Playing For Rapper

[m3838]

 

 

In abc notation:

Hexham Races in G, ,meter = 6/8

dB|"G"GBd gdB|"D7"ded dBA|"G"GBd gdB|"Am"ABA "D7"ABA|!

"G"GBd gdB|"D"def "C"gfe|"G/d"dcB "D7"cBA|"G"GAG G2:|!

P:B

d|"G"g2d edB|"D7"ded def|"G"g2d edB|"Am"ABA "D7"A3|!

"G"g2d edB|"D"def "C"gfe|"G/d"dcB "D7"cBA|"G"GAG G2:|

 

I couldn't convert it using this website's converter. and midi didn't work either.

Any help?

Or may be other sites with video or mp3 or any other formats of audio?

Thanks.

 

 

You need the header info as well as the basic tune for the Tune-a-tron

 

try this:

X: 1

T: Hexham Races

M: 6/8

L: 1/8

R: jig

K: G

dB|"G"GBd gdB|"D7"ded dBA|"G"GBd gdB|"Am"ABA "D7"ABA|!

"G"GBd gdB|"D"def "C"gfe|"G/d"dcB "D7"cBA|"G"GAG G2:|!

P:B

d|"G"g2d edB|"D7"ded def|"G"g2d edB|"Am"ABA "D7"A3|!

"G"g2d edB|"D"def "C"gfe|"G/d"dcB "D7"cBA|"G"GAG G2:|

 

Got it,thanks.

Tasty tune. Simple and very within a standard, but tasty.

[Jim Besser]

This is just my opinion as a dancer. Other dancers will have their own and the audience may have a completly different take on how the music should sound.

 

Thanks, that's the kind of info I was looking for in this thread.

[Rhomylly]

I usually lurk but finally we have a topic on which I know something. I'm a VERY beginning concertina player but a very experienced rapper dancer.

 

Welcome to C-Net, Randall! What team(s) have you danced with?

 

 

Rhomylly

an old rapper groupie/roadie.

[Randall Cayford]

Welcome to C-Net, Randall! What team(s) have you danced with?

 

I'm a founding member and still active dancer with Swords of Gridlock (Alameda) and I'm foreman of Berkeley Morris (both near San Francisco, CA).

[David Barnert]

I couldn't convert it using this website's converter. and midi didn't work either.

Any help?

Or may be other sites with video or mp3 or any other formats of audio?

Thanks.

Might be a good time to repeat this link which hasn't been mentioned in a while:

 

John Chambers' abc Tune Finder

 

Anything out there posted in abc format it will find and present to you in various formats (graphic, audio, text...).

 

Go nuts.

[Jim Besser]

This is just my opinion as a dancer. Other dancers will have their own and the audience may have a completly different take on how the music should sound.

 

Wonder why people don't play Tobin's. It seems to meet all your criteria, while being relatively easy to play on Anglo at an outrageous speed.

[Jody Kruskal]

Ok, I guess it’s my turn. I play with Half Moon Sword here in New York City. We mostly play with two or three musicians. Fiddle, whistle and when I can make it, Anglo. I really don’t like playing for rapper solo but I’ve done it. Way too fast, too much work, especially standing up with no chair in some parking lot. But in our little band I often just play the dotted quarters and let the other guys play melody.

 

Here are a few of the tunes we play:

 

10 penny bit

Rakes of Kildare

Morrison’s

Swallowtail

Taters are Dug

Bert Ferguson’s

Knocknagow

Kesh

Father O’Flynn

Shannon Bells

Lost My Love

Jig of Slurs

Athol Highlanders

Blarney Pilgrim

Fair Jenny’s

Banish Misfortune

Charlie Hunter’s

 

Oh yeah, Tobin's too!

[mike averill]

Hi, I play concertina for, and dance with, Dark Horse Rapper. I think the speed question is more an issue for the dancers than the anglo concertina. Playing at 160 is much easier than stepping neatly as a set at that speed. Generally 140ish results in a much better performance.

 

Tunewise the standard sets I play for the dance are:

 

Irish whisky

Holey ha'penny

Bung your eye

 

Cliffs of Moher

The sailors wife

Boys of tandragee

 

Tenpenny bit

Apples in Winter

 

I generally avoid chords with a couple exceptions. These being ends of phrases in Irish Whiskey, and some strident irish pipe style chords on the beat in the sailors wife.

