Gilbert and Sullivan Fingerbuster

  1. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    I have been working on a Gilbert and Sullivan tune off and on lately, mainly as an exercise. The tune is "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major General" from "The Pirates of Penzance". I found the standard notation version in the Hal Leonard "Classical Fake Book", then I transcribed it into TablEdit. It was in the key of Eb and it proved to be a veritable fingerbuster (for me anyway). Whenever I worked on it, my pinkie finger would ache for at least a day afterwards.

    A few days ago, I decided to get serious with the tune and actually try to learn it well enough to play it all the way through without a major crash. But I soon decided that was just not going to happen any time soon in Eb. So I tried a few other keys and settled on D. It is actually fun in D.

    Here are links to pdf and tef files for both keys if you are interested:

    Eb pdf: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1R0...31evcZ1d0mj567
    Eb tef: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bU...CQEb7cgca-R_43
    D pdf: https://drive.google.com/open?id=18c...UkS0jQsQfiyNpv
    D tef: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1wE...6xX2YpOrnmWVVU

    If you are not familiar with the tune, you might want to find it on YouTube to hear how it goes before you dig into the tabs or the notation.
  2. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Here it is with subtitles in case you want to sing along.
  3. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    If you aren't familiar with the tune, then I feel sorry for you. One should have been exposed to at least Pirates of Penzance and HMS Pinafore
  4. Trav'linmando
    Trav'linmando
    Henry, thanks for sharing this with the group. I love the way we get to discover new and different types of music here. You have opened my eyes to several tunes now.

    Kevin, I'm a recovering hippie redneck biker. Never showed the finer things in life.
  5. Kevin Stueve
    Kevin Stueve
    some of my best friends are hippie redneck bikers
  6. Trav'linmando
    Trav'linmando
    Ok Henry, you went to the trouble of transcribing this. I have got your PDF of song in the key of D. Why do I feel like I am jumping in the deep end of the pool.

    Thanks Kevin.
  7. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Eb is diabolical. D is fun.
  8. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    Good deed, Henry, thanks.
  9. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Henry, do you play this as fast as in the video?
  10. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    Depends on which parts. I can play the rests up to speed. On about all the remainder I am half fast at best.

    Seriously, I am at the stage where I am reading the notes ok but still stumble on some passages unless I slow down a lot. Then I speed back up. Don’t dare suggest a metronome.
  11. Mark Gunter
    Mark Gunter
    At least you've got the rests down. Progress!
  12. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    I agree. A metronome would only make this piece more challenging.
  13. Sherry Cadenhead
    Sherry Cadenhead
    Who cares about proper rhythm anyway, right?
  14. HonketyHank
    HonketyHank
    I plan to play this “freely” and “with feeling”. Or, fast on the straightaways and careful on the curves.
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