Makedonsko Devojce is another song in 7/8, also found at Dunav's website. A few months ago, after hearing people sing along as they circle-danced it to the music of one of our local Balkan bands (The Balkanics), I tried to learn the song to do it at an Open Sing.

I'm a beginning guitar player. I found I can keep the 7/8 beat just fine to sing "Makedonsko" while I dance the steps, or can play a hand-drum and sing, or can play the guitar accompaniment if I count 1-2-3, 1-2, 1-2, or play along with the recording on-line. BUT if I try to play the guitar and sing the words, I go immediately to 4/4. It sounds good that way, but Russian! I can't bring it back to 7/8.

Why is that so much more difficult? Is the singer of these songs doing something other than what the band is?

Note: the Balkanics' lead singer, Tsvety Dosseva Weiner, who lives in the Washington DC area, is the daughter of Lyuben Dossev, the musician in Plovdiv Bulgaria who transcibed the music in mine and MTed's examples here. Tsvety's mother, the singer Tanya Dosseva, is visiting from Plovdiv, and she and Tsvety will be singing together and teaching over the next couple of weeks.

Linda