Poll for Song a Week Social Group week #516

[Barbara Shultz]

This poll is for the Song A Week Social Group Week #516.

One vote per member of the social group. Please feel free to link to videos of these tunes, as a reply to this discussion, to help others decide!

If you are a regular member, you know that our polls have been weekly polls, for years, but that over the last few months I've been experimenting with changing that. Our poll will be a biweekly poll. Hopefully, that interval will be enough to keep your interest, and also give you enough time to learn it. I will try to announce the winner on Friday, February 28, in the Song A Week Social Group forum.

If you are not yet a member, there's a link at the bottom of this post that will take you there! Please join us over there!

If you ARE a member already, and one who participates in these polls, I am in need of new tune suggestions! I depend on you all to help me keep this list populated! It's OK to suggest tunes that are already here as 'other tunes', but I'd appreciate it, if when you send me your suggestions, you do a quick check of our 'official tunes' to make sure we don't have a duplicate! You can make the suggestions in the discussion in the social group, called Poll Tune Suggestions. It also helps me if you can include the genre along with the title. I try to populate our polls with a variety of tunes, but our list is in serious need of some Bluegrass tunes, and more Old time! If you can also link to notation or a video along with your suggestion, that would be a great help! I'm depending on you members to keep this group alive!

[John Kelly]

Here is a link to video I posted recently featuring Wind On The Heath.

[Mike Romkey]

"Wind on the Heath" is a pretty little tune. (What's the difference between an air and a waltz?) Nice post, John. ...

I went on a frantic hunt for "Goin' Across the Sea" last night. It's not a familiar Monroe tune to me. The only Monroe version I could find was a fragment he plays after talking about his Uncle Pen on a collection called "The World's Greatest Bluegrass Live." Which (I'm not sure which) was either taken from a documentary about bluegrass, or included in said documentary. My wife brought it home from the library a couple of weeks ago and compelled me to watch it. (g) Does anybody know of another, more complete Monroe recording of the tune?

Apparently it's an old time banjo tune? That's my guess. Obviously Monroe learned it from his fiddling uncle. There aren't a lot of other versions I could find, which is surprising, because it's a pleasant little song with the added bonus of it hasn't been done to death. I located a couple in the key of B, which -- believe it or not -- is not my favorite key to play. But I did round up a lovely and tasteful recording of it by the incomparable John Reischman recorded with his band, the Jaybirds. Highly recommended. He plays it in C. Worth listening to ... and learning.

[bigskygirl]

Here’s a solo version of Going Across the Sea done by Emory Lester, he included this tune on his album “At Dusk.”

[John Kelly]

"Wind on the Heath" is a pretty little tune. (What's the difference between an air and a waltz?) Nice post, John. ...

I would say that a waltz is in much stricter tempo, Mike, as it is primarily a dance tune, so has to maintain a regular rhythm for the dancers to be able to perform. Waltzes are largely in 3/4 time.

Airs, or at least slow airs, have a much more relaxed feel and will not adhere to the strict tempo of the waltz, and they are often in 4/4 time. The slow air is very much the province of the solo player who can lengthen notes or include pauses for effect. When I hear slow airs played by ensembles such as our Scottish Strathspey and Reel societies (very fiddle-based) they tend to revert to a stricter beat or rhythm than a solo player can employ, as all the players need to keep in time with each other so regular beats make this easier. If you watch Strathspey and Reel orchestras playing they will almost always have a conductor to keep them together!

[Simon DS]

I’d like to learn some Scottish Slow Airs too.
On the song below, I’m not sure I can even play this rhythm on a guitar, definitely outside my comfort zone. But I’m willing.


https://youtu.be/f5hVZcabu8A

[Simon DS]

...Don’t worry about a thing, ‘cause every little thing is gonna be alright...
(Thanks Scott and Dan and everyone)

[Mike Romkey]

Lester's is great if a bit baroque. John Reishman's recorded version is very nice. There are examples out there of this done in B. John does it in C. Bill's version, in A, sits nicest on the fingerboard to me personally.