Traditional English Session Tunes

[gcoover]

Traditional English Session Tunes, is now available for all instruments, and includes 65 tunes commonly found in English music sessions.

 

Every tune also has easy tablature for C/G Anglo concertina so you can play along in the most common session keys of G and D.

 

And this was the really fun part of making this book - it has over 100 QR code links to videos of a variety of traditional musicians – from field recordings to pub sessions, solo fiddlers to loud folkrock. You can now easily play along with the exhilarating version of the "Dorset Four Hand Reel" by Will Allen and Martin Clarke, or the brash Tiger Moth version of "Seven Stars". It also includes many videos by our melodeon brethren including Lester Bailey, Gavin Atkin, Ed Rennie, Bob Cann, Roger Watson, and Anahata, plus the Abingdon Morris Dancers and even Bellowhead!

 

THE TUNES:

A Hundred Pipers, Albert Farmer’s Bonfire Tune, Astley’s Ride, Banbury Bill, Banks of the Dee, Beatrice Hill’s Three-Handed Reel, Bonny Breast Knot, Bonny Kate, Brighton Camp, Buttered Peas, Captain Lanoe’s Quick March, The Chestnut Tree, Clee Hill, Curly-Headed Ploughboy, Donkey Riding, Dorset Four Hand Reel, Dorsetshire Hornpipe, Down the Road, Durham Rangers, Enrico, The Fiery Clockface, Fairy Dance, Galopede, Grandfather’s Tune, Harper’s Frolic, Horses Brawl, Hunting the Hare, Huntsman’s Chorus, Jamie Allen, Jenny Lind, Keel Row, Lemmy Brazil’s No. 2, Linnen Hall, Little Diamond, The Man in the Moon, Michael Turner’s Waltz, New Rigged Ship, Off She Goes, Orange in Bloom, The Oyster Girl, Portsmouth, Princess Royal, The Quaker, Rakes of Mallow, The Railway, Redowa Polka, Rochdale Coconut Dance, Rogue’s March, The Roman Wall, The Rose Tree, Roxborough Castle, Salmon Tails up the Water, Scan Tester’s Polka No. 2, Seven Stars, Shepton Mallett Hornpipe, The Sloe, Smash the Windows, Speed the Plough, Three Around Three, Tip Top Polka, Uncle Bernard’s, Walter Bulwer’s Polka No. 1, Walter Bulwer’s Polka No. 2, Winster Gallop, Woodland Revels, Young May Moon.

 

Available now from Red Cow Music in the UK, and Amazon worldwide in paperback. (A Kindle version will be available shortly.)

 

This would make a great Christmas gift for the aspiring session player, and could help them get ready for the awesome Sheffield Session Festival this coming April.

 

In honor of the recent Bonfire Night, here are the dots and the audio of "Albert Farmer's Bonfire Tune" from a session at the Six Bells in Bishops Castle recorded back in 1987:

 

https://youtu.be/eyuNHvVvDrw

 

Enjoy!

 

Gary

Albert-Farmers-Bonfire-Tune-D.pdf

Edited November 11 by gcoover

[David Barnert]

Neat. Let us know when the kindle version is available. I don’t do paper anymore.

[Michael Eskin]

Comment retracted 

Edited November 12 by Michael Eskin

[RAc]

Is that Grandfather's clock rather than Grabdfather's tune? Just out of curiosity.

 

Interesting to find that this selection overlaps well with the repertoire of the English session groups I am involved in, so it is a currently useful collection. Well done!

 

Will you also provide these in abc format?

[gcoover]

No clock, just a tune, it was the first tune on the 1977 Flowers & Frolics album, Lester Bailey plays it on a 1-row melodeon on YouTube.

 

I don't know much about abc, but I don't think it can do button numbers and bellows directions. There are lots of abc collections out there, so maybe someone out there has done up much of the English session repertoire?

 

Gary

[RAc]

9 minutes ago, gcoover said:

 

I don't know much about abc, but I don't think it can do button numbers and bellows directions. There are lots of abc collections out there, so maybe someone out there has done up much of the English session repertoire?

 

Gary

oh yes, there are tons out there, and your collection can easily be put together from either, for example Paul Hardy's (we discussed this before). So the value of any collection is not in the tunes themselves but the set list.

 

abcs have several advantages over pdf collections (aside from the fact that pdfs can be generated from them at a few mouse clicks). For example, if you have brass winds in the band/session group who require transposed music, you can easily do that on the fly using abcs. Also, sets are frequently made up differently, ie jig X may be combined with jig Y in one band setting but jig Z in another setting, and you really want the two to be on a single page, so you need XY on a page and XZ on a page. If you want to do that with pdfs only, you need a dedicated software like mobile sheets that can do that. Using abcs, you can do that on the fly.

