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Suggestions For Future Tunes Of The Month


Jim Besser

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If we are deviating from folk and dance music, may I suggest this Polish-Russian classic tango: "Ostatnia niedziela" by Mieczysław Fogg. The dots can be found online for free. This piece is very popular amongst polish accordion players. The melody isn't all that difficult, but the downside is that it requires fully chromatic instrument, so Elise and 20-button-Anglo players would be excluded. That includes me as well..

 

Nice tune, do you know if it fits on a 32 button anglo?

 

I'm sure that all the notes of the melody can be found, though I'm not sure how easy the fingering would be. And you would probably have to get "creative" with harmony/chords.

 

You won't have to worry about me being creative.

I'm barely managing a decent single line melody.

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It is often very hard to draw lines between balkan gypsy music, klezmer music, russian and ukrainian folk etc. Remember also, that geopolitics of this region in XIX and early XX centuries mixed every nation and their cultures together...

 

Indeed. And cultural politics even earlier. Local dance forms repeatedly became global (well, European "global") dance forms... waltz, polka, schottische, quadrille.... What I know as Playford-era English country dance was all the rage on both sides of the North Sea and also in America. Poland was a particularly rich source of dance forms... the polonaise, mazurka, varsovienne (or varsoviana), and particularly the polska (a word which means "Polish" in both Polish and Swedish), which became the Swedish national dance, and versions of which are also danced in the other Scandinavian countries. In fact, a few of the polska tunes that are still popular in Sweden can be identified as having been originally Polish.

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That must be a remanant of the times of "sweedish flood" - when Sweden invaded Poland. Just to be precise: polska means Polish only for the feminine words, and in Sweeden it was probably taken from "polska muzyka" (polish music) or something like that. In most cases polska means Poland.

 

I know/knew that polska (as an adjective) in Polish is feminine, but since English adjectives don't have gender, I thought being that specific would be a distraction. Swedish, however, also doesn't have adjective gender, and the "-ska" ending is a "universal" ending for adjectives of regional membership: svenska=Swedish, skånska=from (the county of) Skåne, engelska=English, franska=French, danska=Danish, etc. So the Swedish adjective "polska" is probably not taken directly from the Polish adjective, but instead is a straightforward Swedish derivative of "Polen", the Swedish word for Poland.

 

Coincidences are fun, though. :)

 

<End digression?>

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  • 3 weeks later...

Suggestion...

 

 

I really like that song, 'John O'Dreams.' Heard it again recently on the radio, done by Mick Maloney... I think I read that it's on an album of his called 'Songs From The Heart.'

 

Of course, it's many places. It's in the Rise Up Singing songbook, I think... have to double-check that.

 

I've played along with this one a bit, but never really worked out any arrangement or whatever.

 

Just a thought.

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Suggestion...

 

 

I really like that song, 'John O'Dreams.' Heard it again recently on the radio, done by Mick Maloney... I think I read that it's on an album of his called 'Songs From The Heart.'

 

Of course, it's many places. It's in the Rise Up Singing songbook, I think... have to double-check that.

 

I've played along with this one a bit, but never really worked out any arrangement or whatever.

 

Just a thought.

Good song ... written by Bill Caddick and using a tune by Tchaikowsky from Symphony No 6 (The Pathetique) - often mistakenly thought of as an Irish folk song! :)

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Suggestion...

 

 

I really like that song, 'John O'Dreams.' Heard it again recently on the radio, done by Mick Maloney... I think I read that it's on an album of his called 'Songs From The Heart.'

 

Of course, it's many places. It's in the Rise Up Singing songbook, I think... have to double-check that.

 

I've played along with this one a bit, but never really worked out any arrangement or whatever.

 

Just a thought.

Is that the song that uses a melody from the Tchaikovsky Pathetique Symphony ?

 

Opps... Irene got in first whilst I was looking up how to spell Tchaikovsky :wacko:

Edited by Geoff Wooff
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Wouldn't it be a good idea to channel the choices by suggesting three tunes of a kind (which had been requested in general by members of our community) per month?

 

Some of us wanted to learn an Irish reel (or some traditional Irish tune in general), which is now suspended once again, even if in favour of Jody's nice tune.

 

Thus my plea is for

 

1. collecting general suggestions for the type of tune (for instance: Irish dance tune, or: slow Air - we just had a great example of that - or whatsoerver).

