English Session Tunes book?

[gcoover]

Do any of you all fancy collaborating on a book of English Session Tunes for G/D Anglo? 

 

There's been a lot of discussion here lately about preferring G/D Anglo for English sessions, but as you know there are no books out there to help others play along who might have these instruments and are just learning. 

 

I'm thinking G/D Anglo players could submit their favorite session tunes and how they play them, then I'll put the ol' Coover Tab on 'em, give everyone credit (can even plug their local session), and then package it up into paperback and Kindle. And here's the best part - all proceeds would go to CNET. A nice way for all of us to give back and help others at the same time.

 

Arrangements wouldn't need to be fancy, single note melodies would be just fine. You could mark up printed music in whatever notation/tab system you use, or even send an mp3 that I can pick apart. How about photos too? You or your session. Let's make it something like the old "Readers Tapes" from the days of yore, and with luck, we'll get a nice geographic spread from all across the UK and elsewhere. 

 

What say ye? Let's crowdsource this thing!

 

 

Your humble scribe,

 

Gary

 

 

PS - I might even do a follow-up book for the same tunes arranged for C/G...

 

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2019 by gcoover

[Jody Kruskal]

Hey Gary, I'm in! To get us started here is your tab for a very simple Haughton House.

 

 

 

[gcoover]

Lovely - that's your first free sample!

 

Ok G/D Anglo players, send your pdfs/mp3s/photos to info@rollstonpress.com and I'll start processing them into tunes for the book.

 

Just make sure they're common English session tunes, and traditional, or if published after 1923 we'll need print permission from the composer.

 

This is going to be great fun!

Gary

 

 

[John Wild]

This is a set of 3 tunes for all instruments. The chords are those generated by the program ABC Explorer. They were called "First practice set" by my music teacher who put together a set of tunes that everyone could play together.

1st practice set.pdf

[Don Taylor]

Dave Mallinson ('Mally') publishes several English session tunebooks.

 

I say this not to discourage you but to point you at some sources for tunes.

[Devils' Dream]

Gary, this is such a good idea that I hardly know how to respond strongly enough to get you (us) to do it.  With respect to Don (and Mally) what we are talking about is not just tune books as there are already plenty of them.

It's the "how to play them" on GD Anglo that would be SO GREAT; basically an "English Session Tunes for GD Anglo in the Harmonic Style".  Packaged in the usual, terrific Coover style (no lawyers, please).  At least publish in Kindle,  pdf. or other download.

Any of the Playford classics, chestnuts from country dance tunes (anything from "How to Make a Bakewell Tart"), dance call (anything from "Bees on Horseback"), Morris, etc. etc.

Your GD fellow players are CRYING OUT! 

[gcoover]

Yes, let's see how the G/D players out there play the standard English session tunes.

 

And it doesn't have to be beautifully notated like Jody's tune, here's an example of one of the many tunes I worked on with Adrian Brown for "A Garden of Dainty Delights" - pencil scratching is perfectly fine, and you can just send a photo (like Adrian often did). Whatever's easiest for you, and I'll find a way to make it work.

 

Gary

 

[Roger Hare]

Edit - 5 September.

Apparently, the suggestions I made for sources for G/D tunes were

not suitable  for this project, so to avoid confusion I've removed 'em.

Edited September 5, 2019 by lachenal74693

[gcoover]

Yes, there are probably a million tunes out there in a lot of different books, but our goal with this book is to help G/D Anglo players join in on the most common English session tunes. 

 

I don't play G/D myself, so I need to rely on the good graces of those who do and who are also willing to share their playing with others.

 

Come on, all ye G/D players - I need dots, tabs, mp3s, photos! (send to info@rollstonpress.com).

 

 

Gary

[Marcus]

I’m quite excited about this book. Will it be just a tune/tab book or something more like Anglo concerting in a harmonic style which progresses so we can learn the notes etc as we go. I play my G/D as though it’s a C/G at the moment so it would be great to play it “properly”!

