Speed the Plough - Embellishments and Variation

Speed the Plough is probably the most widely known English session tune, but unfortunately gets played in a very basic style. There are lots of really good versions in different manuscripts and on recordings, and this tries to pull together some of them to give some possible variations on the tune.

The Music

The most important point for playing this tune is keeping your 4 right hand fingers in position on buttons G3, G4, G5, & G6. This allows the slightly tricky descending patterns such as bar 7 to be played fairly easily, without your fingers falling over themselves. The E played on D3' should use finger 1, allowing finger 2 to play the two A notes on G3' in bar 4. The lowest notes G2' in the turnaround bars should be played with finger 1.

The Video

The Seven Stars

This lesson is for playing the English tune 'The Seven Stars' also know as 'The Moon & The Seven Stars'. It is played on the D row of a DG melodeon, the push/pull pattern giving it a good rhythmic base.

The Music

 

Here is the score for the piece. As it involves up and down playing on the row it is important to practice the piece slowly so that you have time to move you fingers around.

One possible fingering pattern would be to start with your 3rd finger on D6, and use finger 2 on D5 and finger 1 on D4 for the first two bars.

Where the tune begins its ascent up the D scale in bar 3, switch to finger 1 on button D5 allowing each consecutive finger to play the next button along, finger 4 playing the high D8' note at the end of bar 3.

Stick with this finger position until the start of bar 5 where it reverts to the original position of finger 4 playing button D6.

The same thing happens again with the same finger shift occurring in bar 7 as in bar 3. Keep this finger position until bar 5 of the B part which involves using fingers 1 and 2 on the repeated D 4 and D5 notes. Finish the tune with finger 1 on D5 again, allowing finger 4 to play the D8'.

The Video

La Marianne

This is the video lesson for the French tune 'La Marianne'.

The Music

The first score shows the notes in standard notation with the button numbers above. Pay careful attention to the phrases where you are crossing rows whist keeping the bellows direction constant. There are no mid-bar bellows direction changes which means it is possible to keep the tune sounding very smooth.

 The chords for the tune are shown here, above the stave. Notice that it requires both an Am and Bm chord. These are not available from the 'normal' button combinations and must be formed by playing 'cross chords'

Am is formed from playing the A pull bass note and the C pull chord simultaneously.

Bm is formed from playing the B push bass note and the D push chord simultaneously.

These are both indicated in the video below.

G Major Melodeon Fingering and Eh Cumpari Video

Here is the video to go with the G major scale lesson and tune Eh Cumpari.

Notice the scale is firstly played using only one finger at a time to provide a clear sight of the buttons. The second time through the correct hand position is shown with the fingers hovering over the buttons.

When playing Eh Cumpari I have again tried to move my fingers out the way quickly to show which button/fingers are being pressed.

The tune is then played at full speed with some ornamentation and variation on the melody to indicate how it will eventually sound.

The G Major Scale

 

G major is a very easy key to play on a melodeon which has a G row! All that is required is learning the push/pull pattern which gives the notes in the right order.

The scale will start on button 3 of the G row. 

To play the scale you must play: 

Button 3 on the push (G3)

Button 3 on the pull (G3')

Button 4 on the push (G4)

Button 4 on the pull (G4')

Button 5 the push (G5)

Button 5 on the pull (G5')

Button 6 on the pull (G6')

Button 6 on the push (G6)

Notice that the push/pull pattern reverses for the last two buttons!

Once you can do this pattern ascending, try it in reverse.

John Playford Mandolin Set - Drive The Cold Winter Away/Kettledrum/Maiden Lane

This is a great set of tunes taken from John Playford's collection of English dance tunes. Most recently printed in Pete Coopers 'English Fiddle Tunes' adapted here for the mandolin.

Written for one of my students, the tutorial is aimed at players who have grasped the basics of the instrument and is intended to clarify the slightly technical parts, look at some basic double stopping ideas, and indicate a style and tempo which suits the tunes.

Drive The Cold Winter Away

Playing a tune like this in the key of D minor allows for some good double stopping (playing 2 or more strings at once). Because all of the open string notes appear in the key it is possible to play any open string along with the melody line, but using the open A or D string works best.

A good example of this is bar 1 of the B section where the open D string can be played against the descending melody line played on the A string. This can then be repeated at any point where notes are played on the A string.

This can be heard in the video where all three tunes are played back to back.

The original tune is written in 6/4 which explains the dotted rhythm which occurs when moved to the easier to read 6/8. The trick to playing this lumpy pattern is to keep the middle note of each group of three as short as possible.

Kettledrum

Again, playing in Dm allows for the same double stopping ideas. In Kettledrum, since the melody is often being played on the E string, it allows the open A to be played.

The best opportunity for this occurs in the first 4 bars of the B section. These bars create tension around the high A note (3rd finger, 5th fret, E string, shown as the note on the first ledger line).

The melody runs up and down from this high A. By playing the open A string (which is an octave lower than the melody A) along with the changing melody notes it provides a good accompaniment.

In the final bar of the B section, playing the open D string along with the high D note is a good way to add interest and help to resolve the piece back to the root note of D.

It is important to practice the fast runs between the E and A string using alternate picking (strictly down/up/down/up) to allow the flurry of note to sound.

