This great tune is hidden at the end of 'Hares on the Mountain' by Chris Wood on the album Lusingac. I'm guessing it is an Andy Cutting tune as it has his hallmark sound to it. There are lots of variations which occur during the tune, and I have tried to capture the framework and the commonly occurring trills/slurs.
The Tune
The album version is in the key of F major, played on a C/F melodeon. I have transposed it into G to be D/G melodeon friendly.
Some Notes on the Tune
The guitar chords indicated are harmonies implied by the guitar, which to me stands out as the main harmonic instrument on the album recording. The melodeon does play chords the second time through, and these mostly follow the guitar. The chords given will work as a starting point to build your own harmonic structure and arrangements.
It is also worth noting that the third time through on the album, the melodeon switches in the 3rd voice and octave lower (a good trick on an instrument with the stop options - Andy Cutting tends to play a Castagnari Mory which has the stops on the back of the keyboard, operated by a thumb switch). This leads to the tuning sounding an octave lower, but of course keeps the same fingering pattern.
The Video
I have indicated on the video the various sections and also played the different ornaments and trills slowly and obviously to make them easier to learn by ear. The same ornaments are also indicated on the sheet music.
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.
Here is the waltz in one of Mozart's set of German dances.
The melody come in around 40 seconds in. Notice how the basic melody is slightly different from that in Turner's manuscript, but it is never the less the same. The classical ornamentation around the melody also helps to give it a different feel.
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).
I am a professional musician and music teacher based in Brighton, England. I have a degree in music, specialised in contemporary guitar styles, but my main focus is traditional music. I play and teach Melodeon, Fiddle, Mandolin, Bouzouki and Ukulele.
