Jump to content

The Blackbird


jimbo77

Recommended Posts

Hi all... yes, I'm requesting music before my Concertina even arrives !

 

What got me interested in this was a performance by harmonica player Rick Epping at an Iron Lung performance on Youtube.

 

He played two versions together of The Blackbird (one had a lot of droning, very airy). He played harp WITH a Concertina. Now if I look closer, I think it's a 20 or 30 button English. But surely it can be played on the Anglo - yes?

 

Anyway, if anyone knows what I'm talking about and can help, it would be greatly appreciated.... would love to learn this one.

 

Kindest,

jim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all... yes, I'm requesting music before my Concertina even arrives !

 

What got me interested in this was a performance by harmonica player Rick Epping at an Iron Lung performance on Youtube.

 

He played two versions together of The Blackbird (one had a lot of droning, very airy). He played harp WITH a Concertina. Now if I look closer, I think it's a 20 or 30 button English. But surely it can be played on the Anglo - yes?

 

Anyway, if anyone knows what I'm talking about and can help, it would be greatly appreciated.... would love to learn this one.

 

Kindest,

jim

Hi Jim

 

Is this the video?

 

I can almost make out the thumb straps on an English Concertina for sure. Don't know about the tune. Since I can't play by ear, it's impossible for me to tell which key it's in and can barely make out his fingers. It is nice though.

 

Thanks

Leo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Leo-

 

Yeah man, that's the one. That pretty much is what I like.

 

And yeah, the thumb strap was the tell for me being English, shouldnt mean can't be done on an Anglo right?

 

But like you, I can't do it by ear, I don't know the diff between keys, etc...

 

But that's one of my goals!

 

jim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Leo-

 

Yeah man, that's the one. That pretty much is what I like.

 

And yeah, the thumb strap was the tell for me being English, shouldnt mean can't be done on an Anglo right?

 

But like you, I can't do it by ear, I don't know the diff between keys, etc...

 

But that's one of my goals!

 

jim

Hi Jim

 

I suspect you'd like to play the harmonica part. There's no reason it can't be played on an Anglo, although you'd not sound the same since you can't bend the notes.

 

Now the hard part. A quick look here: http://ecf-guest.mit.edu/~jc/cgi/abc/tunefind?P=blackbird&find=FIND&m=title&scale=0.65&limit=1000&thresh=5&fmt=single&V=1&Tsel=tune&Nsel=0

has a few versions for you to look and listen to. :blink:

 

I would suggest using the pdf version on a keyboard or the midi version and listen to find the correct one. If you've not come across abc type music before, it's an easy way to write out the note names and send over the internet, and email tunes without a lot of hassle. The Concertina.net home page has a Tune-O-Tron which is kind of neat and referred to frequently. It will convert the notation to a GIF, or MIDI for saving to your computer, and you can collect your own tunes in a tunebook.

 

Lots of cool stuff to learn. :o :)

 

Thanks

Leo :)

P.S. Speaking of the Tune-O-Tron, there are already two version of a tune with the same name there:

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_detail.html?rec_id=658

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_detail.html?rec_id=686

Edited by Leo
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all... yes, I'm requesting music before my Concertina even arrives !

 

What got me interested in this was a performance by harmonica player Rick Epping at an Iron Lung performance on Youtube.

 

He played two versions together of The Blackbird (one had a lot of droning, very airy). He played harp WITH a Concertina. Now if I look closer, I think it's a 20 or 30 button English. But surely it can be played on the Anglo - yes?

 

Anyway, if anyone knows what I'm talking about and can help, it would be greatly appreciated.... would love to learn this one.

Vintage English concrtinas don't normally come in 20- or 30-button models. That one looks (and sounds) to me like a standard 48-button treble English.

 

He's using the concertina for accompaniment. Some drone-sounding stuff, but also shifting chords. He also does some chord work on the harmonica, and the interplay is interesting.

 

If you want The Blackbird written out, good luck on finding that version (those versions, as the air and set dance are similar but not identical). There are 3 versions of the slow air in O'Neill's 1850, and Rick's version is as far from any of them as they are from each other, though I'd say the third version (#201) is closest. In addtion, to me his style seems very bluesy. Part of that is the choice of chords, but also his timing, and you won't be able to bend notes like that on a concertina. O'Neill's also has a set dance version (#1793).

