The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #144986   Message #3352875
Posted By: GUEST,leeneia
19-May-12 - 11:22 AM
Thread Name: Music for a play - need advice
Subject: RE: Music for a play - need advice
Joe, what does "I am studying at east 15" mean?

Bea, the Morris tunes for scenes changes, etc, are easy. Here's a site with 'abc' files of Morris tunes:

http://www.ucolick.org/~sla/morris/music/abclib.html

If you want to convert the abc file to sheet music (what we call sticks and dots), then copy the abc file, then find the Tune-o-tron at Concertina.net. (google it) Paste the abc file into the Tune-o-tron, click 'Submit,' and lo, the sticks and dots for the tune appears.

The bawdy songs are more of a problem. I'm going to assume that as a student you don't have much spare time. In my experience, the word "bawdy" covers a lot of ground. Most so-called bawdy songs turn out to be rather nasty, and you wish you'd never heard them. Usually the song starts out as a tale about light-hearted sex, but by the end, the woman is the jerk. She's a whore, she's a gold-digger, or she gives him a venereal disease. I think this is especially true in the 'music hall' tradition.

(I once brought home from the library a BBC book about English folk music. In the section called 'Songs of Love', the hero emerged with VD in every song but one. Whether this tells us something about English folk music or something about the lives of BBC personnel is subject for debate.)

I think you could liven up the play with a lot less research by featuring hit songs from whatever decade the play is set in. Forget the 'bawdy' angle, because usable songs are few and far between.