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Modern popular songs that sound good on concertina?


MatthewVanitas

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I disagree; I don't mind

 

 

Not sure what you disagree with.

I'm not saying people should be silenced if they are taste challenged, I'm just saying I'll nave no incentive to hang around.

 

Sorry I thought the inevitable conclusion you were aiming at was 'therefore people shouldn't do it.' I misunderstood. My apologies; putting words into your mouth; most unsporting.

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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.

 

 

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.

 

 

Wouldn't the 5th in a D chord be A? So 3rd, F# removed?

 

I don't know much about this stuff and never knew what 'power chords' means

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Wouldn't the 5th in a D chord be A? So 3rd, F# removed?

 

I don't know much about this stuff and never knew what 'power chords' means

 

My bust, D-A, optionally D-A-d. I'll go fix my mis-type.

 

 

"Power chords" is the term commonly used in punk, metal, etc. Though I think the term is vague enough that some folks apply it to barre chords too.

 

I've also heard them called "open chords", "I-V chords", "root-fifth chords", etc.

 

In any case, it's a distinct sound which I, and apparently others, find powerful. Plus they're easy to finger, so win-win.

 

EDIT: found an actual concertina (family) pop cover that's pretty well done.

 

"Fix You" by Coldplay, covered on guitar and bandoneon

 

That sort of sound is precisely why I'm so keen to convince Harry Geuns to make a Hayden system bandoneon over there in Belgium.

Edited by MatthewVanitas
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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.

And
not
monotonous on other instruments (including voice)?

Wouldn't that be part of the genre?

 

That said, the easiest chords are I-V chords (neither major nor minor),....

 

...5 chords ("power chords", though that's not what we call them on Appalachian dulcimer...).

Not what I call them, either. In fact, I've never before encountered the term. I wonder who made it up, and when?

 

In my understanding, a "chord" contains at least three distinct notes. With only two notes, it's an "interval".

 

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.

Same with that notation. Completely new to me. To me, it's not a "5 chord", but just a "fifth".

 

And while I personally like open fifths and use them a lot, I don't think that they deserve a name that suggests they're more "power"-full than real chords which have 3, 4, or more notes at once.

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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.

And
not
monotonous on other instruments (including voice)?

Wouldn't that be part of the genre?

 

I should say "monotonous as an instrumental". There are sung melodic bits which sound fine as lyrics because the vocal variation of distinct words breaks up the monotony. "Didn't get in to the sunrise" has rhythm and interest as a sung line, but on the 'box when it's just "A-A-A-A-A-A-A-G" it's a bit less lively. I'll much around with it, record a bit, and see how it comes out.

 

Not what I call them, either. In fact, I've never before encountered the term. I wonder who made it up, and when?

 

In my understanding, a "chord" contains at least three distinct notes. With only two notes, it's an "interval".

 

It's an extremely common term amongst rock musicians. The Wikipedia article gives a really solid explanation of how the harmonics come out rich on an amplified/distorted instrument, which musicians popularised that style in the 50s and 60s, etc. The article suggests that Pete Townshend (of The Who fame) popularised the term "power chord."

Edited by MatthewVanitas
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I don't play one, so I'm not sure, but isn't it reasonably common to have a switch on the bass side of a melodeon to remove the third in the chords, making what you get a dyad with the root and the fifth?

Offered on some models, I understand.

 

Comes built-in on all concertinas, though.

All you need to do is wave that "third" finger in the air above the buttons. :D

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To play what some erroneously call "Modern" music requires lots of arpeggios around two chords. Basically you will have to improvise the melody in place of often meaningless so called "lyrics".

How about some

?
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what about the zutons -

valerie, or confusion

http://www.myspace.com/thezutons

 

or the white stripes

Seven nation army, or ugly as I seem

 

evanescence

'hello'

 

Not bad. Basically the reason you can't play it on concertina is the wall of sound that these songs are inseparable from. A squeaky lonely honker is no match for it. And the style requires steady beat. Accordion is way better here, but more as a mocker, just to have fun. Like I used to play Boni M on 2 row C/G Hohner. Gets people laughing right away.

However,

is what Russian diatonic accordion pro can do (and does).

Bayan Pink Floyd

Accordion

Another

Chingiz Khan -

- more in that funny aspect (though the player is not aware)

And here is the original, if most of you are unaware.

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

 

Not sure if this fits your definition of "pop", but Steve Earle is a contemporary musician who has written some very popular songs that sit well on the concertina. I'm currently working on "Galway Girl", taking some inspiration from Sharon Shannon's button accordion playing on a recording with Steve. There's a strong "folk" current running through his stuff, so this might be cheating!

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Wow, some pretty interesting ideas here. Hopefully we can get at least a few of them onto YouTube; not a whole lot of pop/rock covers there, though I did find a really awesome Gershwin cover on bandoneon:

 

Again, setting aside the "pure novelty" aspect, I don't find it at all offensive to play modern tunes on a concertina if they end up sounding good. A huge chunk of "folk" songs started out as wildly popular broadsides and the like, or came in the 19th C. through mass-printed sheet music. I understand that there's already some argument in folk circles as to how many generations of people have to play the Beatles' "Yesterday" and "Let it Be" until they count as part of the folk compendium.

 

In any case, I've narrowed down my immediate YouTube filming priorities to "I'm so Paid" by Akon and "Zombie" by The Cranberries. I do want to film a traditional piece too, probably the shape-note tune "Idumea". Though again I'm pretty sure Idumea has a recognised author/composer, though we consider it in the "folk" category these days.

 

Aside from "all music actually played on for-profit radio since 1965 is utter crap" type arguments, I'm just not seeing any problem with picking out some modern tunes that sound good on the 'box. Hope to get up to Tajbeg Palace and record at least some drafts within the next few days. If it's a rough, rough draft I might just give it an innocuous label on YouTube so only folks I direct there will see it, and then replace it with a better version after some input.

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what about?

Yellowcard - Believe

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=7A3cXMyE8sw

 

 

What about it?

 

blame it on the boogie

 

 

Eh.dry.gif

 

or maybe a bit of Brit Pop...

 

Year 2000

 

They're actually pretty good. I didn't get any sense of parody there. Just playing it.

Accordion and fiddle fit well, but who doubted?

I'm not sure what your question was. Is it possible to play your Joe-Shmoe pop on concertina? - Sure!

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