Folk songs with 3/4 time signature

Subject: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Northerner
Date: 20 May 13 - 11:32 AM

I'm learning to play the ukulele. Want to be able to accompany myself when I perform at singarounds. Currently I'm trying to get to grips with the various strumming patterns and am looking at folk songs with a 3/4 time signature. Have practised "My Darling Clementine" and have also found "Amazing Grace", "Waltzing Matilda", "Streets of Laredo" and "Scarborough Fair." Also "House of the Rising Sun" but I think that might need a different strum to bring out its blues background. Surely there are more songs than this? Can you help me?

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 20 May 13 - 11:40 AM

Here's one quick answer. Are you familiar with the DT, the Mudcat's Digital Tradition? To use it, go to the box above, put "Waltz" in it and leave DT checked. That will bring up a list of waltzes and songs in 3/4 time for you. See which ones you like.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Johnny J
Date: 20 May 13 - 11:44 AM

Loads of them, e.g.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9-lAOdQrGo



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKfl2QLPVaA

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: cptsnapper
Date: 20 May 13 - 11:46 AM

There's nothing to stop you experimenting with 3/4 or any time signature for any song. I even use 5/4 for Little Musgrave, Eleanor Rigby and Bill Caddick's Unicorns.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 20 May 13 - 12:14 PM

Waltzing Mathilda in 3/4??? Do you also play "The March Hare" in 2/4? Sure you can play everything in 7/16 time, but it would be different songs.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,crazy little woman
Date: 20 May 13 - 12:22 PM

Yes, Northerner, I don't have time to look up the songs you mentioned, but I think some of them are not in 3/4 time.

Anyhow, by coincidence somebody happens to be asking about a song called "The Rose in Her Hair." That's a lovely tune is 3/4 time, and here's a page where you can hear it and learn it.

http://www.wtv-zone.com/phyrst/audio/nfld/04/rose.htm

If you have MIDI software, you can download the notation for it.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,Jack Sprocket
Date: 20 May 13 - 12:47 PM

Hares on the Mountain. Landladies' Ball. Four Letter Word, sorry Four Legged Fiend. La Meuniere.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 May 13 - 06:17 PM

Rainy Night In Soho, Fairytale of New York, Pair of Brown Eyes. I will not permit Shane to be omitted from this thread!

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 20 May 13 - 06:26 PM

Deportees, So Long It's Been Good To Know You (c'mon, Woody fans, there must be more!)

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,crazy little woman
Date: 20 May 13 - 07:07 PM

If you are looking for recent music, here's a page designed for ballroom dancers that list many songs in 3/4 time.

http://www.shawntrautman.com/waltz_songs.aspx

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Crowhugger
Date: 20 May 13 - 08:07 PM

Goodnight Irene.
Log Drivers Waltz.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 21 May 13 - 12:16 AM

"Folk" songs in 3/4 time seem to me to be much more common in US "folk" than in old-world "folk;" but that may just be my lack of familiarity with the other worldly.

It could be noted that 3/4 time in which the "notes" are all triplet-eighths is more readily notated as 9/8, which is quite characterstic of the "Slip Jig," for which there are immense numbers of old-world examples. These are, however, mostly performed as tunes (instrumentals to dance to?) than as songs (lyrics for singing?) - I think(?).

In the US, the uke was popularized as a "Hawaiian instrument" and investigation of tunes/songs written for it in that genre might find a more "natural fit" to the instrument that would make for easier playing until some experience is gained - especially if starting with "traditionsl tunings," although more versatile applications of the instrument have allowed it to intrude almost everywhere to some extent.

I'm not aware that the uke existed in the era when "American Folkl Music" mostly appeared, although alternate tunings do seem to permit playing just about anything.

Those who actually know something of the things I'm babbling about will of course recognize that I'm not a member of their group(s) and perhaps they will be better equipped to expand on and to explain what they think I might think I'm talking about ... (?).

John

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Northerner
Date: 21 May 13 - 09:27 AM

Thank you all. There's a few there that I can play with. Sadly the search engines etc are proving to be very disappointing. This time signature seems to be more popular for American songs than British but that's not a problem - I can experiment with some American folk songs.

Diane

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Jack Campin
Date: 21 May 13 - 09:36 AM

Get a copy of Burns with the tunes. There are dozens of them.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST
Date: 21 May 13 - 09:45 AM

Thank you Jack. That just might work!

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 21 May 13 - 01:17 PM

Believe me if all those endearing young charms, Rolling Hills of the Border,

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Johnny J
Date: 21 May 13 - 01:29 PM

It might be easier to learn a few more time signatures.

:-)

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 May 13 - 02:11 PM

I find "Star of the County Down" works well in 3/4.    Also, "Mountains of Mourne" is in 3.

"Sweet Betsy From Pike", " Home on the Range"

"Daisy, Daisy", if that's to your taste.

