I have recently discovered, by accident, that I can make a new song by playing the notes of a tune in a different key signature.
Example: I have a copy of Hill’s Fancy and the key signature is Bb or Eb(whichever has 2 flats). By playing the notes as though the key signature was D I get a nifty tune in Bminor.
Example 2: The Scots tune The Iron Man in Amajor becomes a sweet Aminor tune with the omission of the sharps(except for 2 strategically placed G#s).
I havn’t tried butchering any other tunes but I thought I would share my observations. Opinions? Similar findings? Condemnation?
Talk amongst yourselves…
Jason
I’d say it wouldn’t work for a session, unless everyone knows about the change.
Changing tunes is something I’ve done. Playing the B part of “The Wedding Reel” minor sounds pretty awesome. Also, it is common to change key signatures for the fun-of-it.
I think it’s fine as long as you respect the original version.
I don’t know if it’s fallen out of fashion by now, but last year, a bunch of my friends in Ohio were regularly playing “Julia Delaney’s” in D major. (Which, incidentally, is the key given for it in O’Neill’s.) It works quite well in that key, and didn’t seem to cause much confusion in sessions, possibly because the key is immediately evident with a strong F# in the first measure.
I always find it weird that tunes can be drastically different from different sources. O’Neill’s is great at having odd versions.