Back in the summer I spent a couple of weeks on the north west coast of Scotland doing as little as I could get away with, sitting on Pollin beach a jig jumped in to my head, (and I think it is a new jig) well part of a jig the first repeat section. Since then I have played around with it but cannot come up with a second section that I happy with so anyone got any good ideas that I can plagiarise?
GABDD GABd_ defged BB defged BA_G EGA(B)AGE :
Underscores are longer notes and in brackets as shorter (this is dead technical isn’t it! hehehe)
(sorry but I am at work and so the basic tab will have to do.)
Now it’s abc and can be played in an abc player, printed by an abc scoring program, etc. For example, you can paste it into http://www.concertina.net/tunes_convert.html and get an instant score or MIDI file of it.
(Note replacement of f# with K:Em, a key field of some sort is required by most abc parsers to “switch” to parsing the body. Even so, if you were to omit the K: field, or otherwise needed to sharp a note, you would use a preceding up caret, i.e. ^f, instead of a trailing pound sign.)
(Note that “K:G” would give the proper printed key signature for the above line but I suspect from the dominance of e in the above line that the phrase is actually in Em.)
X: 1
K: D
|GAB D2D |GAB d2 d |efg edB |Bde fge |dB A2 GE |GAB AGE:|
|e2B def |g2f e3 | gBg fBf| e2d B3| GAB def|gab g3| edB AGD | E3 E3:|
It only has six bars in the first part but eight in the second. I would consider using eight in the first part as well as the second. It also has two sharps as the key signature but it appears to be in G rather than D. The fourth bar is OK but I would have put in something a little different to give it more the flavour of a definite D chord there-maybe something like ABG FED. I also think some repitition would be good. Using the first two bars over as the fourth and fifth bars for instance. Think of how repititive some of the favourite Irish tunes are. To me, the second part wants to end on G. The third bar of the second part is very nice. Because it’s so good, I would consider using it again, maybe in the fifth bar and continuing on as is from there.
I still say it’s in Em (relative of and same key sig as G). It keeps resolving to the E in all the right places. Play it and it sounds kind of minor, too. Seems kind of unusual for a Jig to be minor, but this one seems to be.
I can’t possibly get Em out of the first part. If it were really supposed to have two sharps it would be E dorian. I can’t get that either. Harmonically, E aeolian or dorian tunes usually revolve around figures based on Em and Dmaj chords. The first part definitely doesn’t do that. The second part begins in Em all right but in the fourth measure I hear it going back to G. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with considering the second part to be E minor but I simply hear it ending on G. The way Temperance Reel does in the second part.
Alright I agree it still needs to evolve some what but I like the basic tune, and however when played on the piano it sounds ok, I must admit I don’t understand this key bit I guess that comes of being self taught, and now I’m not even sure its a jig on the piano its begining to come out more along the lines of a waltz but my timing has never been good
Just for fun, I rearranged the first eight bars of the first part as a waltz. I changed the key signature and some of the note values. Actually, I changed all of the note values to make it into waltz time but I changed some of the relative values to make it fit eight measures. I tried to preserve all the essential ideas but I’m not sure that I did. It works at the concertina converter.
Well, this is how I heard Richard’s first part from the way he notated it, definitely with 8 measures.
As for the key, I hear E minor or dorian (nice that there’s no confirming C or C#), and I liked the kinda false start in G major and that nice turn to E minor right before the…well…turn to E minor.
X: 1
T:The Phollain Jig
M:6/8
K: E minor
|GAB D2 D |GAB d2 d |efg e2d|B3 B3| def ged|BA2 G3| EGA {B}A2G|E3 E3:|
|e2B def |g2f e3 | gBg fBf| e2d B3| GAB def|gab g3| edB AGD | E3 E3:|
However, for the squeamish, you can also end it like this (last two measures):
edB AGF | G3 G3:|
As for waltz v. jig…yeah. It could be a waltz. I sooooo want to write a real jiggy sounding jig, but they always seem to come out as waltzes.
Nice job Richard and Carol! I like the upper version - it has character. I think it sounds best as an unhurried jig because of how well the melody sings at that pace. For me anyway.
Very nice, Aldon! Those long notes leave lots of room for variation on repeats. So how 'bout recording this jig for us, Richard or Aldon? And everyone else–remember, there are jigs with more than three parts!
this is polin bay in NW sutherland near to Balchrick, polin in the local gealic is Phollian, the tune sort of jumped into my head sat on some rocks on the far side under the stack.
Richard, that’s a gorgeous photo! I’m guessing this is in England? (Pardon my ignorance. I am unfamiliar with any of the location clues you gave! )
BTW, one of my goals this week is to get out my recording equipment and record this tune. I got sidetracked writing a new tune…(see new thread), but have still been playing this one. I haven’t decided on a speed I think sounds best yet. Suggestions anyone? (In bpm’s please…) I am favoring around 120 bpm.
hehehe)
And everyone else–remember, there are jigs with more than three parts!
)