Basic Cording Question

[christianmayne]

A quick basic question about chords if I may (pertaining to a morris tune specifically Speed The Plough):

 

If you're playing a tune with a run up a scale (such as the fragment below abc notation) which in it's simplest form requires lots of bellows changes and a crossing of the hands mid-run, how do you play the chord? The notation below has a G chord across the 2 bars.

 

"G"

|GABc dedB|dgdB dedB|

 

If I was playing the melody on the right hand G row, I'd just bounce G & Bd on the left hand for each crotchet and either push or pull it'd ultimately be OK, if a bit simple. This has been complicated as I'm now playing the tune across the rows (on the recommendation of Brian Peters at his anglo workshop in Sidmouth last week) starting an octave lower on the G on the left hand C row. I can play the melody either push pull, or mainly pull, but I can no longer make any sense of the chords.

 

Any suggestions (other than buying a G/D)?

[Samantha]

A quick basic question about chords if I may (pertaining to a morris tune specifically Speed The Plough):

 

If you're playing a tune with a run up a scale (such as the fragment below abc notation) which in it's simplest form requires lots of bellows changes and a crossing of the hands mid-run, how do you play the chord? The notation below has a G chord across the 2 bars.

 

"G"

|GABc dedB|dgdB dedB|

 

If I was playing the melody on the right hand G row, I'd just bounce G & Bd on the left hand for each crotchet and either push or pull it'd ultimately be OK, if a bit simple. This has been complicated as I'm now playing the tune across the rows (on the recommendation of Brian Peters at his anglo workshop in Sidmouth last week) starting an octave lower on the G on the left hand C row. I can play the melody either push pull, or mainly pull, but I can no longer make any sense of the chords.

 

Any suggestions (other than buying a G/D)?

 

I'd probably only play a chord on every other crotchet (numbers 1 and 3 in the bar). If you play the chord crisp and short, only the length of a quaver, that should do it.

Samantha

[PeterT]

This could become an interesting debate. I play (mainly) C/G Anglo, and I've never felt particularly satisfied playing this tune in G. I have this hazy recollection that I've seen it written, somewhere, in A, suggesting that it originated as a fiddle tune.

 

However, should you need to play the tune in G (i.e. session), I think that you have two options:

 

(1) Start the tune on the "G row" G of the right hand. It all works, but sounds very "sqeaky". Samantha's comments then apply.

(2) Start the tune on the "C row" G of the left hand, and let the tune work up onto the right hand. This sounds fine for the A music, but then you go up again to play the same fingering as option (1) for the B music. However, on the A music, you get more options for "fun" chords etc. on the left hand.

 

My preferred option (i.e. what I do if I'm not playing in a session), is to play the tune in D. As much of the tune is then on the "draw", it seems to come alive, and you really can have fun with the left hand.

 

Note: if you play the same fingering of a B'/F box, the tune comes out in C, and sounds very good!

 

Regards,

Peter.

[JimLucas]

This could become an interesting debate. I play (mainly) C/G Anglo, and I've never felt particularly satisfied playing this tune in G. I have this hazy recollection that I've seen it written, somewhere, in A, suggesting that it originated as a fiddle tune.

I believe I first learned it in F. However, Coles (1000 Fiddle Tunes) has it in A, but with some "extra" embellishments. Ah, well.