Theme Of The Month, August 2014: Tunes In '3'

[Jim Besser]

The July Theme of the Month - odd couples and strange pairings - was fun but, judging from the feedback I've received, a little too challenging for some.. In August let’s take things a little easier with a broad theme that will provide lots of options for fun music.

The theme: Tunes in '3.' Thanks to Jim Lucas for the suggestion.

The most obvious possibilities are waltzes in 3/4 , but that’s only the beginning. How about mazurkas, hambos and - a subject that has been discussed recently on c.net - polskas?

I’ve been itching to learn a few 3/2 hornpipes like the Downfall of the Ginn, as played on Anglo by Brian Peters, or John Kirkpatrick’s Three Speed Plough, an ingenious reworking of the Morris standard Speed the Plough as a 3/2 hornpipe.

Or how about a zweifacher, which alternates between 3/4 and 2/4? Bourrees in 3/4?

As Jim said, the options here are limitless: waltzes, minuets, songs, things from the classical, ragtime, folk or jazz repertoires.

Do something simple and straightfoward - or surprise us with something really different and exotic. As I said, the possibilities are endless.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Jim Besser

[brandon]

So, this doesn't fall under the category of most creative selection, but it's what my novice repertoire allows for…I was originally going to put this under the French Waltz and Mazurka thread; it should fit here also.

 

Valse a Mary, written by Bernard Loffet.

 

Played here on a Geordie.

 

https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-a-mary

[Patrick Scannell]

>> Valse a Mary <<

 

Lovely. Thank you.

[Wolf Molkentin]

So, this doesn't fall under the category of most creative selection, but it's what my novice repertoire allows for…I was originally going to put this under the French Waltz and Mazurka thread; it should fit here also.

 

Valse a Mary, written by Bernard Loffet.

 

Played here on a Geordie.

 

https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-a-mary

 

Sounds very French indeed....

 

I like the interchanging of melody and bass lines - is it from the dots or a recording, or your own adding the "bass" figures?

[brandon]

Thanks! The dots (melody line and chords) are found at Bernard Loffet's website, along with many other tunes and information on his line of diatonic accordions:

 

http://diato.org

 

The lower register harmony bits are just sort of added in based on what I can manage with my fingers and what seems to sound okay. Somewhere in a previous thread I found a simple (and very helpful) tip on harmony from Jim Lucas - explore sixths, drones, and arpeggios of appropriate chords. I know there is a lot more to harmony than this, but it was enough to get me started and is about what I can handle at this point.

[Don Taylor]

https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-a-mary

 

I like that, very interesting - sort of spicy and tart.

Thanks! The dots (melody line and chords) are found at Bernard Loffet's website, along with many other tunes and information on his line of diatonic accordions:

 

http://diato.org

 

The lower register harmony bits are just sort of added in based on what I can manage with my fingers and what seems to sound okay. Somewhere in a previous thread I found a simple (and very helpful) tip on harmony from Jim Lucas - explore sixths, drones, and arpeggios of appropriate chords. I know there is a lot more to harmony than this, but it was enough to get me started and is about what I can handle at this point.

Brandon:

 

Any chance you can post a link to Jim's original post? I have searched but came up short.

 

Don.

[JimLucas]

Here's one I've just done quickly. I hope to contribute more, but I'm catching a train in the morning, and I'm wondering if I have time to check out a (Swedish) session this evening.

a polska

In a workshop more than a decade ago I learned this as "a polska", and I'm pretty sure I was told what part of Sweden it's from, but I've long since forgotten. A couple of years ago, someone who heard me play it said the tune was in fact associated with a particular local version of the polska, but I wasn't able to remember the details of name and area long enough to record them.

The harmony on the second go round is pretty much the second fiddle part that was taught in the workshop where I learned the tune. Played on my tenor-treble English, though only the low D I've thrown in at the very end is outside the range of a standard treble English.

[sqzbxr]

Brandon and Jim - both very enjoyable efforts!

[brandon]

Don, I looked through the threads I recalled on the topics of 'harmony' and 'accompaniment' to the extent that I had patience for and I can't find the post I'm thinking of either. I'm beginning to doubt the particulars of what (I think) I remember. However, I did note that you were an active participant in the discussions I read. Anyway, somehow I came away with the general notion of varying intervals, chords, and parts thereof to patch together something to fill out the melody - with the chords listed on the lead sheet as a beginning point. I know there is all sorts of room for this process to evolve and improve, which is part of the fun!

