Tune of the Month, an Old-time American Tune

[Jody Kruskal]

This posting brings me up to date on my Tune of the Month blog.

 

Here is the link for Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss.

 

The text below:

 

This is a fine old-time American tune recorded by many, and it sounds great on both C/G and G/D Anglo concertina. I picked this tune for my workshop at Whitby with Roger Digby last summer and I’ll be teaching it again at the

North East Concertina Workshop

sponsored by the Button Box this coming April in Sunderland, Massachusetts.. If you are planning to attend and want to get a head start, here you go.

 

Here are a number of files to help you figure this tune out. For both C/G and G/D Anglos I've got scores in tabliture, midi files of the scores and MP3 files of me playing the tunes pretty much the way the scores are notated. Don't be put off by the tab scores. Reading music is not required for the workshop.

What I would be particularly interested in from cnet Anglo players who are willing and interested in notation and tab/scoring issues is... take a look at how I have things set up with my tab score pdf and give me feedback.

 

If you take a look, there are three staves per system.

 

The top staff is reserved for melody and chords. That’s what I want to see when I read music. Unless I am presented with something my fingers don’t know how to do, the top staff information is enough. Because it is segregated from the more detailed information below, I can ignore what I don’t need to see.

 

The lower two staves contain all the information to duplicate my arrangement of the tune. The concertina is a puzzle and here is my puzzle solution for this tune. There is lots of information there, really too much information for me to read at any kind of reasonable performance tempo. A very slow learning tempo works for me where I would play a small section over and over to get the details right.

 

The two staves are joined as you would expect to see for a piano score, with the right hand on top and the left hand on the bottom. The bottom staff has two layers indicated by the stem direction. The buttons that are pressed are indicated as is the direction of the bellows.

 

Here are the button numbers:

 

Left and right hand where button #1 is the low end of its side:

 

1a 2a 3a 4a 5a

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

 

P=push D=draw

 

The main thing I did not include was an indication of which fingers I use to play all of this. For instance, it would be helpful to know that the stem up layer in the bottom staff is always played with the index finger. Also, in setting this down in black and white I decided to do it the simplest way I could that still had the full sound that I like for old-time music. I play this and every tune different every time around. To write down all the variations would take forever and I fear there is already an information overload.

 

So what do you all think? With the addition of the top staff, this system is modeled after Dan Worrall’s Kimber transcriptions. How easy is this to use? Could anyone actually play this without me showing them how to do it?

[Graham Collicutt]

Hi Jody,

 

I'm getting a broken link message for the G/D pdf.

 

Cheers, Graham

[Jim Besser]

This posting brings me up to date on my Tune of the Month blog.

 

Here is the link for Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss.

 

 

I've been playing this for years, arranged very differently. Love your drone, I"m gonna incorporate that.

 

Maybe we can fool around with it in Feb. at half Moon.

[Jim Van Donsel]

I like the "kitchen sink" format, and I also like the tune. I had no trouble playing it from the dots. I hope to be at the Workshop this spring and work on it live with Jody.

 

A couple of small notational questions. Maybe they were typos:

 

In measures 3 and 6 (not counting the pickup) of the C/G version I would have expected the LH A to be sounded again on beat 3, rather than being held over from beat 2, so as to match the melody given on the top line.

 

Also, in measure 14 the C# in the LH doesn't match the button number 10.

 

-jim

Edited January 25, 2009 by Jim Van Donsel

[Pippa]

Hi Jody,

The C/G pdf is coming out strange - an "oe" diphthong instead of the round black part of the note symbol, and it's overlapping the chords to make them illegible.

Nice recording though so I'll learn it from that! And the arrangement's legible on the screen.

 

Pippa

[Ken_Coles]

Hi Jody,

The C/G pdf is coming out strange - an "oe" diphthong instead of the round black part of the note symbol, and it's overlapping the chords to make them illegible.

Nice recording though so I'll learn it from that! And the arrangement's legible on the screen.

 

Pippa

 

I'm not seeing any odd characters on the C/G pdf - you might try opening it with a different reader program.

 

And to Jody, I can certainly work out and learn from this - as several of us did at your excellent Spring 2004 workshop at CUNY grad center organized by A. Atlas.

 

Ken

[hjcjones]

Firstly, I must point out that I am very much an "ear" player and I struggle with both notation and tab.

