmarsch" (or "Jämtlandsk Brudmarsch", etc.) Here's one, but beware! I've also found some others by that name that are completely different tunes, though the one I've presented is the only one I've heard given that name in the part of Jämtland where I've been hanging out.

 

 

 

Ah.... that would be why I was confused. I was listening to the nyckelharpa version on YouTube and at first was wondering if it were some minor-mode recast, but they're different tunes entirely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcRhyC4Ia-c

 

Regardless, I'm voting for the Jamtlands tune since I already enjoy doing Swedish tunes on duet but need to stretch out to newer ones (and I don't do waltzes much).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Whistling Rufus: a classic cakewalk that works nicely on all concertina systems. There are many versions of this, but I am partial to this great arrangement on Anglo. (please help me: this is a c.net member, right? I’m blanking)

If I'm not totally mistaken, this would be Boney.

Or Jeff Lefferts, to call him by his real name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Or all of the tied tunes 'win' and we can choose which one(s) to record?

 

Or there's a one-day eliminator poll on 1st december just between the tied tunes?

 

Or ... No, sorry, no more daft ideas :)

 

We could avoid runoffs if we had a Single Transferable Vote polling option, or better yet Positional Voting. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IF you haven't voted, now's the time - I absolutely cringe at the thought of breaking a tie!

And at the moment, it's a 3-way tie.

 

Hmmm, the problem is worse than I thought.

 

And now William and Nancy is leading by one.

C'mon, you folks who would like to see Jim B. cringe (or who would just prefer one of the other tunes ;)), let's get some more votes in for the others (or even for W&N). :ph34r:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...