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Not sure how to read this sheet music


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Good Day and happy new years fellow bellow-fellows,

 

Getting more and more enjoyment out of this instruments (especially since I upgraded from the old scholer to something with a few less miles) and have been trying for some more advanced songs. Recently was recommended the Becalmed Melody from Sea of Thieves and while I understand half the song, the long "melody" notes have left me confused. How are those to be played? I assume I cannot simply hold that note because there are often pull/push changes half way through the note? Apologies if this seem a rookie question, im self taught for the moment and have never really had any formal music teaching. please see link for the sheet music for "becalmed" the upper Staff i understand, its the lower one that has be confused.

 

Becalmed link: https://musescore.com/user/1133871/scores/4922324

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The link describes it as transcribed for accordion, presumably meaning piano or continental button accordion with the same notes in both directions, so the long bass notes aren't a problem on those instruments.

I you want to play long notes or chords on a push-pull instrument you may need to play across the rows to find the melody note you need in the matching bellows direction. This isn't always possible, especially on instruments with fewer buttons,  and then you may have to change the arrangement.

 

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Two approaches:

 

1) On an Anglo, almost every note of the two main key is available in both directions if you cross the row.  Therefore you can often find an easy way to do a run of melody notes all in the same direction rather than "push pull" along the row.

 

2) Failing that, just because the arrangement shows continuous long notes, it doesn't mean that you have to play them like that. Indeed, breaking them up a bit and leaving a few gaps (rests) may liven up the arrangements.

 

The music is as much in the gaps between the notes as it is in the notes themselves.

 

A third approach is to work out what the chords are and choose a different bass note from the same chord where necessary.

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A further thought: the music you linked to is in the key of A, not the easiest of keys if you have a C/G anglo, especially if you want to add an accompaniment and not just play the melody.  You might find it easier if you were to transpose it into one of the "home" keys of C or G - Musescore will do this for you easily.

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5 hours ago, hjcjones said:

A further thought: the music you linked to is in the key of A, not the easiest of keys if you have a C/G anglo, especially if you want to add an accompaniment and not just play the melody.

 

Actually, it’s in E (even worse for the anglo). I don’t know why they notated it without the D# in the key signature (making it look like A), when all the D’s in the tune are individually sharped. And I wouldn’t go overboard trying to play the bass line as written. It’s an awful, unimaginative accompaniment. Full of parallelisms and missed opportunities, with no attention to harmonic rhythm. You’d do better to make up your own accompaniment.

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7 hours ago, Anglogeezertoo said:

If it helps ... here it is in G

 

You made the same mistake. This is not G. It’s D. The first 2 measures outline a D chord and it ends on a long D. The key signature looks like G because it only has one sharp, but all the C’s in the piece are sharped, so there’s really two sharps.

 

3 hours ago, schult said:

Here's an arrangement I slapped together a while back...

 

Finally, the key signature is correct. This one’s in C and the key signature agrees. The B’s in the tune don’t have to be individually marked as natural.

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5 hours ago, schult said:

Here's an arrangement I slapped together a while back (notation is Gary Coover tablature)...

I'd be grateful if you would satisfy my curiosity. How you did you create that 'Coover-tabbed' score,

ABC, MuseScore, lilypond, or what? A while back (12 months?), some-one (it may have been me),

asked if it were possible using ABC. I don't remember a 'solution' being posted, though I may have

mis-remembered the details...

 

Thank you.

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15 hours ago, lachenal74693 said:

I'd be grateful if you would satisfy my curiosity. How you did you create that 'Coover-tabbed' score,

ABC, MuseScore, lilypond, or what? A while back (12 months?), some-one (it may have been me),

asked if it were possible using ABC. I don't remember a 'solution' being posted, though I may have

mis-remembered the details...

 

Thank you.

 

I used MuseScore: 

 

 

I need to check and see if MuseScore plugins can create and edit lines yet. That wasn't supported the last time I checked, so I haven't made a plugin to make this easier yet.

 

Unfortunately, I've never found an ABC solution that I was satisfied with.

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8 hours ago, schult said:

(1) I used MuseScore: 

...

I need to check and see if MuseScore plugins can create and edit lines yet. That wasn't supported the last time I checked, so I haven't made a plugin to make this easier yet.

 

(2) Unfortunately, I've never found an ABC solution that I was satisfied with.

(1) Thanks for that. That looks like a really interesting video - it's 5-00 am, so I won't look at it now, but later...

 

I'm not really a MuseScore user, but IIRC, the new(est) version has a much altered interface. I dunno if the

features are expanded much. If you did make a line-edit plugin publicly available, it would greatly increase

the usefulness of MuseScore, at least as far as I am concerned.

 

(2) IIRC, no-one came up with an answer to the problem of adding Coover-style tabulation to ABC files. I did

a fairly lengthy 'thought-experiment' (still in progress), and my thought is that it's not really possible

(practicable might be a better term?).

 

Thanks for that - interesting!

 

Roger

 

[From my point of view, it's academic as: (a) I don't use Coover-style tablature; (b) ABC is amenable to the addition of the tablature which

I do use. It is 'interesting' though, to a sad git like me..]

 

Edited by lachenal74693
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