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Modern popular songs that sound good on concertina?


MatthewVanitas

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I've glanced around, but not seen much on this topic: how many folks here play (relatively) modern popular songs on concertina?

 

It's a topic of interest to me, not so much for "novelty" covers ("LOL, I'm using a concertina! How inappropriate to the genre!"), but in terms of modern songs that genuinely sound good on the 'box. Given the history of the concertina, you could argue this is more "correct" than playing modern "folk" music on it, as the concertina was basically the pop-playing machine of its day.

 

I've been working on a few tunes thus far, and once I get a few down I'll hike up to Tajbeg Palace to do some YouTube recording in an awesome environment. I've overall leaned to playing some of the darker minor popular tunes, as I think to modern ears the concertina sounds less off-putting when used in those modes.

 

Here are a few tunes I've been messing with; there aren't any concertina covers of them yet, so I've picked some random YouTube acoustic covers on other instruments to demo them:

 

- "Mad World" by Tears for Fears: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfYTgrKiRe4

- "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana:

- "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3sfyW_SSHc&feature=related

 

 

Any others that jump to mind? Are there actually any good concertina pop covers on YouTube; I haven't really run across many.

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I've glanced around, but not seen much on this topic: how many folks here play (relatively) modern popular songs on concertina?

 

It's a topic of interest to me, not so much for "novelty" covers ("LOL, I'm using a concertina! How inappropriate to the genre!"), but in terms of modern songs that genuinely sound good on the 'box. Given the history of the concertina, you could argue this is more "correct" than playing modern "folk" music on it, as the concertina was basically the pop-playing machine of its day.

 

I've been working on a few tunes thus far, and once I get a few down I'll hike up to Tajbeg Palace to do some YouTube recording in an awesome environment. I've overall leaned to playing some of the darker minor popular tunes, as I think to modern ears the concertina sounds less off-putting when used in those modes.

 

Here are a few tunes I've been messing with; there aren't any concertina covers of them yet, so I've picked some random YouTube acoustic covers on other instruments to demo them:

 

- "Mad World" by Tears for Fears: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=KfYTgrKiRe4

- "Heart Shaped Box" by Nirvana:

- "Fidelity" by Regina Spektor: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related

 

 

Any others that jump to mind? Are there actually any good concertina pop covers on YouTube; I haven't really run across many.

 

 

 

What kind of concertina do you have? I play Anglo but wish I was proficient on a Duet for the tunes less suited to a diatonic instrument although there are some great Anglo players who do play some great tunes in the popular music genres.

 

 

My 40 button C/G is a good compromise for nowbut I'm working on a Maccann Duet by Lachenal

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In my day I have arranged some Billy Joel and Paul Simon and of course the Beatles. Also some Miles Davis and Gilberto and Ellington. I did not even think about Mad World. Great tune. Also some of the Ballads of Greenday and Rage Against the Machine. One man's contemporary is another man's history.

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Edited by Randy Stein
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My eventual intention is to be able to arrange and perform "It's You I Like" on my English. Several of the songs over there have nice sheet music that ought to be amenable to arrangement-- especially if one can decipher the jazzy chords notated above, which I can't always.

 

I admit, the style isn't very modern, even if the vintage is fresh. I am keeping my ears open for stuff I listen to that might sound good on the box, but so much of my music library comes from east of the curtain that I fear it will be unfamiliar to all but a select few here. I keep coming back to

.
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Recalled another song that I think would go well on concertina.

 

For contrast, here's the original, and then an acoustic guitar cover:

 

Original:

 

Acoustic guitar cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTjFCnfH2g0

 

 

I think some of the more plaintive R&B songs go well, but I'll have to arrange one and see how it comes out.

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Nice!

 

Okay, you've got me going now, and I'm actually going to sit down and work on this right now.

 

Original

Acoustic cover by some random dude. Sounds like he transposed up a step, too. Not that it really needed an acoustic cover.

 

If you two are going to put up links to such awful saccharine-dripping pap you might label it so that those of us with delicate sensibilities know what they're inflicting on themselves before they click on the link. Come on gentlemen, have some consideration. I just walked into that and my system is still recovering; I was only halfway down my first mug of tea of the day and THAT!

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If you two are going to put up links to such awful saccharine-dripping pap you might label it so that those of us with delicate sensibilities know what they're inflicting on themselves before they click on the link. Come on gentlemen, have some consideration. I just walked into that and my system is still recovering; I was only halfway down my first mug of tea of the day and THAT!

 

Ha! I hadn't thought of it before, but now that you mention it, I do know

that might be amenable to concertina interpretation. Not as good as some of the others, though.

 

Comrade Hill works better, and had occurred to me earlier, but didn't seem to fit the specified genre constraints-- though, really... if that isn't a modern popular song, what is?

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Your duet is supposed to be good for chords, right? I don't see what's stopping you from

! =)

 

Duet is indeed good for chords, particularly my Hayden Duet where all chord shapes are uniform.

