Spicing up the AABB songs

[Inseptist]

I have this book laying around - The Portland Collection. Which has been great to me for learning to read musical notation. After a while though the satisfaction is lacking if played as is.

So.

What can we do about this?

There is this sequence you can add 1-3-4 or others.
Ornamentation. Double stops, triplets, hammer on, pull-offs.
Scales.

I understand how to transpose a song into a different key. How to add ornamentation.

But playing the same riff in a different sequence with a bit variation isn't all that satisfying either.

Any ideas?

[pops1]

A lot of AABB tunes are just that because of dance. Calling a square, circle or contra dance requires most of the tunes (except squares?) to be square. The caller needs to know where the band is and the dance needs to flow with the tune. Increase your speed to dance tempo while keeping all the little things you do for feeling and the tune will become much more fun and challenging.

[Nevin]

There are lots of things you can do to spice up a tune. You can re-harmonize the melody using more extended chords or chord substitutions. You can modulate to another key such as the relative minor. If there are other instruments playing you can compose a counterpoint to the melody. If it is a traditional song you can check what variations have been played and combine them. You can write your own variation. If your chops are up to it you can double time a section. You can vary the rhythm with dotted rhythms for straight or vice versa. You can use a tremolo. You can improvise a break. I am sure others will chime in with more ideas.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Learn difference scales for improvising: major and minor octave and pentatonic scales, for openers, then mixolydian and other natural scales and larger major and minor blues scales, for instance.

Get the hang of their patterns so you can play them in any key and practice changing from one scale to another and blending them.

This will take forever, of course. But just getting started on it will immediately open up new possibilities to make your playing more fun and interesting.

[foldedpath]

It's considered a fairly advanced art to use subtle variation on the melody line in these fiddle tunes, so you're not playing each time through exactly the same way, and yet without "killing the tune" by making it unrecognizable. Or un-danceable, in the context of the Portland Books. It can be ornamentation around the melody, or very small changes in the actual melody.

Full improvisation and extended jazz chords are not the usual thing with these tunes, because it takes them too far from the dance context. But the Trad Police aren't going to come knocking on your door if you try it at home!

One thing you can try if subtle variation isn't enough, is to start putting tunes in sets. Play each one for just two repetitions, and then smoothly flow into the next one in a set of three or more tunes. Finding tunes that work well together is challenging and fun. You can achieve strong contrasts and "lift" when there is a change of key or dance rhythm in a set.

Contradance and Irish trad players are more likely to stick to the same dance rhythm, so changing key is the main method of adding interest in a set of tunes. Scottish and Cape Breton players will often follow a sequence like march-strathspey-reel (and more reels), combining key changes and actual rhythm change, which has a great progression of intensity and gets people's feet stomping.

[sblock]

You really should get your head into the Texas "longbow" fiddling style, as established by folks like Benny Thomasson, Texas Shorty, Terry Morris, Howdy Forrester, Herman Johnson, and so on. In the latest generation of this playing style, some great fiddlers include Byron Berline, Mark O'Connor, the Ludickers (Tony, Kimber), Alex Hargreaves, Luke Price, and so on. This is contest-style fiddling. These folks play fiddle tunes with seemingly infinite -- and often technically challenging! -- variations, always sticking to the basic melody but changing things up practically every time. Some of it is improvised; some is not. Regardless, there is a great deal if individuality to be heard. A great deal of this technique carries over directly to the mandolin. So, pull up some YouTube videos and start listening to some contest-style versions of classic fiddle tunes like Sally Goodin, Sally Johnson, Grey Eagle, Forked Dear, Billy in the Lowground, Leather Britches, Soppin' the Gravy, and many more. For example, pull up final-round entries from the National Oldtime Fiddling Championship in Weiser, Idaho, held every year. Hear all many possibilities for spicing up fiddle tunes!! There's a whole lot to learn about changing up these tunes!

[lukmanohnz]

Here's a nice book with lots of ideas for spicing up some common fiddle tunes. http://www.jacktuttle.com/Books/Spic...ddleTunes.html
NFI

[T.D.Nydn]

Take the whole tune up a half a step....

[Bertram Henze]

Doublestops did it for me. Apart from that, the ITM way to deal with boredom is to just learn a new tune (there's more of them than you can ever hope to explore).

[Jess L.]

... After a while though the satisfaction is lacking if played as is. ...

... You can write your own variation. ...

Yes. The written notes (well, for fiddle tunes anyway) are a mere skeleton outline, the bare-bones minimalist suggested version of a tune, a starting point. The written notes are not intended to be a finished product, so yeah it can sound bland and uninteresting when played exactly "as is" over and over again without adding/subtracting/modifying things.

As to what to change and how exactly to go about it, well that's a tough question - it's like asking "What is art?" - there are some excellent suggestions in previous posts in this thread - but I will just say that it gets easier with more musical experience under your belt and eventually you may find yourself coming up with spontaneous nice little variations (can be subtle, subtle is good) that sound really good and you didn't even have to consciously work at it!

In the meantime, for a more specific plan of action to do now, I would recommend finding a favorite recorded version of a particular tune you like, and study the heck out of that version, listen to it literally hundreds of times as 'background music' until it sinks into the subconscious without even working at it, also then listen to it at half-speed in a more focused/concentrated effort at discerning what notes, runs, riffs, ornamentation etc that the player is using. Then, set the tune aside for a week or so, to give all the acquired tune-information time to digest. Then pick up an instrument and try playing along with the recording, you'd be surprised at how much of what you'd heard the previous week might just suddenly start to show up in your own playing. So, that 'study' technique can give you ideas as to what to do to make variations - start out first by copying other people whose playing you admire, then eventually (this next step took me a year or two when I was first starting out) you'll be more fluent at inventing your own variations that keep things interesting but still keep the tune recognizable to others.

[Inseptist]

Very good. This opens up new ideas for creativity. Got a bunch to work with.

[JeffD]

Just, of course, be aware of the context. The amount of departure from the original tune (which may or may not be exactly what is written) depends on whether its a dance, a jam, a jam with solo breaks, a performance, a performance with solo breaks, etc.

[JeffD]

There is one tune we play at our jams which is every like Battle Hymn Of the Republic. When I am in a mischievous mood I go into full Battle Hymn.

There are more than a few Irish polkas that we do at our jams and sessions, and again, when I am into funnin everyone, I might sneak in a minor chord at a key emphasis point. Or something fun like that.

Most of the time though, I try and find the central drama of the tune itself, and then if I do anything, it is to try and accentuate that drama, with dynamics, with ornaments, whatever. Elk River Blues is a good example.

[Pepe]

I have this book laying around - The Portland Collection. Which has been great to me for learning to read musical notation. After a while though the satisfaction is lacking if played as is...?

Since the Portland Collection contains primarily Contra dance repertoire, you could:
- form or join a Contra dance band
- form or join an old time/Contra/general fiddle tune jam group
Generally, contra (& Irish & Scottish) musicians will combine several tunes into a set. You could start doing that, and working on your transitions. Creating sets is an art with clear objectives in mind. Very often tunes included are in different keys and the transitions are designed to inject more energy into the dance, often (but not always) without changing the tempo. Take the time to listen to some good Contra or Celtic bands and you'll see what I mean.

[RobP]

I love the Portland collection. They have made several recordings of tunes: https://www.theportlandcollection.com/cds/
They play them pretty straight, but they do a nice job of combining 2 or 3 tunes that sound well together. I've learned several of the tunes, either from the book or by ear.