Lots of 19th century parlor songs.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST
Date: 21 May 13 - 02:30 PM

JinK, have to take issue with you there. You could play six quavers and turn most waltz time tunes into jig time (6/8) but 9/8 is very different. When used for dancing jig time is much more dancer friendly than 9/8 but for certain dances, especially those involving strip the willow nothing other than 9/8 really works. To hear the difference try comparing Dingle Regatta or The Muckin' of Geordie's Byre (both 6/8) with The Peacock Followed The Hen or Drops Of Brandy (both 9/8). Slip jigs have a very different character- and I love 'em!

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,BrendanB
Date: 21 May 13 - 02:35 PM

Sorry, that last was from me. That slippery little cookie slithered off again.
BrendanB

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 21 May 13 - 02:39 PM

Peewee King's beautiful song The Tennessee Waltz, although perhaps not strictly a folk song, works well on the uke. It can be done with very simple chords, but sounds nice with these ones:

|G |   |   |C |G |E |A |D |
|G |   |   |C |G |D |G |   ||
|G |B7 |C |G |G |E |A |D |
|G |   |   |C |G |D |G |   ||

E or A could be played as sevenths, as could the D.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Joe_F
Date: 21 May 13 - 02:42 PM

Since this thread seems to have taken a broad view of "folk" (without protest! amazing!), I might mention an oddity: "Love's Old Sweet Song", in which the stanzas are in 4/4 but the refrain is in 3/4. Gets away with it, too, IMO. I cannot think of any other song that makes such a switch.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 21 May 13 - 02:58 PM

Since everyone seems to have a different definition of what "Folk" is*, and let's not get into that again, how about Dennis Brown's lovely song "Cross Ties On A Railroad"? The Hill Brothers, Randall and Rocky, have a nice version on Youtube.
-
-
-
* My favourite definition of "Folk" is: A four letter word that starts with F and ends with K and if you use it, you won't get played on the radio.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 May 13 - 03:26 PM

Excellent, Jim.   Mind if we Mudcatters use it?

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Ron Davies
Date: 21 May 13 - 03:30 PM

I imagine that "folk" in this context is songs people like to hear, may want to sing with, and which can be played on the uke.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 21 May 13 - 03:36 PM

Ron, I wouldn't have posted it if I wanted to keep it for myself. I think I heard that from a Peterborough, Ontario pal, Catfish Willie.

I heard Michael Cooney say that if it takes more than two trips to get your gear from the car to the stage, it ain't "Folk".

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 21 May 13 - 03:48 PM

Jim,
Excellent stuff. And if we're going to Tennessee, why not Kentucky?

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 21 May 13 - 04:12 PM

Steve, a great song and they make a good medley.
Is it true that Peewee King and Bill Monroe had a feud over who came up with the idea of a waltz where a guy loses his sweetie when she dances with another man?

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 21 May 13 - 04:39 PM

After The Ball Is Over?

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 21 May 13 - 08:28 PM

Bonnie Tyneside
Bonnie George Campbell
Down in the Valley
On top of old Smokey

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 21 May 13 - 11:34 PM

Brendan B -

"Slip jigs have a very different character- and I love 'em!"

That was really part of the point. Although there are trends and habits that help you make a first guess, you can't really tell what a song should sound like - or how you'll want it to in your own arrangement - just from the key (time) signature.

The fun part is how you make it be your own music.

No disagreement that I see.

John

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Leadfingers
Date: 22 May 13 - 05:28 AM

I hdnt realised how popular the waltz is until I did a support for Rose Marie at The Swan in Stockwell , and was doing slightly more 'Irish' than normal - Sang 'The Wild Colonial Boy' and had half a dozen couples happily waltzing to it !

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,Tattie Bogle
Date: 22 May 13 - 10:55 AM

You can turn almost anything into 3/4 if you try hard enough: can't say I always like the results! Various ceilidh band "waltzes" which were originally in 4/4 include Loch Lomond, A Man's a Man for a' That, My Love is Like a Red Red Rose - yuk!

I would think of House of the Rising Sun as being in 6/8, not 3/4. (Based on The Animals' version which most of us in the UK would know). It's more of a picked out arpeggio: 12and3 456, 12and3 456, etc rather than a strum.

And I certainly wouldn't "strum" on some of the others mentioned: a little simple fingerpicking up and down the strings would sound so much nicer on Amazing Grace, for example.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Johnny J
Date: 22 May 13 - 11:14 AM

Have you lost your cookies as well, TB?

"My Love is Like a Red Red Rose - yuk!"

A lovely tune if you play Burns' preferred melody.... Major Graham's.

By the way, the OP is talking about the ukelele as opposed to guitar although there also options to finger pick there too although many of them like to strum.

Incidentally, I don't like a lot of the more complex strumming patterns which ukelele players use(I've now been taught many).... at least, not for simple folk songs and tunes and would generally tend to err on the side of more basic accompaniment for our kind of music.