 

I like the idea of the top melody line with the two rows of tab below, that makes it easier to see the tune.

 

I find the button numbering system you and Dan have used a bit confusing. You have numbered the buttons from the low notes to the high notes, so that button 1 on the left hand is played with the pinky but button 1 on the right hand is played by the index finger. Speaking for myself, I find it easier to understand if each side were to be numbered down from the top (as you hold the instrument). That way there is a correlation between both hands - button 1 would always be at the top, and button 5 at the bottom. To me, that's clearer to understand and easier to remember.

 

When I occasionally use tab (I don't transcribe whole tunes but sometimes want to make a note of a tricky piece of fingering) I use this system, with ' to indicate which row the button is on. I find this more intuitive.

 

5''' 4''' 3''' 2''' 1''' | 1''' 2''' 3''' 4''' 5'''

5" 4" 3" 2" 1" | 1" 2" 3" 4" 5"

5' 4' 3' 2' 1' | 1' 2' 3' 4' 5'

 

[this isn't formatting properly the | represents the break between left and right sides]

 

It doesn't help that I play a 40-key, which makes it harder to relate the numbering of your and Dan's system to my keyboard.

Edited January 25, 2009 by hjcjones

[Alan Day]

Firstly, I must point out that I am very much an "ear" player and I struggle with both notation and tab.

 

I like the idea of the top melody line with the two rows of tab below, that makes it easier to see the tune.

 

I find the button numbering system you and Dan have used a bit confusing. You have numbered the buttons from the low notes to the high notes, so that button 1 on the left hand is played with the pinky but button 1 on the right hand is played by the index finger. Speaking for myself, I find it easier to understand if each side were to be numbered down from the top (as you hold the instrument). That way there is a correlation between both hands - button 1 would always be at the top, and button 5 at the bottom. To me, that's clearer to understand and easier to remember.

 

When I occasionally use tab (I don't transcribe whole tunes but sometimes want to make a note of a tricky piece of fingering) I use this system, with ' to indicate which row the button is on. I find this more intuitive.

 

5''' 4''' 3''' 2''' 1''' | 1''' 2''' 3''' 4''' 5'''

5" 4" 3" 2" 1" | 1" 2" 3" 4" 5"

5' 4' 3' 2' 1' | 1' 2' 3' 4' 5'

 

[this isn't formatting properly the | represents the break between left and right sides]

 

It doesn't help that I play a 40-key, which makes it harder to relate the numbering of your and Dan's system to my keyboard.

I agree this is the numbering system I have always used and is on the old tutors.

Al

[Jody Kruskal]

Hi Jody,

 

I'm getting a broken link message for the G/D pdf.

 

Cheers, Graham

 

Hi Graham,

 

I have fixed that link, should be working now.

[Jody Kruskal]

5''' 4''' 3''' 2''' 1''' | 1''' 2''' 3''' 4''' 5'''

5" 4" 3" 2" 1" | 1" 2" 3" 4" 5"

5' 4' 3' 2' 1' | 1' 2' 3' 4' 5'

 

This works too, though I think it might easy to miss how many of those little marks there are at a glance. The idea is to make it as easy to read as one can. Henk van Aalten uses another button numbering system. You can see it here.

[hjcjones]

5''' 4''' 3''' 2''' 1''' | 1''' 2''' 3''' 4''' 5'''

5" 4" 3" 2" 1" | 1" 2" 3" 4" 5"

5' 4' 3' 2' 1' | 1' 2' 3' 4' 5'

 

This works too, though I think it might easy to miss how many of those little marks there are at a glance. The idea is to make it as easy to read as one can. Henk van Aalten uses another button numbering system. You can see it here.

 

I've used tab systems for guitar and melodeon as well as concertina, and I don't think any of them are particularly easy to use. They're useful to indicate how to play something (whereas normal notation only shows you what to play) but I think you'd struggle to play a tune from scratch. With anglo, the fact that there are so many differing systems just underlines the difficulty of finding one which is clear and easy to understand. You have to find one which works for you - the problem then is when someone else uses a different system.

 

With the system I prefer, what I find simple is that the numbering on one side corresponds with the numbering on the other. I know that button 1 will fall under the index finger, 2 under the 2nd finger, and so on (although these are not necessarily the fingers I'll use to play them with). OK it falls down when I get to 4 and 5, but you get the idea. I can work out which button is which without too much mental effort, which means I can do it quicker. With the other numbering systems, I have to remember which is 6 or 10 - by the time I work that out I might as well have learned what the notes are and played it from the notation.