[Jim Besser]

My favorite hambo, written by our own Jody Kruskal: the Hambo from Brooklyn.

 

Most of the hambos played in these parts are so predictable. I love this one because of the way the B part soars.

 

Played on a G/D 30 button Jeffries Anglo.

Edited August 5, 2014 by Jim Besser

[Jim Besser]

One more. The Italian mazurka Tra Vegla e Sonno at yesterday's Washington - Baltimore area Squeeze In.

 

Only two of us - Randy Stein and myself - actually knew the tune. The others were sightreading or faking it. Not too bad for a jam! Of course, we didn't know when to stop.

Edited August 4, 2014 by Jim Besser

[Jim Besser]

So, this doesn't fall under the category of most creative selection, but it's what my novice repertoire allows for…I was originally going to put this under the French Waltz and Mazurka thread; it should fit here also.

 

Valse a Mary, written by Bernard Loffet.

 

Played here on a Geordie.

 

https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-a-mary

 

Wonderful tune, well played. I'm definitely grabbing this tune for an upcoming waltz session gig. Thanks.

[Randy Stein]

I enjoy the modern French pieces from the late 20th century. Here is one of my favorite made famous by Edith Piaf, Padam...Padam

 

https://soundcloud.com/user827948939/padam-padam

 

rss

[Jim Besser]

I enjoy the modern French pieces from the late 20th century. Here is one of my favorite made famous by Edith Piaf, Padam...Padam

 

https://soundcloud.com/user827948939/padam-padam

 

rss

 

Hmm, where have I heard that before? A great illustration of what an English concertina can do.

[JimLucas]

Since Jim B. says this theme was my suggestion, I'd better not let it slide down my priorities list. My thought was that while not quite as broad a Theme as "anything at all", "Tunes in 3" should give enough leeway to allow selections from just about anyone's preferred genres and styles... waltzes, polskas, jazz, ragtime, songs as well as tunes, etc., etc.

 

Remember that contributions at all levels are welcome, from beginners' first efforts to "virtuoso" (are there any among us?), from single-line melody or simple block chords to "complex" arrangements. I hope to contribute a variety of examples this month, in part to encourage variety from others, so here are three more:

 

General Booth's hornpipe

 

This is one of those infamous 3/2 "hornpipes" from the days of Playford's Dancing Master publications, so it must be named for a different General Booth than the founder of the Salvation Army.

 

This one I've played once through, and deliberately only the melody. At some point I might try doing an "arrangement", but I'm a lover of melodies, and it seems to me that any chords or other accompaniment can't avoid making a fundamental change to the feel of the raw melody... not necessarily "worse", nor likely (IMO) "better", but definitely different.

 

Polska for Fredrika

 

This is a "polska" that I composed for my friend Fredrika L., who plays some English concertina, but mainly recorder and clarinet (both established traditional instruments in Sweden). I didn't want it to be too "ordinary", and I believe I succeeded beyond my original intent. So I was somewhat surprised (and pleased) that she liked it and wanted to learn it. Since she didn't read music, I made a recording for her -- three times through, -- and this is it. I haven't yet tried to add chords or harmony. Will I manage a try before the month is out?

 

Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake

 

Some of you may notice that I've used this before, for a "holiday" Theme of the Month. But it also fits this Theme, so why not? I hope it will encourage others to contribute songs, too. (And I hope/intend that I'll add more songs -- not just repeats -- before the month is out.)

[Jim Besser]

General Booth is a very cool tune. I really like 3/2 hornpipes and have a very hard time playing them.

[chas]

One more. The Italian mazurka Tra Vegla e Sonno at yesterday's Washington - Baltimore area Squeeze In.

 

Only two of us - Randy Stein and myself - actually knew the tune. The others were sightreading or faking it. Not too bad for a jam! Of course, we didn't know when to stop.

 

That sounds tremendous fun. Definitely some sun-dried tomatoes in that concertina jam!

 

[JimLucas]

General Booth is a very cool tune. I really like 3/2 hornpipes and have a very hard time playing them.

Just wondering... do you start off trying to include chording, or do you play them -- at least at first -- as melody only?

 

My own feeling is that the particular attraction of these tunes is in the variation of stresses within and among measures, and that common chording patterns tend to usurp this with their own, more "ordinary" emphases. And on a single concertina, in particular, it can be impossible to separate the two, the way one might with one instrument playing melody and another playing a more subdued backup.