Tune Request

[Canuck]

Hi Folks:

I am looking for sheet music for the tune Barbara Allen preferably in the key of C or G.

The lyrics I have.

I can transpose from another key if this is not available in C or G.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

[John Wild]

 

I am looking for sheet music for the tune Barbara Allen preferably in the key of C or G.

The lyrics I have.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Try getting a copy of the Northumbrian Pipers' Second Tune book, which has a version in G. It would also give you about 150 tunes in total to try out .

 

ISBN: 0 902510 08 8

 

- John Wild

[David Barnert]

It's been a while since anyone mentioned the Tune Finder, so I will do so again.

 

At http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/music/abc/FindTune.html there is a very useful resource for finding tunes. It returns links to graphics of the music (in jpg or pdf format) or an audio (midi). Unfortunately, I just tried it with Barbara Allen and it returned two choices, each of which only had a passing resemblance to the tune I am familiar with.

 

The Mudcat Cafe http://www.mudcat.org sometimes is a good place to look for songs, but it seems not to be working at the moment.

 

So here it is in abc format, just the bare bones of the tune as I remember it. If you can't read abc, copy the code below and go to http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html. Paste it into the window, click "Submit," and watch what happens. Hope this helps.

 

X:1

T:Barbara Allen

M:3/4

K:G

G|Bcd3c|BAG3G|Bdg3g|fd-d3e|

gec3e|dBG3A|Bde3d|BG-G3|]

Edited March 12, 2005 by David Barnert

[JimLucas]

If you can't read abc, copy the code below and go to http://www.mudcat.orghttp://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html. Paste it into the window, click "Submit," and watch what happens.

Which you can also do here at Concertina.net.

 

So here it is in abc format, just the bare bones of the tune as I remember it.

...

G|Bcd3c|BAG3G|Bdg3g|fd-d3e|

gec3e|dBG3A|Bde3d|BG-G3|]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hmm. I remember it with one note's difference, and an optional extra note (when fitting an extra syllable in some verses), so here's "my" version (without the header).

 

G|Bcd3c|BAG3G|Bdg3g|fd-d3f|

gec3d/e/|dBG3A|Bde3d|BG-G3|]

 

I would also be inclined to notate it in 3/2, rather than 3/4, to indicate a slower tempo, but I rarely use abc, so I don't know how.

[Stephen Mills]

A simple version in C

 

Found with van Basco's midi search. You can generally expect between 10 and 20% of hits to have notation attached.

 

edited to add: Back up to here if you want to hear the midi. Nice avatar, BTW.

Edited March 11, 2005 by Stephen Mills

[Canuck]

Hi Folks:

I am looking for sheet music for the tune Barbara Allen preferably in the key of C or G.

The lyrics I have.

I can transpose from another key if this is not available in C or G.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Touchdown! Thank you.......... one and all.

 

Cheers

[Canuck]

TOUCHDOWN!

Thank you one and all for your helpful suggestions.

 

Cheers

[David Barnert]

Which you can also do here at Concertina.net.

My apologies. Jim and I are talking about the same link, but mine got garbled with the mudcat link. I have now edited my previous post to correct the error.

Hmm. I remember it with one note's difference, and an optional extra note (when fitting an extra syllable in some verses)

As I said, I was just working off the top of my head. I have no doubt that other versions are at least as correct as mine.

I would also be inclined to notate it in 3/2, rather than 3/4, to indicate a slower tempo...

Both 3/4 and 3/2 suggest particular dance forms, of which this song is neither. I think we just have to accept the fact that folks were singing it before they were notating it (did anybody see the film "Songcatcher" from 2000, which uses this song as an example of that very point and also includes a neat caricature of Cecil Sharp?) and notate it in any way that reasonably communicates what is being sung.

[JimLucas]

Hmm. I remember it with one note's difference, and an optional extra note (when fitting an extra syllable in some verses)

As I said, I was just working off the top of my head. I have no doubt that other versions are at least as correct as mine.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That was sort of my point.

I certainly didn't mean to imply that your version was "wrong".

 

I would also be inclined to notate it in 3/2, rather than 3/4, to indicate a slower tempo...

Both 3/4 and 3/2 suggest particular dance forms, of which this song is neither.

To you they suggest particular dance forms, but probably not to someone who isn't familiar with those dance forms. As for me, I was both singing and reading orchestral music long before I was dancing. As I indicated, notating something in x/2 implies to me a slower tempo than notating it in x/4, while x/8 would be even faster, but I don't recall where or when I acquired that concept, and your own reaction implies it isn't universal.

 

I think we just have to accept the fact that folks were singing it before they were notating it....

Even today, many singers (and dancers) don't know notation.

(I also suspect some notaters of being unfamiliar with either song or dance. But that's a separate subject. )

 

...and notate it in any way that reasonably communicates what is being sung.

Which in the end depends on common understanding of various concepts, some of which we already share, and some of which we learn through interaction (like this here). In fact, I understood your notation, you would almost certainly understand mine, and either will convey enough information to Canuck for him to play the tune in the way that feels right for him.