[Wolf Molkentin]

45 minutes ago, Marcus said:

I play my G/D as though it’s a C/G at the moment so it would be great to play it “properly”!

 

I tend to object to this notion - lots of players, including advanced or really good ones, approach their different Anglos as transposing instruments (be it „thinking C/G“ or „thinking G/D“, but always including all of them, Bb/F and anything else).

 

Nobody has to, but it is certainly a valid approach, is it not?

 

Best wishes - ?

[gcoover]

We can certainly put in some introductory bits for those who may be starting on G/D as their first and only concertina - good suggestion! 

 

Gary

[frogspawn]

It’s good to see things moving forward in this area. There is definitely a gap in the market.

 

The tunes in Nick Barber’s collections are excellent. Another collection popular in south-east England is the Lewes Favourites.

 

Rik

[gcoover]

Well, it's been three weeks since I first offered to assemble a G/D English session tune book, and to date the response has been overwhelming.... in its quietness.

 

Yes, that's right - nada, zip, zilch. Except for dear friend Jody Kruskal, who responded right away with "Haughton House".

 

I'll keep the door open, but maybe there aren't that many G/D players after all who visit cnet and who play in English sessions? 

 

But the really exciting news is that Jody is now working on his own book, for C/G and G/D, and from what I've seen so far it's going to be awesome. Stay tuned!

 

Gary

 

 

[Devils' Dream]

This is breaking my heart!  I don't have the experience to contribute but am of the population that would be crying out for it.  Perhaps someone who is going could bring it up at NESI.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Devils' Dream
more ideas

[Ken_Coles]

14 hours ago, gcoover said:

I'll keep the door open, but maybe there aren't that many G/D players after all who visit cnet and who play in English sessions? 

 

 

I suspect that is one reason. Or, someone with a lot of arrangements may prefer to publish their own book, who knows? As for NESI, statistics in the mailing we got last week lists 11 intermediate and 4 advanced anglo players (self-identified) out of 110 attending. Without Jody (who won't be there this year) I don't know how many, if any, of them are G/D players. I know Alan Preliasco started G/D a couple of years ago, and sold me his G/D Stagi when he got a better one - he is on this year's NESI list. In my experience G/D is still uncommon in the U.S., between the small number of instruments and having little established tradition of playing English session tunes. There are enough players of Irish in the U.S. now to generate classes, lessons, and books, but that has only developed in the last 3 decades. For English tunes on G/D one may need to search in the country that created that tradition.

 

Ken

[Don Taylor]

(deleted)

Edited September 5, 2019 by Don Taylor

[frogspawn]

As the OP probably most responsible for kickstarting the current round of interest in this area (even if I never get round to following it up myself), I am also disappointed that this is not receiving more support.

 

When I came back to CNet after my years away from the concertina I was a little concerned that nothing much had appeared to change, particularly in the area of modern tutorial literature. The concertina cannot be that obscure. For all other instruments, YouTube and the web in general is packed with free instructional videos of the highest quality and there is plenty of subscription material too.

 

Are concertina players uninterested in growing the community of enthusiasts? Have they all found what they want and are content to keep it to themselves? There is so much to be gained from sharing and collaboration.

 

I don't extend this disappointment to ITM which always seems to have had an enthusiastic and organised base with plenty of good material and the availability of top class instruction, but I fear that Enlish folk concertina outside maybe melodic playing for Morris sides seems destined to go the way of the rest of the English Folk Revival, i.e. shortly to the grave.

 

I guess that for English concertina there are teachers around, and I don't expect too much for my own obscure choice of duet. (I would be perfectly happy to share the fruits of my own limited experience through my own personal blog in due course, but I've only just started out on the road to relearning it and am quite unsure as to what direction will prove the most fruitful.)

 

I don't mean to ruffle any feathers here. Well, perhaps I do as to get some reaction would be better than getting no reaction at all. Of course, if people just want to do their own thing then that is their business. On the other hand belonging to a forum would suggest a desire to exchange information and to be active in promoting our shared interests.

 

I can see there are others, but perhaps very few in numbers, who share my frustrations!