I just got through Joanna Colcord's Songs of the American Sailorman, and it left me with a couple of puzzling questions.
In several places she states that the choruses were designed for one or more pulls, but she doesn't go into detail. About half of her examples are obvious enough (Haul away, JOE, for instance), but in many of them I'm not sure where the natural "pulls" fall. I seem to come up with too many or too few to seem practical for a working song.
Also, in one place she quotes either Dana or Melville (don't have the book to hand) on how the sailors would begin a chorus before the shantyman was finished with the verse, and vice versa. But again she doesn't give much of a clue as to just where. Her hand drawn music notation runs the verses to completion before the choruses start. Is that just a limitation of dots, or am I missing something?
I've tried noodling the things out myself but I'm not at all confident I've got it right.
Anybody have any tips, or videos?
Thanks
-Glenn