I suppose I should have written something more along the lines of "hey, I'm not going anywhere..." :wink:
This had about a millenium's worth of evolving since Sunday, so I'd better get it online before I decide to keep changing it.
It's in Ab, so the I, IV, V and vi chords are (I hope): Ab, Db, Eb, and Fm. But I played it with a capo on the fourth fret with chords from the key of E (E, A, B and C#m). I had to rewrite the music several times because I first didn't have a vi chord in the verse. So the verse became the chorus. Then I realized I didn't have a I chord in the verse, so that had to be changed. And as convoluted as the evolution of the music was, the lyric was even worse, so let's not go there.
Anyway, I'm just glad I got it out of my system in time to take part in the "New Year" celebration. Now if I can finish off my Year 6 Week 52 piece, I'll be off to a good start.
Song can be found at the usual place:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_music.cfm?bandID=306627
Rip it, folks! Don't be shy. :wink:
Cooraclare
Hurry Katie get your best dress on
Tie a brand new ribbon in your hair
Mother says that the Dance Master's coming
Back home to Cooraclare
Seems like an age since he's been here last
The green fields have all gone to brown
Slip on your ghillies and give us a reel
The Dance Master's come back to town
Hurry Katie get your best dress on
Tie a brand new ribbon in your hair
Mother says that the Dance Master's coming
Back home to Cooraclare
And do you suppose he's still got the same lad
With the beautiful fiddle and bow
And just how many times will he try to catch your eye
‘Cause he's sweet on you don't you know
Hurry Katie get your best dress on
Tie a brand new ribbon in your hair
Mother says that the Dance Master's coming
Back home to Cooraclare
©2008 D. Hodge
Peace
Excellent research on the topic, David.
I had to look up the references to Dance Master, ghillies and of course, Cooraclare.
They all exist . . .So it's bona fide Irish song ye wrote, laddie.
Enjoyed it. I and the wee folk drink a toast to ye.
Loved the finger picking . . . no make that . . . I'm envious of the finger picking.
It's the rock that gives the stream its music . . . and the stream that gives the rock its roll.
Well, what can I say - I have a lot to learn....
Great playing as usual...thought it was going into vestapol to start with...nice lyrics and story.
I'll just watch and wait and see what the seasoned professionals have to say.
Watch and learn, watch and learn.
Rock on!
D 8)
I'm nowhere near Chicago. I've got six string, 8 fingers, two thumbs, it's dark 'cos I'm wearing sunglasses - Hit it!
excellent, David. And I second the motion on the finger picking. One of these days...
OK, Kathy, go to work........
Falling in love is like learning to play the guitar; first you learn to follow the rules, then you learn to play with your heart.
Delightful. :)
It had a lovely blend of traditional style imagery and freshness that, as KR2 said, made it sound completely authentic. By the end of the song I felt as if I'd been hearing it for years.
On the rare occasions that I've written something that started to work OK, and I've been practising it for a while, there can be a stage when I start to think that I must have stolen it from somewhere. In fact it's become a sort of acid test for when I'm starting to get something working properly lyrically, rhymically, or whatever - it begins to sound like I must have heard an aspect of it before somewhere. Almost everything in your song had that quality, which indicates to me that you're either very skilfull at nicking things or else a very good craftsman. :wink: :wink:
Even the phrases quickly sounded familiar, but when I tried Googling "Tie a brand new ribbon in your hair" and "The green fields have all gone to brown" I got precisely zero returns from both (which is actually quite hard to do - you can type almost any phrase in and get some hits for it). So I have to conclude that you're just a very competent craftsman (as if I didn't already know that.. :mrgreen: ).
I did wonder why Dance Master was capitalised in some lines but not others? Google and Wiki told me that 'Dance Master' was a competition in the UK, but it was for boys, so I guess the phrase goes back further than that use of it. It certainly sounded right anyway.
I loved the line about the young fiddle player trying to catch Katie's eye, but I did slightly wonder about "beautiful fiddle and bow". Clearly the fiddle was appropriately placing him at the scene but I wasn't sure whether the bow was there just for the rhyme, as I've never really thought "wow - beautiful bow"... However, Google soon showed me that my 'bow appreciation' is simply not up to the mark....
.. and this was two years ago too:
A cello bow by Francois Xavier Tourte has made nearly $200,000 in an on-line musical instruments auction. It was bought by a well-known European cellist who has chosen to remain anonymous.
The bow, made between 1800 and 1810 by the maker most credited with refining the bow into the form it holds today, realised $196,000 when it was put on sale by Tarisio, an American on-line auction house that deals exclusively with musical instruments.
Chris
By the end of the song I felt as if I'd been hearing it for years.
Always a good sign, that - you hear a song once and feel like you've known it forever. Like Ken, I had to look up "ghillies" - Cooraclare was the first hint that this was going to be heading in the direction of Irish Folk music.
Can't find any fault at all with this - but please tell me there are at least two guitars in the mix, or I'm going to get my inferiority complex back! (It's in the pawn shop - I traded it in for two pence worth of talent a while back....)