 

That said, the easiest chords are I-V chords (neither major nor minor), and given that those are most popular (in modern music) in metal/punk/grunge sort of stuff, I'm trying to puzzle out which of those songs would sound best on the concertina. Part of the problem is that a lot of those songs aren't so melodic, so the melody part might sound a bit monotonous on concertina.

 

I think I'll give a shot at "Breed" by Nirvana. Acoustic guitar cover here:

 

The entire thing is 5 chords ("power chords", though that's not what we call them on Appalachian dulcimer...). The only hitch is that there's an F#5 chord, and my Elise Hayden is only partially chromatic, so I might need to transpose down a step to get that down to an E5.

 

Chords are:

Intro: F#5 E5 F#5 A5 E5

Verses: D5 A5 C5 B5

 

The "5" just means to play only the root and fifth, so D5 is just a D and a A. (whoops, mistyped "G" before)

Edited by MatthewVanitas
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I think I'll give a shot at "Breed" by Nirvana. Acoustic guitar cover here:

 

The entire thing is 5 chords ("power chords", though that's not what we call them on Appalachian dulcimer...). The only hitch is that there's an F#5 chord, and my Elise Hayden is only partially chromatic, so I might need to transpose down a step to get that down to an E5.

 

Chords are:

Intro: F#5 E5 F#5 A5 E5

Verses: D5 A5 C5 B5

 

The "5" just means to play only the root and fifth, so D5 is just a D and a G.

I was gonna say I'd like to hear a nirvana cover on concertina....smells like teen spirit or, come as you are.

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I think I'll give a shot at "Breed" by Nirvana. Acoustic guitar cover here:

 

The entire thing is 5 chords ("power chords", though that's not what we call them on Appalachian dulcimer...). The only hitch is that there's an F#5 chord, and my Elise Hayden is only partially chromatic, so I might need to transpose down a step to get that down to an E5.

 

Chords are:

Intro: F#5 E5 F#5 A5 E5

Verses: D5 A5 C5 B5

 

The "5" just means to play only the root and fifth, so D5 is just a D and a G.

I was gonna say I'd like to hear a nirvana cover on concertina....smells like teen spirit or, come as you are.

 

I worked up "Breed" today, but it's hard to get the chord changes fast enough without being choppy, or slowing the song down too much. I'll mess with it more though.

 

"I'm so Paid" by Akon actually went really well though; I could see getting that YouTube ready in the next couple weeks.

 

If you want a really easy Nirvana song, "Something in the Way" only has two chords, and is slow and mournful enough that it'd probably sound great on concertina: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXbQqdHmiYQ

 

I messed with it on the Hayden but just couldn't get it to sound right, I think I need to go up to the C rather than doing the bassiest low C chord. The melody is a little tricky too, I think it's in some odd mode, so I have to be careful what key I do it in on an abbreviated 'box.

 

I might just post a few really rough samples just as demo, with a huge caveat saying they're drafts, and then replace them in a week or two once I get the tunes down.

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The entire thing is 5 chords ("power chords", though that's not what we call them on Appalachian dulcimer...). The only hitch is that there's an F#5 chord, and my Elise Hayden is only partially chromatic, so I might need to transpose down a step to get that down to an E5.

 

Ermm... F#5 is F# and C#, right? All you're missing is the lowest C# if you wanted to play an inversion.

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If you two are going to put up links to such awful saccharine-dripping pap you might label it so that those of us with delicate sensibilities know what they're inflicting on themselves before they click on the link.

I keep coming back to
.

Отстой (which is Russian for something like "lame" or "sucks". Literal translation is "remaining residue from fecal filtering").

Well, well.

Not everyone here shares the same tastes.
:D
:ph34r:

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If you two are going to put up links to such awful saccharine-dripping pap you might label it so that those of us with delicate sensibilities know what they're inflicting on themselves before they click on the link.

I keep coming back to
.

Отстой (which is Russian for something like "lame" or "sucks". Literal translation is "remaining residue from fecal filtering").

Well, well.

Not everyone here shares the same tastes.
:D
:ph34r:

 

It's quite understood. But if this site will start direct you to amateur renditions of idiotic Nirvana or post Soviet garbage, I'll look for another place to socialize.

Edited by m3838
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If you two are going to put up links to such awful saccharine-dripping pap you might label it so that those of us with delicate sensibilities know what they're inflicting on themselves before they click on the link.

I keep coming back to
.

Отстой (which is Russian for something like "lame" or "sucks". Literal translation is "remaining residue from fecal filtering").

Well, well.

Not everyone here shares the same tastes.
:D
:ph34r:

 

It's quite understood. But if this site will start direct you to amateur renditions of idiotic Nirvana or post Soviet garbage, I'll look for another place to socialize.

I disagree; I don't mind being directed to places like these. The wide range of music (and the rest!) we discuss on Cnet is good if you ask me, all I wanted was that the links be labeled so that I can decide for myself if I care to have a listen. I was completely unprepared and still in my pyjamas.

 

It was a nasty shock, matron.

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