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what do you play that's not Irish/english?


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the thread stating that "...90% play irish..." and the resulting refutation of same made me think: OK, if you are not playing irish english or american trad style musics then what are you playing?

 

I'm one of those living room players who has the solitary luxury of playing anything that I can get my fingers around, be they British, American or whatever comes into my head.

 

What do you like to play that doesn't fall into one of the big catagories?

 

I've got things like a section of Beethoven's well known violin concerto, a Chet Atkins fingerpicking thing that I can't remember the name of, some Parisian and German songs that I copped from an old Ruth Welcom album, a couple of Eric Satie pieces...and other stuff I can't bring to mind right now.

 

What have you got?

 

Robert

 

BTW: these on a Tedrow 30-b standard. All crimes and misdemeanors are the fault of the player, not the played, naturally!

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Well, that's not to say that I get too far on that one; I can get 2 or 3 minutes of what Eric wrote then, since I'm playing from memory (I no longer have a copy of the Gnosiennes) then, perforce I must improvise.

Maybe I'll get another copy and really learn it this time ;)

RB

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the thread stating that "...90% play irish..." and the resulting refutation of same made me think: OK, if you are not playing irish english or american trad style musics then what are you playing?

Note that in the Irish-English-American (and let's not neglect Scotland, Shetland, etc.) I don't just play tunes; I also accompany singing, including my own.

 

Further "folk" traditions include some Swedish and Danish, and occasional Russian, Bulgarian, Greek, etc. Both tunes and songs.

 

A few songs from the English music hall tradition. And I need to relearn some Steven Foster songs I used to do.

 

Bach, Telemann, and other "classical" composers (not just Baroque). I really enjoy playing classical with others, but lately I haven't had much opportunity.

 

Whatever else catches my fancy that I get around to working out.

 

Mostly I play English, but now and then also anglo and Crane duet.

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some Steven Foster songs..

 

Those comprise a good bit of my anglo playing (as well as banjo, fiddle, uke, harmonica, DBA, and whatever else...), but I thought those would fall under RB's "big categories" of trad American..

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the thread stating that "...90% play irish..." and the resulting refutation of same made me think: OK, if you are not playing irish english or american trad style musics then what are you playing?

 

Well, apart from mostly English tunes, and a few Irish tunes played English style, on the EC, I play some Scottish tunes, some Scandanavian tunes and some French tunes.

 

Chris

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Mozart, Scott Joplin, Pachelbel, Gershwin, Simon & Garfunkel, Ian & Sylvia, Beatles, miscellaneous klezmer, whatever.

I play rags and marches and some of my own compositions, but I've tried a little of everything.

If I like it, I try to play it. B)

Pretty well sums up my attitude. Being a Duet player, I had hardly any preconceived notions of what to play or not, so I go with what I like. --Mike K.

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Most of my material for anglo is trad English tunes and songs (I do sometimes play Irish music, but on other instruments). I have worked up arrangements of things like "The Entertainer", "Chattanooga Choo-Choo", and "Liberty Bell", but mainly as a novelty.

 

I've an arrangement, or more accurately an adaptation, of "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring", but Bach would (barely) recognise only the beginning and end - the middle section is a total fudge. I seem to get away with it because whilst it's an extremely well known piece and instantly recognised, most people only know the starting theme and have no idea what happens after that.

 

I also use my baritone to accompany myself singing Richard Thompson's "Withered and Died".

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Mozart, Scott Joplin, Pachelbel, Gershwin, Simon & Garfunkel, Ian & Sylvia, Beatles, miscellaneous klezmer, whatever. If I like it, I try to play it. B)

I'd love to know which Beatles/Simon and Garfukel tunes you find that work well.

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Just curious - how do anglo players cope with all the accidentals called for by Eastern European and klezmer music, or the variety of keys in which classical and jazz music is played? This can be tricky enough on a fully chromatic EC, but I can't imagine how you diatonic types can handle it all. :unsure:

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the thread stating that "...90% play irish..." and the resulting refutation of same made me think: OK, if you are not playing irish english or american trad style musics then what are you playing?

 

I'm one of those living room players who has the solitary luxury of playing anything that I can get my fingers around, be they British, American or whatever comes into my head.

 

What do you like to play that doesn't fall into one of the big catagories?

 

I've got things like a section of Beethoven's well known violin concerto, a Chet Atkins fingerpicking thing that I can't remember the name of, some Parisian and German songs that I copped from an old Ruth Welcom album, a couple of Eric Satie pieces...and other stuff I can't bring to mind right now.

 

What have you got?

 

Robert

 

BTW: these on a Tedrow 30-b standard. All crimes and misdemeanors are the fault of the player, not the played, naturally!

 

 

I like stuff from the 1890's and thereabouts, some old German tunes that I've known most of my life, Stephen Foster's tunes,"Dixie," "Behind Those Swinging Doors" (not old - 1938), and things like that. I play very little Irish, mainly because I don't like most of it (and my grandmother was Irish). Also, I don't play to an audience, so I don't have to worry about playing what they want to hear.

Regards,

Paul N.

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"...how do anglo players cope with all the accidentals...?"

 

yes, please comment. For me, the hardest part of the process is finding a starting note. I haven't a clue as to theory so it's all hunt and peck for me. Takes a while, but I've got time. Still, any tips would be gleefully seized upon.

RB

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