Edited November 12 by RAc

[Michael Eskin]

Gary, ABC can do button numbers and bellows directions if you are creative about use of the annotations features...

 

Here's some tab auto-generated by my ABC Transcription Tools in a style similar to your tab system:

 

https://michaeleskin.com/abctools/abctools.html?lzw=BoLgBAjAUApDC2BXAzgSwMbIA4EN0FNIAGWGHAO3IHsAXHG1K8gMyZrAAUcAbe1a4lAAq4IQAtCAaXzIxUAMKiATjgAmqBkx5QASuABSqAOZQAsuABsAegAcUADLgItqAEVwAZlsBeCACYSSXAAcXgcACtYHAAjdHDkAH1kKkRyVVZydmZuRFRVWFgwAFVkQgowAEF0FOQGdDBglTTOVAoqMGTU1TBWJTAaCTB4fG4qVQBPEFJTAEkAERmwLCUqIxV4MBIYQpKy8krqlDqGpu6OVoFe-sH0MSolVWQpuFmFsFv71WXVzYKYYtKYHKAGVxpkxGAAEI4ZDIDopZpXAaEaIwp7TeaLVGw75GMAeOzbf7A-DsHAdLD4dCoZgYIHwBHsKjMDoAd34RmeyHZ5DxRAAdH4AKx-GC1HDMZilLBgGwkAA+IAARAkwABuIVK4IqhIapUVFXqzXBMCGvXahK6zUGgB6uogSsh8p1ett9sdLutpstrqVdrVDshZogRCVqmdlvtofwwdDqljYdNNosSqMCfjqoDcYjPpDSpjmbz8f9ge96qLfvdQZ91vlUDNxs9+obWrL5qbboDjpzvpLHpr+u9Vubfer5ezOqj+fT6aTKbThbjla7To7LYtuoA7EqAGJt40eEB1xXLwNr0dtiuj9M5qcx5OpydZ-OXpfXgcVZ3v4ed0sz99GlqPbWqe-Y-kOvqZo2H51qB1Y-nBr5hnBN5Pnm97zmh0ZIcWVaoQ+ab+imzB+vOSZbkqOCkY+-rbjgX7btE1GEbqxFzqmh51lAQA&format=noten&ssp=10&name=The_Kesh&play=1

 

And another in a different tab style I support:

 

https://michaeleskin.com/abctools/abctools.html?lzw=BoLgBAjAUApDC2BXAzgSwMbIA4EN0FNIAGWGHAO3IHsAXHG1K8gMyZrAAUcAbe1a4lAAq4IQAtCAaXzIxUAMKiATjgAmqBkx5QASuABSqAOZQAsuABsAegAcUADLgItqAEVwAZlsBeCACYSSXAAcXgcACtYHAAjdHDkAH1kKkRyVVZydmZuRFRVWFgwAFVkQgowAEF0FOQGdDBglTTOVAoqMGTU1TBWJTAaCTB4fG4qVQBPEFJTAEkAERmwLCUqIxV4MBIYQpKy8krqlDqGpu6OVoFe-sH0MSolVWQpuFmFsFv71WXVzYKYYtKYHKAGVxpkxGAAEI4ZDIDopZpXAaEaIwp7TeaLVGw75GMAeOzbf7A-DsHAdLD4dCoZgYIHwBHsKjMDoAd34RmeyHZ5DxRAAdH4AKx-GC1HDMZilLBgGwkAA+IAARAl7EKANyAZMIlcEVWr1YBEwiVFT1Gu1wTApq1OqtRpNCR0EENSsh8ttxpVjudkPdFUtqo1ds9TqNPtVECI1tUbvDkaN+D1Eajicj2u6nos1qMKeTsajMfsSfjObTwe9-sLqaVqjLod98qgVvNvqbOorZptAed9q9oYLgY9DpDLt97e7tZHebTBaLSoTU+rJer-p0me12YXNaH3v7467zdVAHZnQAxMfmjwgBuKidh-VB7ehitJ0uPyeV-M54sOtdKjcf+NnyrLde3fAcKhjUC73A28gNzKDW2CXcHwQrs7THB99QPe9jQbW8WzfSE4NfVCP2nL85wzLMKMIJcQOHO8X2rSDfw3VdnWYKj1xXY8jRwLi-09XilRwSDj21aIBLYzMjRZKTLwbKAgA&format=noten&ssp=10&name=The_Kesh&play=1

 

 

 

[Roger Hare]

1 hour ago, gcoover said:

...I don't know much about abc, but [1] I don't think it can do button numbers and bellows directions. There are lots of abc collections out there, so [2] maybe someone out there has done up much of the English session repertoire?...

