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Posted

I've just released the 2015 edition of Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook. See http://www.pghardy.net/concertina/tunebooks/. Now 518 tunes, and over past two years has had a fair amount of remedial work on existing tunes from previous editions (particularly the chords), so if you have an earlier version than 2014 (or are using a downloaded version, e.g. on a tablet) it's not a bad idea to update.

 

It's free for download as PDF for printing off, or increasingly for people to use in tablets like iPads. You can also download for free the ABC file and use a program to play along with - I have a page on Playing ABC.

 

Alternatively, you can order a printed and nicely bound (can fold right back) copy from Lulu.com for £7.50+pp.

 

If you bought a copy of the printed 2014 edition, there is available for download a 2014 Annex to update it to include the extra tunes of the 2015 edition.

 

Happy squeezing!

Posted (edited)

Paul,

I have just copied the ABCs, which I had to split into two single files in order for them to be readable by the EasyABC software!

Truly lots of stuff...!


As Jim has put it so fittingly:

It's possible to put heart into the dots ... if you can already play "from the heart".

Thanks a lot for the ongoing effort which is much appreciated!

Best wishes - Wolf

Edited by blue eyed sailor
Posted

This is a great resource, so many ABC files I find online are of poor quality, or don't include chords.

 

I run a tunes session in London where we make dots available in advance, so I hope it's OK if we make use of some of your material.

 

Thanks for all the work that you've put into this project!

Posted

Hmmm...I trying to use ABCexplorer 1.6.1. I'm getting the list of tunes on the left-hand side and I'm able to play the tunes but the lower right-hand pane refuses to display the music score. Everything seems to work but that single feature. What's the magic needed to display the score? :mellow:

Posted

Forum members with Tablet PCs might consider investing in ForScore app which handles music scores in PDFs or JPGs. You can download The Session Tunebook directly into ForScore which gives ability to select tunes for set lists and many other features.

Posted

Nevermind - I figured it out... :rolleyes:

You could give a clue to anyone else with the same problem! Was it that you needed to toggle the enable in options->editor not to interpret the file header (fills the display pane with the introductory page gumph)?

Posted

Forum members with Tablet PCs might consider investing in ForScore app which handles music scores in PDFs or JPGs. You can download The Session Tunebook directly into ForScore which gives ability to select tunes for set lists and many other features.

+1 - I use ForScore as well, and forgot to mention it.

Posted (edited)

 

Nevermind - I figured it out... :rolleyes:

You could give a clue to anyone else with the same problem! Was it that you needed to toggle the enable in options->editor not to interpret the file header (fills the display pane with the introductory page gumph)?

 

 

Naw...At the top of the lower right-hand pane is a Zoom slider control thingy and to the right of that is a page display selector control widjet. You have select the 'up' direction to view the score. I wanted page 2 so I was beating on the 'down' selector button to go 'down' for page 2. Who knew you had to hit 'up' to go 'down'...not documented, not intuitive enough for me. :huh:

Edited by linrose
Posted

 

 

Nevermind - I figured it out... :rolleyes:

You could give a clue to anyone else with the same problem! Was it that you needed to toggle the enable in options->editor not to interpret the file header (fills the display pane with the introductory page gumph)?

 

 

Naw...At the top of the lower right-hand pane is a Zoom slider control thingy and to the right of that is a page display selector control widjet. You have select the 'up' direction to view the score. I wanted page 2 so I was beating on the 'down' selector button to go 'down' for page 2. Who knew you had to hit 'up' to go 'down'...not documented, not intuitive enough for me. :huh:

 

Ah, but if you toggle the option about file headers, then the output is only one page, so there is no need to click on direction selectors!

Posted

 

 

 

Nevermind - I figured it out... :rolleyes:

You could give a clue to anyone else with the same problem! Was it that you needed to toggle the enable in options->editor not to interpret the file header (fills the display pane with the introductory page gumph)?

 

 

Naw...At the top of the lower right-hand pane is a Zoom slider control thingy and to the right of that is a page display selector control widjet. You have select the 'up' direction to view the score. I wanted page 2 so I was beating on the 'down' selector button to go 'down' for page 2. Who knew you had to hit 'up' to go 'down'...not documented, not intuitive enough for me. :huh:

 

Ah, but if you toggle the option about file headers, then the output is only one page, so there is no need to click on direction selectors!

 

 

Didn't see where that was documented anywhere...I was looking for the 'dummies' section where it decribes each control and it's effect...and so until then I just mash buttons and fat finger controls until it works after a fashion more fun that way. ;)

Posted (edited)

The Basic Music Theory is welcome, but suffers from the same fault as many Music Theory publications in that it goes straight into discussing Modes (with all their antiquated names) without actually discussing what Modes actually are and how they are used in music. In reality, most folk music players think in Keys not Modes.