By the way, I missed the ALP over the last few Tuesdays.
Doctor's appointment, Funeral, and a heavy cold all in that order but I'm sure you'd have managed without me! :-))

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Johnny J
Date: 22 May 13 - 11:17 AM

I would also add that, for a waltz, I'd generally prefer to use a picking pattern although there are simple strums that would also do or a combination of both especially with The UKE.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 22 May 13 - 11:41 AM

I have seen this variation on Peggy Seeger's "Lullaby Lick" done for waltzes at our local uke group, using the thumb on the 3rd and 4th strings, index on the 2nd and bird finger on the 1st:

________3_____3______
_____0_____0_____0___
__0__________________
________0_____0______

It can be simplified by leaving out the last two second string notes.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 22 May 13 - 11:46 AM

With the picking pattern above, the chords which have unison notes on the first and fourth strings sound better if they're modified. An F chord, normally 2010, sounds better if you make it 2013.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Snuffy
Date: 23 May 13 - 09:14 AM

Wild Rover
Black Velvet Band

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Northerner
Date: 23 May 13 - 12:07 PM

Johhny J, yes, I do intend to work with other time signatures. Tattybogle, I intend to add picking to my ukulele playing before too long.

Thank you all. A generous selection of songs with the 3/4 time signature means I can try things out with them - different strumming patterns, different strumming techniques, and yes, eventually, fingerpicking. You've given me some good songs to have fun with!

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 May 13 - 12:46 PM

Something a bit different - the Russian song "Stenka Razin", which G.S. MacLennan morphed into his pipe march "The Kilworth Hills" after hearing it sung by Russian sailors in Leith.

http://www.kaikracht.de/balalaika/english/songs/izza_bal.htm

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 24 May 13 - 03:26 AM

Johnny J, I found my cookie after a massive attack of head-scratching.

I like both tunes to "Red Red Rose" but neither of them is in 3/4 (normally!)
If Northerner fancies a wee Burns tune in 3/4, try "Ae Fond Kiss" but again wait till you've got the fingerpickin' licked!

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 24 May 13 - 09:38 AM

Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore
Banks of the Bann
Midnight on the Water
Lullaby of London (Pogues)

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Murray MacLeod
Date: 25 May 13 - 07:25 AM

As Tattie Bogle so astutely observed above, it is a simple matter to turn any 4/4 tune into 3/4.

"Star of the County Down" and "Rose of Allendale" are two which spring to mind as being performed equally frequently in either signature.

IMO I prefer to play "Rose of Allendale" in 3/4 , and "Star of the County Down" in 4/4, but they both work either way.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 25 May 13 - 09:12 AM

Here's another simple finger pickin' waltz pattern for ukulele:

_____________3__________
______0_____________0___
___0____________________
_________0______0_______

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 May 13 - 09:31 AM

house of the risng sun works on guitar with finger picking ripple pattern, with a plectrum, if you hit a bass string for the first quaver, and play six quavers or half beats down up down up down up, on treble strings that should work, alternatively replace plectrum with thumb for first beat then fingers up for the next five quavers or half beats

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 May 13 - 09:34 AM

what is the tunings that different people use for uke, because with correct gauge strings they can be tuned like the top 4 strings of a guitar in standard tuning ...dgbe

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Tootler
Date: 25 May 13 - 02:15 PM

Standard tuning for most ukes (soprano, concert & tenor) is gCEA reentrant; i.e. the G string is tuned to a higher pitch than the C string. The reentrant tuning is part of what gives the uke its character and it is essentially a strummed instrument. You can pick with a uke and it can work very well but you can't do bass runs as there are no bass strings, so picking basically involves playing arpeggios in the treble register.

The baritone uke is tuned DGBE, commonly with a low D string but even in this case quite a few folk use reentrant tuning with a high D string.

Also quite a few uke players like a low G string in otherwise standard tuning. This is especially true of tenor uke players. Quite a lot of discussion on the ukulele forum I belong to revolves around the high G/low G issue.

You might notice that if you capo a guitar at the fifth fret, the top four strings match standard uke tuning with a low G string.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 25 May 13 - 04:28 PM

Some folks also tune their soprano ukes to aDF#B, a full tone higher than the popular gCEA tuning. I have some friends who have ukes in GCEA (low G) for melody playing and gCEA (high G) for chording. A lot of wonderful melody playing can be done with the high G tuning.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Tootler
Date: 25 May 13 - 06:01 PM

I have a soprano tuned aDF#B, useful instead of a capo as a capo, especially on a soprano uke, gets in the way. I also keep a concert uke tuned fBbDG, a tone down from standard.

aDF#B was once considered the standard for soprano ukes. I have a George Formby songbook and it specifies different tunings for different songs. As well as gCEA and aDF#B, it also specifies BbEbGC, a semitone higher than aDF#B.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 25 May 13 - 06:07 PM

Hey Tootler,
I have a book of ukulele arrangements by May Singhi Breen that I bought at a flea market that has the uke tuned in many different ways depending on the key, all relatively the same, but higher or lower like your ukes.