 

So if you want to learn to play The Blackbird, good for you, and the anglo should be fine for that. But if you want it to sound like Rick's version, you're going to have to be very creative, even if you manage to get a full transcription of the exact notes that he's playing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all... yes, I'm requesting music before my Concertina even arrives !

 

What got me interested in this was a performance by harmonica player Rick Epping at an Iron Lung performance on Youtube.

 

He played two versions together of The Blackbird (one had a lot of droning, very airy). He played harp WITH a Concertina. Now if I look closer, I think it's a 20 or 30 button English. But surely it can be played on the Anglo - yes?

 

Anyway, if anyone knows what I'm talking about and can help, it would be greatly appreciated.... would love to learn this one.

 

Kindest,

jim

Hi Jim

 

Below you will find the setdance version of The Blackbird in ABC notation

 

X:29
T:The Blackbird
R:hornpipe / setdance
M:4/4
L:1/8
Q:1/4=150
K:G
dc |"G"B3 d "C"cA BG | "D"A3 G FG A2 | "D"d^c de d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE |
F3 G "A"A2 fe | "G"d^c de "D"d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE | [M:2/4]"D"D2 dc 
|:[M:4/4]"G"B3 d "C"cA BG | "D"A3 G FG A2 | "D"d^c de d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE |
F3 G "A"A2 fe | "G"d^c de "D"d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE | |[1 "D"D2 dc :|[M:2/4]|[2 "D"D2 de|
|:[M:4/4]"D"f3 e de fg | a3 g "B7"fg af | "G"g3 f gb af | "D"ga "A"gf "D"d2 de |
f3 e de fg | a3 g "B7"fg af | "G"ga gf "D"d2 d^c | [M:2/4]"D"de fg |
[M:4/4]"B7"a3 g fg af | "G"g3 e "D"f3 e | dc AG AB cd | "Em"ef g/f/e "A"a4 |
"D"A3 G FG AB | "C"c3 e dc AF | "G"GA GF "D"D2 DE | |[1 "D"D2 de :|[M:2/4]|[2 "D"D2 dc |
|:[M:4/4]"G"B3 d "C"cA BG | "D"A3 G FG A2 | "D"d^c de d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE |
F3 G "A"A2 fe | "G"d^c de "D"d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE | |[1 "D"D2 dc :|[M:2/4]|[2 "D"D2 z2 |]

I'll try to attach a midi file as well. Get however a message like

Error You aren't permitted to upload this kind of file :blink:

 

Hope you can manage ABC type of files.

 

MW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Below you will find the setdance version of The Blackbird in ABC notation

...

Not the version, but a version. The set dance version in O'Neill's 1850 is significantly different. The differences include having no third part, no 2/4 measures, and more C#'s. (In fact, the key signature is given with 2 sharps, not just one.) Rick's version also doesn't have a third part, and if I've counted correctly, differs from both angloplayer's and the O'Neill's versions in the number of beats in the second part. This surprises me, since I thought the set dances were fixed choreographies, and if so, all versions of the music, however different in melody, would have to have the same count of measures and beats. An I wrong about that? Is there now more than one "Blackbird" set dance?

 

Hope you can manage ABC type of files.

Should be no trouble. Just paste the entire ABC version (including the header lines) into the Tune-O-Tron Converter and click on the Submit button.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Below you will find the setdance version of The Blackbird in ABC notation

 

 

X:29

T:The Blackbird

R:hornpipe / setdance

M:4/4

L:1/8

Q:1/4=150

K:G

dc |"G"B3 d "C"cA BG | "D"A3 G FG A2 | "D"d^c de d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE |

F3 G "A"A2 fe | "G"d^c de "D"d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE | [M:2/4]"D"D2 dc

|:[M:4/4]"G"B3 d "C"cA BG | "D"A3 G FG A2 | "D"d^c de d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE |

F3 G "A"A2 fe | "G"d^c de "D"d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE | |[1 "D"D2 dc :|[M:2/4]|[2 "D"D2 de|

|:[M:4/4]"D"f3 e de fg | a3 g "B7"fg af | "G"g3 f gb af | "D"ga "A"gf "D"d2 de |

f3 e de fg | a3 g "B7"fg af | "G"ga gf "D"d2 d^c | [M:2/4]"D"de fg |

[M:4/4]"B7"a3 g fg af | "G"g3 e "D"f3 e | dc AG AB cd | "Em"ef g/f/e "A"a4 |

"D"A3 G FG AB | "C"c3 e dc AF | "G"GA GF "D"D2 DE | |[1 "D"D2 de :|[M:2/4]|[2 "D"D2 dc |

|:[M:4/4]"G"B3 d "C"cA BG | "D"A3 G FG A2 | "D"d^c de d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE |

