FJohnSharp wrote:Star of the County Down as I learned it is a polka. Is there an air version?
I've never heard it played as a polka. I have played it in jig time occasionally, just for fun (it works well that way!), but it's a song tune, and thus an air. I've heard it played in a rather ploddingly slow 4/4 (doesn't work for me), but when I play it, I pick it up to 2/4...about the tempo at which The Irish Rovers sing it. It doesn't have that polka lilt...it's more like a march.
The version I know goes:
FBBBAFddedefedBAFA (I don't know proper ABC, but you get the gist...capital letters are lower octave).
Is that the one you know?
Redwolf
...agus déanfaidh mé do mholadh ar an gcruit a Dhia, a Dhia liom!
Tell us something.: I used to be a regular then I took up the bassoon. Bassoons don't have a lot of chiff. Not really, I have always been a drummer, and my C&F years were when I was a little tired of the drums. Now I'm back playing drums. I mist the C&F years, though.
FJohnSharp wrote:Star of the County Down as I learned it is a polka. Is there an air version?
I've never heard it played as a polka. I have played it in jig time occasionally, just for fun (it works well that way!), but it's a song tune, and thus an air. I've heard it played in a rather ploddingly slow 4/4 (doesn't work for me), but when I play it, I pick it up to 2/4...about the tempo at which The Irish Rovers sing it. It doesn't have that polka lilt...it's more like a march.
The version I know goes:
FBBBAFddedefedBAFA (I don't know proper ABC, but you get the gist...capital letters are lower octave).
Is that the one you know?
Redwolf
My error. I learned it as a march.
Mine goes AAAGA CCdCd edCAF GEG etc. I learned it as a set with Dawning of the Day march. It was one of my early lessons.
Tell us something.: This is the first sentence. This is the second of the recommended sentences intended to thwart spam its. This is a third, bonus sentence!
In addition to all those Irish lovelies, I would add "O Son Do Ar," a beautiful Galician slow air by Bieito Romero of the group Luar na Lubre. You can hear it on Mike Oldfield's "Voyager" album, and the music is available on the group's website. A very easy, but impressive air for beginners.
These topics are helpful, but I always have difficulty finding internet recordings of the tunes. Besides Clips 'n' Snips, what are some good online (accurate! I've found some horribly horrible ones..) databases for Trad music? Thanks.
~Sara S.~
"We don't build statues to worship the exceptional life; we build them to remind ourselves what is possible in our own." - unknown
Tell us something.: Well, I've been a contributor and visitor to this site since 2001. At one time or another, one of my photographs was the opening page photograph. My teacher was Bill Ochs. I play the Penny Whistle. Not a lot else to say.
The tune "Farewell to Glasgow" from the CD "When Junipers Sleep" by????? is a beautiful tune and easily learned right off the CD. I regret that I have forgotten the artist's name, But I'm relatively confident that it is an Irish name. My copy of the CD is on loan to a certain someone (HELLO JIM!!) who borrowed it from me, allegedly as part of his ongoing "Mid-Range D" whistle comparison research.
Tom Dowling wrote:The tune "Farewell to Glasgow" from the CD "When Junipers Sleep" by????? is a beautiful tune and easily learned right off the CD. I regret that I have forgotten the artist's name, But I'm relatively confident that it is an Irish name. My copy of the CD is on loan to a certain someone (HELLO JIM!!) who borrowed it from me, allegedly as part of his ongoing "Mid-Range D" whistle comparison research.
