View Full Version : Help with time signature: Lankum - Old man from over the sea
Hey folks,
I'm trying to work this song out with my Cittern for accompaniment and it seems to exceed the abilities of my inner metronome. Can anyone help me with the timing on this song? I just can't follow the fiddle players plucking at the end of each verse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwvMNPfTwLE
HonketyHank
Dec-31-2019, 9:02pm
I get the following repeating pattern: 123-5-, which could make it 6/4 or 3/2 . Neither is a time signature I know anything about except that Irish traditional music does have a few "three-two's" listed in various tune books.
foldedpath
Dec-31-2019, 11:16pm
I hear it as 6/8 for the most part, with the lead singer sometimes cutting the beat short for the next verse, which gives it that crooked feel.
John Kelly
Jan-01-2020, 5:46am
I agree with foldedpath that it fits into a 6/8 rhythm. The fiddler seems to be syncopating his pizzicato picking by omitting beats in each group of six, but overall you can count through the tune in sixes - or maybe even 12/8? :whistling:
I'll keep trying, but I can't count through in 6/8. Maybe I'm getting hung up on syncopation, but the final phrase throws me every time. Thanks for all the input.
-Adair
HonketyHank
Jan-02-2020, 1:29pm
The rhythm pattern is quite interesting, for sure. I can't feel it as a 6/8 unless I ignore my experience with jigs and (some) marches - those are basically two triplets per measure, I am feeling this as three doublets per measure (or one doublet and two singles).
Beanzy
Jan-02-2020, 7:01pm
In the versions I can find it's in a slow cut-time. (2/4)
here's the oldest I found so far, from "Musical miscellany" 1729
182435
182433 182434