 

Perhaps it's just the way my brain works (or fails to).

[Jody Kruskal]

When I occasionally use tab (I don't transcribe whole tunes but sometimes want to make a note of a tricky piece of fingering) I use this system, with ' to indicate which row the button is on. I find this more intuitive.

 

5''' 4''' 3''' 2''' 1''' | 1''' 2''' 3''' 4''' 5'''

5" 4" 3" 2" 1" | 1" 2" 3" 4" 5"

5' 4' 3' 2' 1' | 1' 2' 3' 4' 5'

I agree this is the numbering system I have always used and is on the old tutors.

Al

 

Which old tutors are those, Al? Not the G. Jones and not the A.J. Wetstone or the very early Höselbarth.

 

Jody

[david fabre]

I found pretty interesting to have the tabs and sound files for both C/G and G/D.

Interestingly, the tune is mostly on the draw with C/G and on the push for G/D.

Also, the most noticable difference is that the C/G lacks a low D for the bass.

[groeswenphil]

Amazing little tune Jody.

That could easily work as a Morris tune.

 

You planning any visits to the UK?

 

Phil

[Jody Kruskal]

I like the "kitchen sink" format, and I also like the tune. I had no trouble playing it from the dots. I hope to be at the Workshop this spring and work on it live with Jody.

 

A couple of small notational questions. Maybe they were typos:

 

In measures 3 and 6 (not counting the pickup) of the C/G version I would have expected the LH A to be sounded again on beat 3, rather than being held over from beat 2, so as to match the melody given on the top line.

 

Also, in measure 14 the C# in the LH doesn't match the button number 10.

 

-jim

Hi Jim,

 

Thanks so much for the suggestions and corrections.

 

The first, about measures 3 and 6... they are written just as intended. Your suggestion works too, but your way puts too much weight on beat 3 for my taste. With this tune, the accents are on beats 2 and 4 and 3 is the weakest beat in the measure. In practice I probably play that A dotted half as a half and a quarter which would be tied over to the A in bar 4. I'm trying to keep things simple here so I did not write it that way. The principle being that not only the bellows but also the fingers support the strong beats of 2 and 4.

 

As for measure 14, you are right, the note and the button do not match up. The fix would be to make the C# an E... dissonant, but I do play it that way at high speed. The better fix would be to put the C# in the bottom layer (played by my middle finger instead of the index and on button 9 instead of 10) but a bit harder to do. I also play it that way and would certainly do so if I was playing slow. I'll pick one and fix the score and midi file one way or the other soon. I'm a bit too busy at the moment.

 

I really appreciate your help. Proof reading this stuff is hard for me. Although I can write the scores out, I would find it hard to realize another player's score or even my own at dance tempo. Though I am in control of my playing, it feels right when it feels like the box is playing itself. For me, the sound and groove come first and I don't like looking at dots while playing. Still, to each their own and it's good to know that some players find these scores helpful. Making them certainly forces me to get very specific about what it is I'm doing to get the American Anglo sound I'm after.

[Jody Kruskal]

I found pretty interesting to have the tabs and sound files for both C/G and G/D.

Interestingly, the tune is mostly on the draw with C/G and on the push for G/D.

Also, the most noticable difference is that the C/G lacks a low D for the bass.

 

Hi David,

 

Well, I'm trying not to play it in in the recording, but my C/G does have a low D draw and I'm loving it.

[Jody Kruskal]

Amazing little tune Jody.

That could easily work as a Morris tune.

 

You planning any visits to the UK?

 

Phil

 

Sure Phil. I would think that it would have to go much slower as a morris dance than a contra dance. How about a stick dance with big clashes on measures 10 and 12?

 

I am planning to be performing and doing workshops at Broadstairs in August with my mate, fiddler Paul Friedman. Perhaps other venues as well... but nothing definate yet.

[LDT]

This posting brings me up to date on my Tune of the Month blog.

 

 

Here are the button numbers:

 

Left and right hand where button #1 is the low end of its side:

 

1a 2a 3a 4a 5a

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

 

P=push D=draw

I'm still a little confused by the tabulature....is this just on the right hand side or does it go over both?