F3 G "A"A2 fe | "G"d^c de "D"d=c AF | "C"GA GF "D"D2 DE | |[1 "D"D2 dc :|[M:2/4]|[2 "D"D2 z2 |]

 

I'll try to attach a midi file as well. Get however a message like

Error You aren't permitted to upload this kind of file :blink:

 

Hope you can manage ABC type of files.

 

MW

 

I copied and pasted the ABC file and got the whole thing in a single line, which the ABC Convert-O-Matic doesn't like at all. I've removed the code tags in this response; testing from the preview screen indicates that it works much better this way (your mileage may vary).

 

jdms

 

Edited to add: works from the final post, too.

Edited by jdms
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Should be no trouble. Just paste the entire ABC version (including the header lines) into the Tune-O-Tron Converter and click on the Submit button.

 

Sorry Jim L., but the Jim I was addressing to was the original Jim that started the thread rolleyes.gif.

 

About the setdance... this is anyway the version on which I saw people "set-dancing" on. It fits anyway the dancing pattern. Note that the tune starts with 3 times the A-part. The first time it is played, there is no dancing! It is played to adjust the playing speed at the request of the dancer(s).

 

MW

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I copied and pasted the ABC file and got the whole thing in a single line, which the ABC Convert-O-Matic doesn't like at all. I've removed the code tags in this response; testing from the preview screen indicates that it works much better this way (your mileage may vary).

My mileage did vary. Worked fine copying from the text in the code box. I even tried including the box itself when I did my copy, and there was no problem. The box didn't leave any "residue" in the copied text.

 

I didn't get stretched into a single line either time. I wonder what's different in your system. :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry Jim L., but the Jim I was addressing to was the original Jim that started the thread rolleyes.gif.

I didn't think otherwise.

My error that I didn't sign my post "another Jim". :o

 

About the setdance... this is anyway the version on which I saw people "set-dancing" on. It fits anyway the dancing pattern. Note that the tune starts with 3 times the A-part. The first time it is played, there is no dancing! It is played to adjust the playing speed at the request of the dancer(s)

That's also standard in Morris dancing, where it's called "once to yourself". ;)

 

And on closer inspection I see that your last part is identical with your your first and second, except for a misplaced 2/4 signature, which should include the first ending (same error on the next to last). So that looks like the one part gets played once-to-yourself, then twice with dancing, then twice the other part, then twice again the first part. Is that the end of it, or does it repeat further? If that's the end of it, then the other versions are less different. They would work for the dance by repeating the first part at the end, though not bothering to write it out again. The 2/4 measures are another story, but I think Rick Epping also has some short measures.

Edited by JimLucas
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I copied and pasted the ABC file and got the whole thing in a single line, which the ABC Convert-O-Matic doesn't like at all. I've removed the code tags in this response; testing from the preview screen indicates that it works much better this way (your mileage may vary).

My mileage did vary. Worked fine copying from the text in the code box. I even tried including the box itself when I did my copy, and there was no problem. The box didn't leave any "residue" in the copied text.

 

I didn't get stretched into a single line either time. I wonder what's different in your system. :unsure:

 

Well, it's my work computer, which is ancient and creaky. Since it's different on yours, it's probably also different on my home machine--I'll have to check...

 

jdms

 

Edit: Ooh, I'm officially chatty now...

Edited by jdms
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just think the "another jim" is hilarious.

 

Thanks, I know "The Blackbird" is a seriously generic title, and me with no musical inclination, couldn't tell ya any "tells" to narrow it down.

 

But I'll give it all a go, haha

 

Gotta download the Tune-o-matic too.... new computer, haven't added much.

 

MY CONCERTINA ARRIVED !!!! Guess the fun (or for my family, Torture) is about to start !

 

kindest,

jim (that is, jim the originator of the thread , haha)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... So that looks like the one part gets played once-to-yourself, then twice with dancing, then twice the other part, then twice again the first part. Is that the end of it, or does it repeat further? If that's the end of it, then the other versions are less different....

 

Jim L.

 

As far as I have seen and heard, it is the end of it.

 

MW

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...