 

2. providing three different tunes of one chosen kind to the voters then.

 

IMO it's not that much about democracy here (we don't lack in that anyway) but about diversity and common effort.

 

Best wishes - Wolf

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Wouldn't it be a good idea to channel the choices by suggesting three tunes of a kind (which had been requested in general by members of our community) per month?

 

Some of us wanted to learn an Irish reel (or some traditional Irish tune in general), which is now suspended once again, even if in favour of Jody's nice tune.

 

Thus my plea is for

 

1. collecting general suggestions for the type of tune (for instance: Irish dance tune, or: slow Air - we just had a great example of that - or whatsoerver).

 

2. providing three different tunes of one chosen kind to the voters then.

 

IMO it's not that much about democracy here (we don't lack in that anyway) but about diversity and common effort.

 

Best wishes - Wolf

 

Uhm, I think that would be taking it a little too far... first of all, anybody is free to work on any time at any time (that's sort of what the Runners Up Subforum is all about, isn't it, and already that one is fairly orphaned), and secondly, to me the TOTM is also about widening the musical horizon, thus being forced to work on tunes one normally isn't exposed to, so wouldn't this be counter productive? Then, given that the TOTM regulars has reduced to +- a dozen, spiltting this contributorship even further would yield even fewer comparison opportunities... Lastly, Jim is already doing a lot of work keeping the TOTM up, let's not overstrech his enthusiasm I'd think?... ;-)

Edited by Ruediger R. Asche
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Uhm, I think that would be taking it a little too far... first of all, anybody is free to work on any time at any time (that's sort of what the Runners Up Subforum is all about, isn't it, and already that one is fairly orphaned), and secondly, to me the TOTM is also about widening the musical horizon, thus being forced to work on tunes one normally isn't exposed to, so wouldn't this be counter productive? Then, given that the TOTM regulars has reduced to +- a dozen, spiltting this contributorship even further would yield even fewer comparison opportunities... Lastly, Jim is already doing a lot of work keeping the TOTM up, let's not overstrech his enthusiasm I'd think?... ;-)

 

I don't mean to take anything, somebody's amount of thankworthy work in particular, farther. It's just about the focus of that work. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding when you reckon my suggestion as counter productive, since I don't argue in favour of already popular and familiar genres, rather the other way round. If your protest would be against feeling forced to enter unknown areas, this would be completely fine with me. But my plea is for that certain challenge of doing the unfamiliar (like approaching "The Abbess" in August), or rather: for structures that could make this more likely for all of us in the future.

Edited by blue eyed sailor
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Wouldn't it be a good idea to channel the choices by suggesting three tunes of a kind (which had been requested in general by members of our community) per month?

 

Some of us wanted to learn an Irish reel (or some traditional Irish tune in general), which is now suspended once again, even if in favour of Jody's nice tune.

 

 

Best wishes - Wolf

 

I've been reluctant to "channel" because I honestly don't know the distribution of musical interests on concertina.net: how many Irish players? How many Scandinavian? How many English? Etc. In an effort to ensure that my own musical interests don't dominate and to generate the broadest possible participation, I've tried to choose tunes from 3 or 4 diverse genres every month, and let the market decide. (I also do this because I have a personal interest in getting pushed to learn tunes outside my comfort zone.)

 

In this I have tried to emulate the excellent TOTM at melodeon.net, which suggests another possible approach: continuing a diverse TOTM poll, but also selecting a "Theme of the Month."

 

So one month could be Irish tunes, another "Tunes Written by C.Net Members," another "Offbeat Morris tunes." Each month we'd get a number of different tunes matching the selected theme. (Melodeon.net doesn't poll for the Theme of the Month; the moderator decides).

 

My only concern: would having two parallel tune projects every month dilute participation in the regular TOTM? That doesn't seem to happen at melodeon.net, but they have a bigger base of active participants, I believe.

 

Discuss.

Edited by Jim Besser
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In this I have tried to emulate the excellent TOTM at melodeon.net, which suggests another possible approach: continuing a diverse TOTM poll, but also selecting a "Theme of the Month."

 

So one month could be Irish tunes, another "Tunes Written by C.Net Members," another "Offbeat Morris tunes." So each month we'd get a number of different tunes matching the selected theme. (Melodeon.net doesn't poll for the Theme of the Month; the moderator decides).

