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

[JimLucas]

Here's another 3/2 tune: The Laird of Foveran, which I got from the lovely CD Auld Springs Gies Nae Price by Cathal Mcconnell and Duncan Wood. It's from William Christie's 1820 Collection of Strathspeys, Reels and Hornpipes.

 

Nice.

Another march in 3, rather than a "hornpipe", but very nice.

[chas]

 

Nice.

Another march in 3, rather than a "hornpipe", but very nice.

 

Thanks all. A march it is. I figure you need three beats to march comfortably in a kilt.

[Stephen Mills]

This little piece is a saltarello usually attributed to Vincenzo Galilei, 16th century lutenist and father of the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Vincenzo dabbled in physics himself, making some historic observations on the physics of vibrating strings, for example, the discovery that a perfect 5th has the proportions of 3:2. Galileo was a talented enough lutenist that some contemporaries said that he played even more favorably than his father.

 

https://soundcloud.com/stephandp/saltarello

Edited September 1, 2014 by Stephen Mills

[Jim Besser]

This little piece is a saltarello usually attributed to Vincenzo Galilei, 16th century lutenist and father of the astronomer Galileo Galilei. Vincenzo dabbled in physics himself, making some historic observations on the physics of vibrating strings, for example, the discovery that a perfect 5th has the proportions of 3:2. Galileo was a talented enough lutenist that some contemporaries said that he played even more favorably than his father.

 

https://soundcloud.com/stephandp/saltarello

 

Nice. This month's theme really has exposed me to some cool new music.

[JimLucas]

This month's theme really has exposed me to some cool new music.

And yet, some things are missing. Partly my fault, since there are several more things I meant to contribute, but I kept/keep getting diverted by other matters.

 

And maybe folks didn't fully understand what was/is meant by "tunes in 3"? Since Jim B. says it was my suggestion, I suppose I should define more fully what I meant. Better late than never?

 

But first, a couple of examples of what I think has been missed... partly to "fill in the gaps" and partly to illustrate my "definition", below.

 

3 slip jigs

The first is The Rocky Road to Dublin. I learned the second as The Old Dutch Churn, in Gm as I've played it here, but I understand the Irish often play it in Em, with a different name that I don't remember. The third is Drops of Brandy. (Sorry for the weird flutter at the very beginning. Apparently some sort of recording artifact.)

 

Yerakina

This is a Greek song that has an associated folk dance. Since I don't know the words, I'm doing it as an instrumental.

 

Now for my promised (threatened?) explanation of "in 3".

• "In 3" includes tunes with the number "3" in their time signature ("3/2", "3/4", etc.), but it's not restricted to that. (Besides, that may not be a useful definition for those who don't read music.)
• No, it means tunes where the beat/stress pattern repeats after three major stresses. The "3" in various time signatures is just a description of this pattern of stresses, but there are other 3-patterns that for various reasons are notated with other upper numbers in their time signatures.
• The most common or "normal" of these is the 9/8 time signature for slip jigs (e.g., those above). In this case, the "9" isn't counting the primary stresses, but the total secondary divisions included in those 3 primary divisions.
• Other 3-patterns include the "7/8" rhythms found in Greece (e.g., Yerakina, above), the Balkans, and elsewhere. Here the number "7" again represents the total subdivisions of the three main stresses... in this case because one of the beats is half again as long as the other two. I.e., the primary stresses have relative secondary divisions in the ratios of 3, 2, and 2. But the primary pattern is still a 3-fold repetition.

[Jim Besser]

Better late than never....a first crack at Tona's wonderful tune Bourre´e A` Chantejal on a 30 button Anglo.

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/Bourre%C2%B4e%20A%60%20ChantejalJDB.MP3

 

I'm also wondering if people find this format - the player on Dropbox - less useful than Soundcloud. I'm experimenting with different hosts for MP3s.

 

 

[tona]

Better late than never....a first crack at Tona's wonderful tune Bourre´e A` Chantejal on a 30 button Anglo.

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/Bourre%C2%B4e%20A%60%20ChantejalJDB.MP3

 

I'm also wondering if people find this format - the player on Dropbox - less useful than Soundcloud. I'm experimenting with different hosts for MP3s.

 

 

 

wow, I like very much how it sounds on your anglo!

 

I didn't have time to learn abc notation to make the score but I see you absolutely don't need it!...

[Jim Besser]

 

Better late than never....a first crack at Tona's wonderful tune Bourre´e A` Chantejal on a 30 button Anglo.

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/Bourre%C2%B4e%20A%60%20ChantejalJDB.MP3

 

I'm also wondering if people find this format - the player on Dropbox - less useful than Soundcloud. I'm experimenting with different hosts for MP3s.

 

 

 

wow, I like very much how it sounds on your anglo!

 

I didn't have time to learn abc notation to make the score but I see you absolutely don't need it!...

 

 

Thanks! It should be a bit faster for dancing, right?

 

I generally don't use notation to learn tunes, but I like to have it so I remember how they start and to correct the mistakes my ear inevitably makes.

[Tootler]

Better late than never....a first crack at Tona's wonderful tune Bourre´e A` Chantejal on a 30 button Anglo.

