Tunes that leap into your head
Tunes that leap into your head
Usually, it takes me a while to really learn a tune, with both the basic melody and rhythm down by heart. This is especially true when I'm learning it from sheet music rather than by ear - though I like having the sheet music as a reference, it seems to click a lot faster when I can hear it (poor aural imagination, I guess).
So yesterday, I was really surprised when I decided to pick up the Ballydesmond Polka (Ballydesmond Polka #1 from Walton's 110) - yes, it's a really simple piece, but I expected it to take more than two play-throughs from the sheet music before I could close the book.
Weird. Nice tune, sounds more complex than it really is, and sounded familiar - but I couldn't find it listed on any of the CDs I'd been listening to over the weekend (about 10, all Irish except for a couple of Steeleye Span discs).
So - anyone else encountered a tune that just forces itself into your head?
So yesterday, I was really surprised when I decided to pick up the Ballydesmond Polka (Ballydesmond Polka #1 from Walton's 110) - yes, it's a really simple piece, but I expected it to take more than two play-throughs from the sheet music before I could close the book.
Weird. Nice tune, sounds more complex than it really is, and sounded familiar - but I couldn't find it listed on any of the CDs I'd been listening to over the weekend (about 10, all Irish except for a couple of Steeleye Span discs).
So - anyone else encountered a tune that just forces itself into your head?
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OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!
I Buried My Wife and Danced On Her Grave
and
Rolling In the Rye Grass
Both of these will NOT get out of my head!!!!!!!! I am constantly playing them trying to get better at them. I've got both of them down pretty darn good, but I always play them at every jam session I go to.
Enjoy!
John
and
Rolling In the Rye Grass
Both of these will NOT get out of my head!!!!!!!! I am constantly playing them trying to get better at them. I've got both of them down pretty darn good, but I always play them at every jam session I go to.
Enjoy!
John
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-Buckaroo Banzai
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Re: Tunes that leap into your head
I assume you are talking about country of origin. Span plays more Irish folk music than even a lot of bands from Ireland!DCrom wrote:all Irish except for a couple of Steeleye Span discs
Of course, Gay Woods is Irish (and a bodhran player, but we won't hold that against her).
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Re: Tunes that leap into your head
Yes, they do - even a few instrumental-only pieces. But I guess I have them filed as "English Folk-Rock" in my head. Rather like Martin Carthy playing solo - he does a lot of Irish pieces, but I don't think of him as an Irish trad musician.BrassBlower wrote:I assume you are talking about country of origin. Span plays more Irish folk music than even a lot of bands from Ireland!DCrom wrote:all Irish except for a couple of Steeleye Span discs
Of course, Gay Woods is Irish (and a bodhran player, but we won't hold that against her).
Of course, with Martin Carthy the real problem is to get him to play something cheerful - on his own, he seems to gravitate to murder & incest ballads
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The slip jig "The Butterfly" was that way for me. Granted, I'd heard it in the past, so perhaps it was already stuck somewhere deep in my head, but it was played through once in slow session (at tempo) by another flute player last Thursday, I looked it up online at The Session on Friday (to clarify one passage), and it's been stuck in my head and I've been playing it since.
I'm not sure what it is about The Butterfly, but the tune sounds "ancient" to me...I wonder if there is any basis to that?
Eric
I'm not sure what it is about The Butterfly, but the tune sounds "ancient" to me...I wonder if there is any basis to that?
Eric
Thanks, Blackhawk!blackhawk wrote:Blackthorn Stick did that for me.
Wasn't quite as fast to pick up as the Ballydesmond Polka (after all, it's twice as many measures) but you're right - it is a really easy one to get into your head. The only easier "real" jig I've learned (I don't count "The Quaker's Wife" from the Clarke tutorial - too short) was "The Sheigh O' Rye" from _A Dossan of Heather_, and that has a much simpler melody.
Nice tune. Sounds particularly nice played a bit slowly - the effect is "lazy" rather than "I can't play this any faster" - but sounds pretty nice at speed, too.
My pleasure, Dcrom. Hey, do you ever go to The King's Head in Campbell on Thursday nights for the Irish music? They have some excellent whistlers there.
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No, but it sounds like I should. Not that I'm good enough to *play* in a session, yet, but I'd love to listen in.blackhawk wrote:My pleasure, Dcrom. Hey, do you ever go to The King's Head in Campbell on Thursday nights for the Irish music? They have some excellent whistlers there.
What time do people start to turn up? And is it every Thursday, or every other, or ??? I couldn't find a listing in the Mercury-News, and Yahoo doesn't show a web site to check.
BTW - do you know if there are ever sessions at the Britannia Arms of Almaden?
Thanks,
Dana