 

[1] I've been doing just that for over 5 years (June 2019). Different tab system and no 'harmonic accompaniment' (I use the existing accompaniment chords), but it's a usable system. I use it every day...

 

[2] Using Paul Hardy's Session Tune Book for 2024, I just put together an ABC tune book of 600+ tunes in G and D but with tablature for a C/G concertina - it took less than 15 minutes.

Edited November 12 by Roger Hare

[Steve Schulteis]

My issue with concertina tab in ABC is that the bellows indications can't be continuous. Obviously that doesn't bother everyone, but I think the continuous lines provide a clearer indication of bellows changes in addition to per-note direction.

 

Congrats on yet another book, Gary! You've got quite the library at this point!

[Michael Eskin]

3 hours ago, Steve Schulteis said:

My issue with concertina tab in ABC is that the bellows indications can't be continuous. Obviously that doesn't bother everyone, but I think the continuous lines provide a clearer indication of bellows changes in addition to per-note direction.

 

Congrats on yet another book, Gary! You've got quite the library at this point!

I agree it's sub-optimal, but it's the best I can do using abcjs at this time and hopefully useful to some people.

[gcoover]

Yeah, that's why I've never bothered to learn abc since it's not the right tool for me - no ability to draw long overhead lines for push and pull (which are crucial for showing phrasing and air control), no ability to depict complex harmonic arrangements, and being text-based it doesn't show standard musical notation. 

 

That's why this English session tunes book, and all of the Rollston Press books, shows the melody in standard music notation, with button numbers and overhead lines for Anglo tablature - keeping it as simple as possible for beginners to learn. This system also makes it very easy to markup new arrangements in existing tune books with nothing more than a few pencil strokes. No need to learn another complex way of notating only single-line tunes!

 

Gary

Edited November 13 by gcoover

[Alan Day]

A great idea Gary and well done.

As a regular session goer since I started playing the Anglo and nearly all of these tunes I play by ear and many more, it is amazing how many tunes you can carry in your head.

Al

[xgx]

Will the Kindle version have the excessive space between staves reduced so that a whole page may be read on some of the smaller devices.

Currently I can't make best use of your books that I have; I can display the whole page but the dots need a magnifying glass!

...for UK Members, yes, I've been to Specsavers

[Roger Hare]

On 11/12/2024 at 9:58 AM, gcoover said:

[1] I don't know much about abc, but I don't think it can do button numbers and bellows directions...

 

On 11/13/2024 at 12:40 AM, gcoover said:

... [2] I've never bothered to learn abc...[3] being text-based it doesn't show standard musical notation.

 

Despite admitting to not knowing much about ABC ([1] and [2]), Mr. Coover goes on to say [3].

 

I've always worked on the basis that ABC was a text based system which does show standard notation. Could someone more knowledgeable than myself confirm if that is correct? If it isn't, I'd better start thinking about junking my 24,000+ ABC tune collection?

 

Edited November 14 by Roger Hare

[gcoover]

14 hours ago, xgx said:

Will the Kindle version have the excessive space between staves reduced so that a whole page may be read on some of the smaller devices.

Currently I can't make best use of your books that I have; I can display the whole page but the dots need a magnifying glass!

...for UK Members, yes, I've been to Specsavers

 

Hopefully not too much space between staves - I'm now using MuseScore and it pretty much dictates the spacing (unless I can find a way to override the standard settings). How about the example "Bonfire Tune" I posted at the first, do you think that will work ok?

 

Kindle versions of music books are "print replica" and not flowable text, so yes, I suppose the size of the reading device could make it a little problematical. You might have to learn the A parts and B parts separately!

 

Gary

 

[David Barnert]

28 minutes ago, gcoover said:

I'm now using MuseScore and it pretty much dictates the spacing (unless I can find a way to override the standard settings).

 

How about making a PDF of the MuseScore output and opening that in a Photoshop-type app to adjust the spacing? I use Photoshop Elements (the link takes you to the 2025 version, I have the 2024).

[RAc]

doesn't musescore support abcs? If so, you could export your scores as abcs and use Michael's tool to finetune the appearance, you can also use the tool to export pdfs. I am sure that other abc processing software also lets you manipulate spacing.

[Steve Morrison]

This lovely book is Now available at Red Cow Music https://redcowmusic.co.uk/product/traditional-english-session-tunes-gary-coover/