Does Amazing Grace have different parts?

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Mon May 05, 2003 10:23 am

I only know the words until 'I see' but I know there are more after that with toils and snares. Is the music the same or does it change?

I'm trying to try ornaments on songs I know how to play very well, but just trying to try is really hard. So I'm looking for other ways to play songs differently for now. Ornamentation can wait....

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Mon May 05, 2003 11:04 am

The melody for Amazing Grace stays the same from verse to verse. I have heard it played with variations like changing to a minor key on some verses, but traditionally the melody stays the same through the whole song.

Sunnywindo · Post by **Sunnywindo** » Mon May 05, 2003 12:01 pm

Here are more of the verses. It's the same tune for each verse. This <a href="http://www.gammeddehewa.addr.com/ljud/a ... d">MIDI</a> shows how the same tune plays over and over, each repeat being for one verse. There was one other version of this song I saw online, and there may be others, but the one posted below seemed to be the most common. Maybe someone else knows more about the different verses? Hope this helps. All I know for sure is that this song plays great on a whistle!

Sara

1. Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found;
was blind, but now I see.

2. 'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved;
how precious did that grace appear
the hour I first believed.

3. Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
'tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

4. The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
as long as life endures.

5. Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.

6. When we've been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun,
we've no less days to sing God's praise
than when we first begun.

antstastegood · Post by **antstastegood** » Mon May 05, 2003 12:55 pm

It's a great tune, but because it is so well known, everyone seems pressured to do something original to it, to keep from wearing it out. I really think that there is no need to do this. Good Luck.

---antstastegood---

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Mon May 05, 2003 1:21 pm

If I heard 10 people play a song, I'd want each person to add their own touches or it would get really boring hearing the same thing over and over and over...

Thanks for the full lyrics, Sunnywindo, I printed them out..

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Mon May 05, 2003 7:33 pm

You're lucky you don't play Highland pipes otherwise your relationship with that song would become much more complex.
Cheers,
Aaron

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Mon May 05, 2003 8:25 pm

You got that right!
That is the one tune that any pipe band doing a job is always requested to play.........

Rockymtnpiper · Post by **Rockymtnpiper** » Mon May 05, 2003 8:39 pm

Oh boy... that song.. yes its a complex relationship. Its not that its a bad song or anything... but they want to hear it over and over and over all day long if at all possible. A lot of Pipers actually rush through the Tune. I make a concious effort to slow down a wee bit. Take it slow and easy and let some good tone ring through.
"Flowers of the Forest" goes really nice after A.G., try that on for a variation.

One thing about you Cranberry... if the listening public gets on your nerves a bit with A.G. ... you can weasel out with a likely suited tale that A.G doesnt work very well on the whistle.. lol

cowtime · Post by **cowtime** » Mon May 05, 2003 8:47 pm

Good idea, I'll suggest that to the "boys in the band" at the next practice.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue May 06, 2003 12:52 am

There's one more original verse. Hardly ever appears in Twentieth Century hymnals.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below
Shall be forever mine!

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Tue May 06, 2003 1:46 am

Depending on my audience I sometimes bend the first F (in the GHB version) and play vibrato on the following F. I may add vibrato on D after the throw.... maybe do a birl on high A if for kicks. I only do this in casual performances among non-piping patrons. Sometimes I'll finish off with one big money shot of AG and then break into STB. I feel like a bit sleazy sometimes afterwards

.
Cheers,
Aaron

Jack · Post by **Jack** » Tue May 06, 2003 10:30 am

Now I remember that when I first learned the song that I tought it sounded like bagpipes..and that was because I've heard it (on tv) on pipes so many times.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who called me here below
Shall be forever mine!

I really like that one.

LimuHead · Post by **LimuHead** » Tue May 06, 2003 10:55 am

AaronMalcomb wrote:Depending on my audience I sometimes bend the first F (in the GHB version) and play vibrato on the following F. I may add vibrato on D after the throw.... maybe do a birl on high A if for kicks. I only do this in casual performances among non-piping patrons. Sometimes I'll finish off with one big money shot of AG and then break into STB. I feel like a bit sleazy sometimes afterwards .
Cheers,
Aaron

Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by:

-- GHB version

-- ..."the throw..."

-- ..."do a birl..."

-- ..."one big money shot of AG.."

-- ..."break into STB..."

Are these terms pipers use? I'd really like to know.

Sincerely,
Aldon

Jerry Freeman · Post by **Jerry Freeman** » Tue May 06, 2003 11:39 am

LimuHead wrote:Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by:

-- GHB version

-- ..."the throw..."

-- ..."do a birl..."

-- ..."one big money shot of AG.."

-- ..."break into STB..."

Are these terms pipers use? I'd really like to know.

Sincerely,
Aldon

Me, too! Me too!

I picked up that tweaked Shaw soprano E I've been enamored of these last few days and started Amazing Grace on it. It's a great tune, sounds wonderful on that whistle. Seems to beg for embellishments that echo the bagpipes.

AaronMalcomb · Post by **AaronMalcomb** » Tue May 06, 2003 12:32 pm

LimuHead wrote:
Pardon my ignorance, but what do you mean by:

-- GHB version

-- ..."the throw..."

-- ..."do a birl..."

-- ..."one big money shot of AG.."

-- ..."break into STB..."

Are these terms pipers use? I'd really like to know.

Sincerely,
Aldon

GHB stands for Great Highland Bagpipe. By GHB version I mean the key and setting we play. The fingering for Amazing Grace (AG) on GHB isn't very different from whistle, but in a different key, with different ornamentation and lots of cross-fingering. It's in a really sharp Bb but transposed a half-step down.
A throw is a GHB ornamentation most commonly played on D. The motion kind of looks like your hand is lightly throwing something.
A birl is another GHB ornamentation, usually played on the low A. GHB has a hole for the right pinky finger that is left open when playing the low A and you can ornament the A by doing kind of a high-speed double tap with your pinky. The high A is played on the back of the chanter with the thumb so a high A birl is played using the thumb.
One big money shot of AG and breaking into STB just refers to the most requested tunes played together. Money shot is a cinema term in various genres for the scenes people spend money to see. The most common is a film ending with the hero walking/riding off into the sunset but it can also be a big explosion, a kiss, etc. The term is also used in X-rated films but I won't go into detail on that

. So pretty much I play one big money shot with Amazing Grace and then break into Scotland the Brave (STB).
So throws and birls are (Highland) piping terms and GHB, AG, and STB are abbreviations used by pipers on the internet in forums such as this. So rockymtnpiper would have understood all of that kind of like most folks on here understand ITM, Gen, and WhOA.
I hope I answered your questions.
Cheers,
Aaron