 

I hadn't been aware of this; might fit my wantings in another way!

 

Since the "runners up" proposal hadn't really been working thus far, installing a "theme of the month" (to be suggested by somebody who is volunteering for that, might it be you or any other member) might well be worth a try...

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This thread is up for a few months now and it's probably safe to assume, that TOTM will continue in it's current form - there are simply to few players around to have different "genre TOTM-s" or quarterly "advanced TOTM". To few and of to wide musical interests.

 

I cannot count myself as a "regular" to TOTM, as I made two contributions only - but I'll continue to vote in polls and make further contributions when the tune suits me. As probably most of other players I don't have both the urge and time to join in every month. What I see as an advantage of multiple choices: concertina is somehow limited instrument (compared to an accordion) and most players stick to "traditional concertina genres", so YouTube choice of videos is quite limited [and many of the videos aren't showing up on searches by "concertina" keyword, they're tagged only by player/festival/tune name]. There are also many people, who do not listen to folk music on regular basis and live outside of UK, Ireland and USA and may need some kind of a guide on what tunes can be played on concertina, what sound good, where can we push this instrument in terms of modern (or not "traditionaly concertina") genres etc.. For me, this thread we're in now, should be more like a catalogue of ideas of what could be a fine TOTM, from which one could either wait for his favourite tune to win TOTM so he could compare his rendition with other players or take it up independently - polls themselves are such a [limited] guide for me.. But it has drifted more towards a debate on "what TOTM should be in general"... Maybe having a dedicated thread, which is solely a "pot of musical interests" could be a good way to observe and choose themes for further TOTMs or "theme of the month"?

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My primary interest is Irish Dance music/ITM.

But, I'd still like to do a few other tunes of dffering genres.

 

How about Old Timey?

Shady Grove

Over the Waterfall

Turkey in the Straw

 

I wouldn't mind a common Eastern European tune if it fit on a C/G anglo.

How about this one I heard on a Lunasa cd?

T:Freilach
S:Lúnasa - Lúnasa - 07 - Iúil
N:For D whistle/flute
Z:MTGuru for C&F 2012-07-14
M:4/4
K:Em
BEGE EGBG|A2AG ABG2|GBdB GBdB|A2AG ABG2|
GAAG GFF=F|E6- ED|GAAG GFF=F|1 E8:|2 E4|]
BEGB|e6 dc|B6 B2|eBeB e2dc|B6 B2|
e6 d2|f8|eBeB e2dc|B6 BA|
GABc BcBc|BcBc B2A2|AEEA AEEA|AGAB A2G2|
GAAG GFF=F|E4- EDBD|GAAG GFF=F|1 E4:|2 E4 z4|]

X:2
T:Freilach (B minor)
S:Lúnasa - Lúnasa - 07 - Iúil
N:For G whistle/flute
Z:MTGuru for C&F 2012-07-14
M:4/4
K:Bm
FBdB Bdfd|e2ed efd2|dfaf dfaf|e2ed efd2|
deed dcc=c|B6- BA|deed dcc=c|1 B8:|2 B4|]
fBdf|b6 ag|f6 f2|bfbf b2ag|f6 f2|
b6 a2|c'8|bfbf b2ag|f6 fe|
defg fgfg|fgfg f2e2|eBBe eBBe|edef e2d2|
deed dcc=c|B4- BAfA|deed dcc=c|1 B4:|2 B4 z4|]

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Now that Tune of the Month is up and running so well, a move towards Theme of the Month (ThOTM) is a healthy thing and gives everyone a chance to contribute to one or the other and indeed both of course.

 

Tune of the Month = The 1812 Overture

 

Theme of the Month = American Old Time

 

I'd probably steer clear of the 1812 Overture because I play English and it doesn't have a special key for canon fire like some anglos. American Old Time offers me a world of opportunity to contribute at any level I am capable of.

 

Adding a Theme of the Month is a great idea, it makes things much more inclusive! What shall we have first, Tunes from Monaco? Okay perhaps not. ;)

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ime offers me a world of opportunity to contribute at any level I am capable of.

 

Adding a Theme of the Month is a great idea, it makes things much more inclusive! What shall we have first, Tunes from Monaco? Okay perhaps not. ;)

 

I'm warming to the idea; maybe we'll give it a try in October. But it probably won't be tunes from Monaco.

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