Maiden Lane 

First, a nice snippet of background from the wonderful Fiddlers Companion
 

"The Maiden Lane section of London, near Covent Garden and the River Thames, has been alternately a diminished, dissolute area, and one of high fashion—sometimes at the same time!  In Playford’s day it was the site of “mean houses,” but by Georgian times, elegant properties were built whose garden walls outlined the lane, and forming the southern boundary of architect Inigo Jones’s proposed Italiante Piazza. Gradually, however, the area drew theatres (it was near Covent Garden), taverns and coffee houses, and disrepute began to again set in. Round Court, at the western end of the narrow alley, was described as “…one of the Rookeries, full of town-Pyrates and a hotbed of Robbers.”"

We have a key change here from Dm to G, giving the set a bright, major, lift at the end.

The double stopping here changes slightly. At the start of bar 2 it is possible to 'rake' the strings of an open G major chord (frets 0 0 2 3 played low to high). This emphasises both the key change to G major and the high G note. 

In a similar fashion to Kettledrum where an open low string was played with a fretted note one octave higher to end the tune, the same can be applied here. The A and C sections both end with a G note (5th fret D string). This can be played along with the open low G string to provide a good end to each section.

The Video

The video contains the three tunes played at a reasonable tempo. Each tune is played separately followed by the transition between the tune and the next. At the end all three tunes are played not necessarily dance speed, but one which fits the tune when played in isolation.

The transitions tend to be the areas where it is possible to loose the rhythm (or the melody entirely!) so it is important to pay attention to the changes in time signature, tempo and key. Practice these changes separately by playing the B section of one tune into the A of another, and then with the whole of both tunes played back to back.

Michael Turners Waltz

As promised, a tune from scratch. Michael Turners Waltz is a very nice Sussex tune from Michael Turners own manuscript. I got my version from the local sessions, which play it the same way as written in the Lewes Favorites and the Sussex Tunebook. The same tune also occurs in Mozart KV 536 (Six German Dances). I'm guessing that these six dances were German country dance tunes adapted for the orchestra, so it's probable that the waltz is a traditional German one. I'll post a link to the tune when I find a version online.

 The Tune

The tune sits very nicely on the G row of a DG melodeon. The finger notation is written assuming this button layout - low notes with the G scale starting on button 3.

IF you do not have these low notes just replace the G1' with another G2, it works just the same but is not quite as economical with the bellows direction changes.

The given fingering also works for all standard one-row layouts, but the tune will end up in a different key if you are not playing a G box.

The fingering chart above shows which button to press and the bellows direction. For example, G3 would mean press the third button on the G whilst pushing the bellows together. G6' would mean press button 6 on the G row whilst pulling the bellows apart. The use of an apostrophe ' indicates a note played on the pull.

In contrast to the previous tune, this does not cross rows at all.

The trickiest part of the tune comes in bars 1 and 5 where the low D note (G2/G1') should be played on different buttons to keep the bellows direction constant from the previous notes. This allows the tune to flow more lyrically and for some interesting chord/bass accompaniments I will look at in a future lesson.

The Chords

The framework for the chords is a standard waltz where the bass note is played on the first beat of every bar and the chords are played on beats two and three.

Hopefully the video will explain this more visually/aurally, but for those who would like it explained in writing:

The first two notes are a lead in and do not require accompaniment.

The tune starts with a B note (G4 using your first finger). At the same time of playing this note, briefly press the G bass button on the left hand side of the melodeon using your little finger.

The next melody note is the same, but this time it is joined onto a low D (G2). As you press the B with your right hand first finger briefly tap the G chord with the left hand third finger.

This is then followed by your right hand first finger playing the low D (G2). This does not have any accompaniment so the left hand can have a moments rest (but don't allow your fingers to fly away - they will be needed in just a second!).

The 4th note in bar one is a C. This is played by pressing G4 and playing the note on the pull (G4'). At the same time as this you press the G chord button again with the left hand third finger. Being a clever instrument, the melodeon changes the chord depending on the bellows direction, this time giving you a D chord.

The final note in bar one is another low D, but this time played on the first button of the G row, on the pull (G1'). Again, this doesn't need accompaniment so you can let your fingers rest. If you do not have this low D on the pull, just replace it with a low D played on G2.

This is a basic chord progression, a more advanced version will be coming shortly.

The Video

A quick apology here - my melodeon has extra buttons! The sharp eyed will notice that on my box, the fingering I have given is all moved up one button (G3 would be G4). This facilitates some extra low notes, but since we don't need them just ignore the lowest note on the G row (indicated in the video).

Valse Olive

So, here is the first lesson! Valse Olive by Oliver Gautier. The video shows the parts broken down into the A and B sections and the respective bass parts for each one. I have prepared this for a specific pupil and as such it is not a 'from scratch' tutorial (but some of those to come!)

This is a French tune, and because of this, it is played across the rows of the Melodeon. This leads to smoother basses and a more interesting harmony.

Now, I'm not a 'French' player, but I do like the French style tunes. I have played this on a DG Melodeon in the key of G, but the original is played in C on a GC, as many French tunes are.

Playing on a DG compared to a GC means that it is better to play in the lower octave as opposed to the higher octave on a  GC where Mr Gautier plays it. Here is the original.