 

Sorry to be critical, but approaching this as a new comer to formal Theory of Music, I find Modes a bit baffling. I find it helps to play the different modes on a instrument to hear the different qualities.

 

Possibly an area where this article could be expanded on.

Edited by Sidsqueezer
Posted

The Basic Music Theory is welcome, but suffers from the same fault as many Music Theory publications in that it goes straight into discussing Modes (with all their antiquated names) without actually discussing what Modes actually are and how they are used in music. In reality, most folk music players think in Keys not Modes.

 

Sorry to be critical, but approaching this as a new comer to formal Theory of Music, I find Modes a bit baffling. I find it helps to play the different modes on a instrument to hear the different qualities.

 

Possibly an area where this article could be expanded on.

I hadn't seen this guide till your post prompted me to have a look. This is one of the best practical introductions to modes I've come across. Some theory purists might be able to find fault but I'd say Paul had done a great job here. He shows exactly how modes differ in terms of tone/semi-tone intervals. Presenting them all "on the white notes" then in the same key is really helpful, as well as the example tunes provided.

I'd also take issue with the statement "most folk players think in keys, not modes." "Folk" is such an unhelpful term - it means too many different things to different people, including a commercial music genre. But most serious enthusiasts of traditional music I know and play/sing with do think in terms of modes (as well as keys). Too many classically trained musicians I've come across insist that a tune is in G because the key signature has only one sharp, ignoring the fact that the tonal centre is D - because it's in D mixolydian. You really can't get to grips with traditional music without looking at modes.

  • 1 year later...
Posted

Regarding Paul Hardy's Session Tunebook, the 2016 edition was released on 10 September 2016, with 569 tunes and much improved chord suggestions. As before, there are free downloadable versions or order a printed and bound copy. See my tunebooks page for details.

Posted (edited)

...Presenting them all "on the white notes" then in the same key is really helpful... Too many classically trained musicians I've

come across insist that a tune is in G because the key signature has only one sharp, ignoring the fact that the tonal centre is D...

 

Yes... It was this all "on the white notes" approach which helped me to clarify my ideas about modes.

 

"insist that a tune is in G because...". Absolutement mon general! They will also insist that you are

therefore playing the tune 'wrong', (though strangely, they are unable to play it 'right'). The hard-core

deniers will also claim that you have 'made-up' this modal theory in order to impress your friends...

 

A good qualitative description of modes can be found in A L Lloyds 'Folk Song in England'. I've had

a copy of this book on my shelf ever since it was published (1967).

Edited by lachenal74693
Posted (edited)

Lloyd just recycles the scheme introduced by Lucy Broadwood in the 19th century. It doesn't do very much, compared with more modern schemes informed by a wider range of cultures. I have a much larger account of modes which is intended to be rather more realistic on my website:

 

http://www.campin.me.uk/Music/Modes/

 

Lots of examples which are intended to show that modal theory really is an aid to understanding and practical performance, not just a pointless exercise in taxonomy for the sake of it.

 

I have quite a few ideas for expanding it, but the most interesting and useful one needs programming skills I haven't got and don't have the time or resources to acquire.

 

BTW all the examples in PGH's modes handout have something wrong with them.

 

- Amazing Grace is not in the major, it's pentatonic.

 

- the sixth in Childgrove occurs in an unaccented position and might as well be either dorian or minor. Nobody's going to notice which way you do it. But the sharpened seventh at the end IS noticeable and suggests the minor. This is definitely not a dorian tune. (Like the other examples, it could do with some chords preceding the final - the final cadence is definitely Emaj-Am or E7-Am)

 

- the version of Campbell's Farewell to Redcastle is not the usual Scottish one (which is in Amix, using the notes of the pipe scale). "Trad" from somewhere, sure, but I think that's an American version.

 

- The Bear Dance doesn't use the sixth, it's a narrow-range tune built around a minor pentachord and it's neither dorian nor minor. If you want to reinforce its primitive effect it helps to notice that and refrain from including a C or C# in the harmony.

Edited by Jack Campin
Posted (edited)

Lloyd just recycles the scheme introduced by Lucy Broadwood in the 19th century....

 

Thank you. I wasn't aware of that. I knew of Lucy Broadwood's work in general terms but have never read any of

it. Perhaps I should have said "simple qualitative description"? It served me well, while I was merely listening to

mujsic, rather than attempting to play it...

 

...I have a much larger account of modes which is intended to be rather more realistic on my website:

 

http://www.campin.me.uk/Music/Modes/

 

Lots of examples...don't have the time or resources to acquire...

 

Yes, I think we exchanged a couple of PMs about this a while back. I carry a copy of these notes around with

me on my tablet. Very useful - I hope you eventually find time to expand them.

 

...BTW all the examples in PGH's modes handout have something wrong with them...

 

Some of those observations are probably a bit too technical for me at the moment, but noted - thank you.

 

Roger

Edited by lachenal74693

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