For enthusiasts of early banjo
Tune Help - Soap Fat Man
I need a hand with this one. If anyone could look at this and see what they make of it. Does the tune look correct as written in Buckley 1868? There must be something the same or close in Ryan's or whatever. I hear ti with D naturals as sort of a modal E minor.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Strumelia on
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The D#s seem very intentionally notated. They are indicated for the key of E anyway, and are also notated in the KeyOfE song before it, Charleston Galls (where the D naturals and sharps are both deliberately indicated)
If you play all the D#s (even the first one that is not notated as though it was an accidental), it gives it a somewhat unexpected quality that grows on you after a few times through. I like that it not the expected D natural, though I too thought it was too odd that way at first. It still has twisted mood to it, perhaps even more so with the D#s. Without them it becomes just another predictable Irish tune.
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The other reason I think the D#s are intended, is that I often see tunes get recycled and made into 'new' tunes simp[ly by changing a note or two to alter the flavor a bit...like using curry powder instead of sage and calling the resultant dish something new. That whole first phrase of Soap Fat Man is soooo often used in Irish tunes...well you'd really have to do something to make it different. ;)
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Permalink Reply by Tim Twiss on
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I put up an old version I did. I think I was trying to bring out the D#s. I could have done better. When I look at the music, it almost made me wonder if they were naturals because the D# accidental. That usually implies a natural had preceeded it at some point. Thanks Strum for looking and thinking.
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I hear you Tim. They are written in as though they were accidentals, however they occur in the key signature, so I'm thinking he wrote them in as accidentals as well exactly, precisely because he figured many folks (as you did) would assume they weren't really intended to be played as sharps, that it must be an error...because it's not the usual sound for that common Irish phrase of notes. So the sharp appears written in both the key staff indicator AND on the notes themselves (except for the first one). It seems strongly indicated.
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There must be a root tune to this. I'm going to sit down with a glass of wine and my Ryan's book and go fishin; for it.
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Permalink Reply by Al Smitley on
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I didn't see it in Ryan's, though I wasn't drinking wine, which might help.
I was going to scan through Howe's 1,000 Jigs and Reels but the 6/8 music is mixed all through the book.
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