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/68325595/Bourre%C2%B4e%20A%60%20ChantejalJDB.MP3

 

I'm also wondering if people find this format - the player on Dropbox - less useful than Soundcloud. I'm experimenting with different hosts for MP3s.

 

 

I have an account with alonetone: http://alonetone.com/

 

My account is http://alonetone.com/tootlingeoff.

 

There doesn't seem to be a limit on number of files you can upload and the allowance for individual uploads is pretty generous. A 3 minute 320 kbps mp3 is well within their single upload limit.

 

I haven't used it much to date as I am still fairly well within my limit for soundcloud and you can upload files in lossless formats to soundcloud.

 

I also use You Tube. I take part in a similar activity on the Ukulele Underground forum and that is based on submitting You Tube videos. The advantage of You Tube is you are effectively permitted unlimited uploads.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Tootler

[brandon]

Here's a belated entry. I did most of the practice for this in August at least: Valse du Vent by Florence Prinvidic, who plays and teaches diatonic accordion in Breton, France. Sound quality is not the greatest.

 

https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-du-vent

[chas]

And yet, some things are missing. Partly my fault, since there are several more things I meant to contribute, but I kept/keep getting diverted by other matters.

And maybe folks didn't fully understand what was/is meant by "tunes in 3"? Since Jim B. says it was my suggestion, I suppose I should define more fully what I meant. Better late than never?

 

3 slip jigs

The first is The Rocky Road to Dublin. I learned the second as The Old Dutch Churn, in Gm as I've played it here, but I understand the Irish often play it in Em, with a different name that I don't remember. The third is Drops of Brandy. (Sorry for the weird flutter at the very beginning. Apparently some sort of recording artifact.)

 

 

 

I too was going to post a slip jig but felt I'd already put up enough for one month. Maybe slip jigs would make a good theme all on their own. The trouble with the tunes in 3 theme was that there was so much to choose from. (I didn't get around to playing a tordion, either.)

 

I know your second slip jig as Fig for a Kiss, yes in Em, Jim. Nicely played.

 

 

[chas]

Here's a belated entry. I did most of the practice for this in August at least: Valse du Vent by Florence Prinvidic, who plays and teaches diatonic accordion in Breton, France. Sound quality is not the greatest.

 

https://soundcloud.com/burro_tuerco/valse-du-vent

Well worth waiting for - good one. Very dramatic.

[Sarah Swett]

Yes-- really great Brandon.

These late entries are inspiring-- I really meant to do a tune in three in August but maybe it can still happen in sept. Just have to get into recording mode

[brandon]

Thanks Chas and Sarah!

 

I think late is great...for me anyway, a month is just long enough to get started learning and working out a new tune.

[Sarah Swett]

Two recordings of Eklundapolska #3 on different instruments, one with brass reeds, one steel. They feel and sound very different when I play them but as with Jim's demo in another thread, I'm not not sure this comes through in the recording process.

 

https://soundcloud.com/mildredestelle/eklundapolska-3-j

 

https://soundcloud.com/mildredestelle/eklundapolska-3-w

 

Neither sounds as dance-like as I would like-- probably because, though I've listened to a number at this point, I haven't even remotely internalized what a polska feels like. This tune sure is fun to play though.

 

Hopefully this'll get me working harder on All Of Me for the official September tune.

[brandon]

Very nice and a catchy tune. The 2 versions definitely sound and feel different. (J) sounds like it has a little reverb and delay and the buttons are more noticeable, while (W) sounds a bit crisper. Did you use the same recording technique for both? I would have to guess that (J) is the brass, but I've never even been in the same room with a vintage instrument, so I really do mean guess.

[Sarah Swett]

You're right about J being the brass reeded instrument -- an 1890s Jones. The Steel Reeded one is also vintage though, an early 1900's Wheatstone with metal sides. Decidedly brighter -- Crisp is a good word for it. Totally different action too. Fast and light. Capable of far more subtlety than my fingers.

I used garage band on an iPad to record both, though recorded in two different rooms: my acoustically lively weaving studio for the Jones, and my more subdued bedroom for the Wheatstone (comforters and all that to absorb sound). The studio/ Wheatstone combination seems almost too bright for my ears. I suppose it'd be a better test to do them both in the same place. next time…

 

Recording (and posting) adds such a strange element to the pleasure of learning and playing a tune -- every critical nerve alert. Each time I undertake it I try to remember is a story someone once told me about a friend who took up the guitar and absolutely LOVED playing until he decided to record himself, whereupon he put down his guitar and never picked it up again. There is no way I want to be that mean or to risk the extreme pleasure of simply playing. Messing around with acoustics etc is a nice way to distance myself slightly from the many faults of the 'emerging musician." :-)

[brandon]

Gosh, that's sad that someone would be so sensitive as to quit playing altogether due to that level of self-criticism. Learning how to fail repeatedly and gracefully is a tricky business. I'm still practicing

 

I totally agree that once you push the RECORD button on the device, everything changes. I've noticed it is a very effective method for identify those parts of a tune where more practice is needed.