:D :D :D
Vic
"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)
I think we're all in for complexes here...
Vic, hate to tell you that it's one guitar. One take. I do use two microphones to record when I play. Maybe you're picking up on that.
And everyone else, while I thank you kindly for your admiration of the finger picking, all I can hear are the (innumerable) mistakes. It's not clean. There are all sorts of timing and "almost the right note hiccups" and, like Kathy, I just said screw it after spending (much) more time on it than planned. I botched the beginning so often that I had to edit the beginning so that it came in at the last phrase of the chorus instead of at the start!
It's basically a variation of Travis picking with some Richard Thompson-inspired melody pinches, hammer-ons and pull offs. The sort of thing that when you hear it, it sounds complex. But when you watch someone doing it, you find that it's all centered around basic open chords.
While I'm pleased that the lyrics are passing the test of Internet scrutiny, I have to say that writing them resembled my golf game (like my eggs, very scrambled) more than the work of a "competent craftsman" (Chris, you're way too kind!). And the "bow" is there for the rhyme, but I'm more than happy to say otherwise and look even more pretentious than I normally do. Maybe it's just easier to say I've very skillful at nicking things than to admit to the process that actually took place! :wink:
Oh, and "Dance Master" was supposed to be capitalized throughout. Negligence on my part. Sorry.
Okay, back to work on Week 52 of last year....
Peace
Wow, Richard....I mean David....very nicely done.
I couldn't improve the words if I tried.
I do have a suggestion on the recording though. I think you are trying to sing it a bit too....prettily. It still needs the airy quality of the genre, but I think you should sing it like Katie is right there in front of you, to her. That's not quite right, to give the image that she is right there. I don't mean brusquely, maintaining the airy but perhaps a little less sing-songy, and with a sense of dialogue. The natural quality of your voice serves the song nicely. I wouldn't overdo.
It is excellent as is.
That's a fair judgement, Nick, and one I appreciate. Whenever I'm recording I have a tendency to "act" instead of "sing" and this one was no exception. What usually helps is playing and singing at the same time, but here I wasn't sure I could do it so I laid down the guitar part first and then emoted on the second take.
But I've been practicing and can now sing and play this at the same time, so (spare time willing) I'll try to work up a new version.
I'm sure I can't be the only one who does this sort of thing when recording. Being more "conversational" certainly does help and I think I can do that. What other kind of tips do you have in that great font of knowledge and experience?
Peace
You crack me up. Me? If I'm a font of anything it wouldn't be knowledge. :D
I'm flattered you ask, but I was just observing.
These things help me sometimes:
Stand while singing
get some pictures to look at, a picture from a book, a screen saver, etc. that remind you of the feeling or person you are singing to or about
Move your arms and gesture a lot. No one is going to see you anyway. You'd be surprised how much difference this makes. I dare anyone to make a before and after recording to compare. Granted this is difficult while playing at the same time.
Make some dynamic change in the song somewhere. It doesn't have to be much, but figure out where. That change, even if subtle, makes you think about the choice.
mark the lyrics so you know where to breathe or get loud or soft
speak the lyric and record it. Listen to it and try to sing with the same inflection.
And my current favorite, Donald Fagen was interviewed somewhere, or maybe it was Chuck Rainey talking about Donald Fagen and he treated his vocal parts like a rhythm instrument. Sometimes thinking of the lyrical line like that frees you to try new things.
My rule of 4-6-8: Stand away from the mic by about 4"-6" and sing like you are trying to get someone to hear it 8' away.
If I had one piece of advice to give beginners, it's practice your singing 1/2 as long as it took you to write it and learn to play it. If you do that, you will probably be practicing it twice as long as you are now.
It is a beautiful song.
Make some dynamic change in the song somewhere. It doesn't have to be much, but figure out where. That change, even if subtle, makes you think about the choice.
mark the lyrics so you know where to breathe or get loud or soft
speak the lyric and record it. Listen to it and try to sing with the same inflection.
More rolled gold advice. :D
I've joined an amateur community choir recently to try and learn how to sing better, under the camouflaging cover of a pack of other voices. We've been really lucky to snare an excellent choirmaster. He has recently made all those points, and many others that I've seen Nick make.
When we work through a new song he'll do thing like get us to 'rap' it. Forget the pitches for now, just hit the rhythm and get the word lengths and cut-offs right. Don't always sing smoothly and slur everything together (unless it's that kind of song) put some punch and definition in where it's needed. (Aside: This technique could help all those at SSG who say they can't sing. You can still portray many if not most of the essential elements of the song that way)
On the subject of dynamic changes, he said that a really simple rule of thumb is when the notes goes down, sing softer, when it goes up sing louder. It's certainly a great starting point. He is also trying to get us to sing more quietly without losing the energy. He assured us that if you can keep the energy, balls, tension, precision or whatever you're after, yet sing at moderate volume it will actually be more effective than just loud.
Exploring singing is turning out to be an absolute blast..... :mrgreen:
Chris