 

 

Mike Averill

[David Barnert]

Here are a few of the tunes we play:

 

[snip]

Fair Jenny’s

[snip]

Fair Jenny’s Jig was one of the tunes in the medley I used to play for one of the dances our team did. Once, while we were performing at the Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs, I made eye contact with Peter Barnes, who wrote the tune. Afterward, Peter came up to me and told me I owed him 14 cents.

[inventor]

Further ancient memories of Rapper.

in 1957 (around Easter I think) the Morris Ring ran a training session at Cecil Sharp House specifically on Rapper. It was taken by Bill Cassie who was the Squire of the Morris Ring at that time; he brought with him one of the dancers from the King's College (Newcastle) Morrismen. and Jimmy Mackie, the fiddle player for the Royal Earsdon Sword Dancers. Jimmy had brought a copy of the six tunes that he played hand written on a sheet of manuscript. there was quite a lot of interest in these tunes and Bill told us that he would make photocopys of this and send it to whoever wanted one. Mine duly arrived and I practiced them very hard as I was going to King's College the following Autumn. I later discovered that these tunes were all in "Kerr's Merry Melodies" tune books which were on sale at the Music Stand at the far end of the Bigg Market off Granger Street.

these tunes were as follows.

From Book 1 under "Irish Jigs":

no1 The Tenpenny Bit, No13 The Blackthorn Stick, No16 Humours of Donnybrook, No24 Rolliking Irishman (also in Book 4 as Father O'Flynn), and No 30 Irish Wiskey.

From Book 2:

No 306 Laird of Cockpen (described as a "Scotch Jig").

That was what was traditionally played for Rapper Dancing and should present no problem for English Concertina players.

When I got to K.C. I found that I could not play them quickly enough on the Melodeon and had to play simpler Jigs like Cock of the North for performance which I was immediately called on to play when we fielded three or four different teams round the pubs and clubs in the area during Rag Week on the third week of term.

Later when we came into contact with Fred Foster of High Spen Sword Dancers I heared his Musician, Tommy Wilkes playing in an entirely different style on the Melodeon. He played the tune described earlier and also a version of Hummors of Donnybrook using the same press one button and waggle it in-out-in as previously described.

Inventor.

[Jim Besser]

Further ancient memories of Rapper.

 

Nice stuff, keep it coming.

[sidesqueeze]

Here's an ACTUAL AD I received today in California:

 

Rags to Riches! Fame can be yours! Yes, it's true!

You can be part of the glamorous world of MORRIS DANCING.

 

What's Morris Dancing, you ask?

 

Why, only the hit dance craze of the 17th and 18th centuries.

(That is, if you were living in a small English village at the time).

 

Interested? We sense you still have questions. So here are answers.

 

Who is Wild Wood Morris?

Wild Wood is a group of very interesting folk who get together each

Wednesday night to stomp around, clash sticks, make jokes, enjoy life.

 

Tell me again, what is Morris Dancing?

Morris is centuries old. Wild Wood does an updated and upbeat version.

Dave, our team musician extraordinaire, plays the tunes on electric

guitar. It's aerobic and geometric -- good for the brain and the body.

 

Can I be a member?

Yes. If you meet the requirements.

a. Sense of humor is way more important than sense of rhythm.

b. Sense of rhythm is still very helpful.

c. A willingness to try something new.

 

Where are you?

We practice in Long Beach. We dance around the Southland and sometimes

travel to far-off lands to join other dance groups for Ales

(gatherings of Morris teams for dancing, fun, and, occasionally, beer).

 

How much time will this take?

Practice is 1 - 2 hours on Wednesday nights. Dance-outs and other gigs

occur at various times throughout the year. We often dance on the 2nd

Monday night of each month during the summer & fall.

 

Is it hard?

Incredibly hard. It usually takes 15 to 20 years to learn. But,

because our team is enthusiastic and welcoming, and our fore (that's

Morris lingo for teacher) is so dedicated, we'll have you dancing in

30 to 40 minutes.

 

Is it Dangerous?

Absolutely. But only to the spectators.

 

How much does it cost?

After reading the above you still care about the cost??? Lucky for you

it costs nothing!

 

Will I really be famous?

Yes. At least among those of us at Wild Wood Morris.

 

 

Enough already. Haven't you always wanted to confuse your friends and

family by announcing "HEY FOLKS, I'M A MORRIS DANCER!"?

 

Now's your chance. Drop us a line. Come try it out--you might get

hooked, as we all have!