Kwela Transcriptions

Whistle
1

A thread where people could post tunes (transcriptions) would be good too.

and to put my money where my mouth is
here is my transcription of the first two parts of Ry Ry:

X:1
T:Ry Ry
C:Elias Lerole
S:Elias & his Zig Zag Jive Flutes
Z:donpiper
L:1/8
M:12/8
K:D
z2A d2f | a3-a2z gzA c2e | a3-a2z fzA d2f |
a3-a2z gzA c2e | a3-a2z fzA d2f |
a2b a2z gzA c2e | a2b a2z fzA d2f |
a2b a2z gzA c2e | a2b a2z fzA d2e ||
=f2e dz2 B2z ez2 | c2z EzA dzA d2e |
=f2e dz2 B2z ez2 | c2z EzA dzA d2e |
=f2e dz2 B2z ez2 | c2z EzA dzA d2e |
=f2e dz2 B2z ez2 | c2z EzA dz2 z3 ||]

It is a tidied up version of the one I posted in the comments of the Big Voice Jack post at www.kwela.co.uk

it shold be played with slides up to the f naturals in the second part.

for those that have trouble with abc format there is a converter here:

http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html

just copy and paste every thing from X: to ||] into the field and the page will convert it to sheetmusic.
There are also options to play it as a midi or to save or print it as a .pdf

youtube link posted by henryz in the New Old Kwela thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4xkfoIEHbw

for those with slower connections an mp3 (Elias & his Zig Zag Jive Flutes - Rij Rij) from soulsafari can be found here:

http://soulsafari.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/a-gallery-of-south-african-music-on-78-rpm/

cheers
donpiper

2

For an even easier solution, see this thread for instructions on how to call this plug-in from your browser, so that any page you load which contains valid abc will be automatically rendered with both abc and the dots.

On my computer, the result looks like this:

3

If ya gotta transcribe kwela, you better climb an african tree - U know - branch here, branch there .. get outa the way of the predator .. what makes U climb?

Play it.

I’m a stick - we tree-parts understand coz no cheatah gonna chew on our bark :wink: we more worried bout worms, and they take more years than you got.

And yet . I like whistles - and th music they make ., play you - that’s kwila. I only like you if you play it. Than I make a zillion getting close like all the other paparazzi who have no life. . Until you make it :wink:
(edited to say: Kappische? Heh - I lerve disrupting sloganesque cliche’s - it’s like French - the under-language that spells dirt. And dirt is all we got, you and me :wink: .. it’s our nature to get above dirt - even you mamals .. b you and then you are kwila - U know, spokes Mopane got his name from being an assasin - he hadda kill stiff to get the next day for his kids - you have a whistle - you don’t need to kill anybody - and I DARE you to google what a spokesman did - are you that extreme?)

(Bicycle bycicle buycycle buy cycle bi-sycle, bi cycle .. I love to ride my bi-cycle, I lerve to ride him where I will, I will I will . I will .. my will I will that thou, I will thou will, thou will as I, Thee as me, thou as I .. buy my cycle - the cycle is yours, ride, tide, ride, divide, this and that, black and white, you are my client, and you are my slave .. you ride in the sand and the waves part .. and they will rejoin at your dirt. In the mean time - play. I do - and I’m happy to die. You wil play my song long after I’m gone.) .. Kwila - it is joyous - play it.

Play this kwila style - it’s a slip-jig by Frank Zappa - filtered through wood - hard-wood:

X:1
T:The 20 year old Underpants
M:9/8
L: 1/8
R: slipjig
C:Stick
K:D

|GFG BGB AFD|GFG BAB cde|GFG BAB Bce|1Bcd cBA BBB:|2Bcd cBA AAA||
|cBc cBc cde|cBc cdc BAG|1cBc cBc cde|fef ged BAG:|2cBc dcd ede|efg aed BAG||
|aed cde GFG|aed cde BAB|1aed cde GFG|BAB cBc dcd:|2aed cde fdf|ece dBd cde||
|dcd dcd cBA|dcd dcd aec|dcd dcd aee|1fee aee fec:|2fee aee dcA||

Gaudiamus igitur Iuvenes dum sumus! ..
Nos habemi humus .. Nos Harbaymeay Hyouoooo - ooomooooooss!
(amazing what you can suck through your roots - even those you borrowed!)
(Post-humus .. after dirt . like 90% of the wood on this planet after the last 100 years. My agient scrounges for it to make a whistle worth playing .. getting harder .. most it goes up in best quality copier-paper that your worlplace dumps metric tonnes in teh dumpster every day. May you learn to sharpen a spoke - may your children kill to live. They will need to - you have unleashed the carbonaceous - too late, good for we sticks, bad for you mamalas - get used to the taste of methane. Play it - it’s Kwela!

4

Well, it looks like someone had a long lunch on friday!
reminds me of why I’m reluctant to take an instrument near the session bar/tent at fesivals; there is always someone with a loud (usually expensive) whistle, limited musical ability, no brains, and even less manners who keeps getting in the way of the music.

stick wrote (amongst 30+ lines of largely incoherent diatribe, one-eyed smileys, and a Frank Zappa tune):

Play it.

henryz (in response to my original post; p.4 in the New Old Kwela thread) wrote:

Many thanks for transcribing Ry Ry! That sort of things helps us less talented folks get a start on playing some of these tunes. As with ITM, there’s no substitute for listening, then playing (imitating?). If you’re not terribly adapt at picking tunes out by ear, though, the transcriptions really help as a starting point.

The actual tune is on Youtube: > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4xkfoIEHbw

Seamus Ennis, a great uilleann piper and fine whistle player, is sometimes quoted
as saying: " it takes 21 years to become a piper; 7 years listening, 7
years learning, and 7 years playing."

Whilst with whistle you can get away with less than 7 years each. The point is that each process is dependent on the one before it. To play you need to learn, to learn you need to listen. Some people need help and ecouragement before they can catch and kill their own tunes. That is why I posted this transcription here.

I suggest that those less skilled use my transcripion to learn the first 2 parts of the tune, then play along with (a Bb wistle) the youtube clip or mp3 to learn the rest. Parts 3&4 and 5&6 are minor variations of the first two. In parts 7&8 the variations are wilder and IMHO difficult to play whilst maintaining the rythmic integrity of the tune.

Other suggestions for tunes to try learning by ear:

Tom Hark - Elias and his Zig Zag Jive Flutes (Bb whistle):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKz5kpqctV0
http://soulsafari.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/elias-and-his-zig-zag-jive-flutes-tom-hark.mp3

The Lion Sleeps Tonight - Jack Lerole: South African Pennywhistle Classics (C whistle):
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/new-old-kwela/67984/1

5

Don, just as an aside … Let me gently suggest that, as a newcomer to the Chiffboard, you take a deep breath, then look at Stick’s post count and history before jumping to conclusions or casting insults. Just saying.

Stick’s posts can sometimes be, er, post-structural. Stick’s alter ego (Mitch Smith) also happens to be one the finest and most knowledgeable whistle makers in the world - in your part of the world, in fact.

Carry on. :slight_smile: