Folk songs with 3/4 time signature

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: The Sandman
Date: 25 May 13 - 06:47 PM

ok, so my point about playing house of the rising sun, was to play arpeggios of chordsinvolving picking six quavers.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST
Date: 25 May 13 - 10:39 PM

Forget Me Not is a sweet song, three quarter, and very singable.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Johnny J
Date: 26 May 13 - 03:10 AM

I've been playing ukelele for a year(Among my other pursuits) and my eyes have been opened as regards the versatility and potential of this instrument.

As as been mentioned, there are several tuning possibilities, choice of high or low "G" string, various instruments in the family and so on.

I used to think that it was mainly used for strumming chords and can be very effectively. However, many of the complex patterns while fine for certain songs don't always suit folk and traditional music. So, I'd personally stick to more simple patterns. It's a matter of taste though.

Also, there are lots of lovely tune and melody arrangements composed for ukelele which take advantage of the high "G" string and the "campanella" style. It's also possible to play these by using notes on the E and A strings and there are many different and, sometimes, opposing views as to which arrangements are best.
However, it does give you an option to include nice "ringing" notes etc and other effects even although it doesn't always feel like the most natural way to play at times.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: The Sandman
Date: 26 May 13 - 07:01 AM

i can see that the dgbe tuning[baritone uke] would be very useful as a way of teaching small children to lead on to the guitar

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Tootler
Date: 26 May 13 - 06:59 PM

No, Dick. Get them a small guitar. A ukulele is an instrument in its own right not a stepping stone to something else. As a recorder player, I've come across too much of that sort of thinking.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Johnny J
Date: 27 May 13 - 07:48 AM

"A ukulele is an instrument in its own right "

True, while they are both from the same family and familiarity with one of them will help you understand the other both have their own subtleties and different techniques, playing stills will suit each instrument differently. So, it's not necessarily a good thing to transfer everything you've learne don the uke to the guitar or vice versa.

It's the same thing with the fidlle and the mandolin. Of course, the tuning is the same and the fingering is "similar" but you still have to approach each instrument differently.... i.e. picking patterns don't always correspond to bowing(Most of the time, in fact) and ornamentation is different.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 May 13 - 08:30 AM

picking patterns do correspond if you get a baritone uke tuned dgbe, next, most guitar are too big for small children, and not good quality, baritone ukes are good quality and relatively cheap.
the uke is a fretted wooden instrument, that with corect gauge strings can be tuned in any tuning , the same as the guitar. it does not have to be tuned with re entrant tuning.
Tootler, i do not know what kind of thinking you are talking about, but   i disagree with you, i think using the uke like a small guitar is excellent for small children, small children can also learn the uke in its traditional format with re entrant tuning, why on earth cannot not be used in two different ways.

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

You still can't replicate the finger picking patterns(plectrum or soft pick is easier, of course) exactly as the ukelele has only four strings. So, it makes sense to try some alternative approaches to make things sound interesting.

Also, when you do move to a six string instrument, you still have to think of what to do with the other two strings although I have seen some people only play very simple chords using the top four strings.... I actually saw this method taught in a very early guitar tutor.

A baritone ukelele isn't much smaller than a small guitar, of course.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Johnny J
Date: 27 May 13 - 09:36 AM

Also, even although the notes of the(part)chords *may* be the same, you will often have to rearrange your fingers to play the full chord on a six stringed guitar.

Re *may*

For instance, this A7 on guitar 002020 isn't quite the same chord if played on the four strings of a Baritone Uke, although it will often still sound OK, as the A note itself would be missing, i.e. it would be EGC#E.
So, it should be correctly played as EAC#G

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: The Sandman
Date: 27 May 13 - 03:13 PM

ah jazz guitarists often use just four strings either the bottom four the top 4 or the middle four, so the posibilities are there to tune eadg or adgb or dgbe or use these intervals but not necessarily the exact tuning, and use as a jazz rhythm instrument

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 27 May 13 - 05:13 PM

Jazz guitarist Tiny Grimes played a tenor guitar tuned Chicago-style DGBE.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 27 May 13 - 05:19 PM

Grimes' Times by Tiny Grimes

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: PHJim
Date: 27 May 13 - 05:20 PM

Sorry, I should've tried to find a waltz.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Northerner
Date: 28 May 13 - 11:38 AM

Thank you all. To enter into the intruments fray, as it were, I have 2 ukuleles, one a soprano and the other a concert, both in standard tuning. I have 4 guitars, but one is a tenor guitar.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Green Man
Date: 29 May 13 - 04:37 AM

Lavender blue.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Ron Davies
Date: 29 May 13 - 07:28 AM

Lots of Carter family songs (which often have a lot in common with 19th century parlor songs--or even originated that way, often with the melody simplified in Carter Family arrangements.   "I'll Be All Smiles Tonight", "Anchored in Love", "That Will Be Heaven To Me", "Whispering Hope", "Mother Was A Lady" (chorus only), "Where Is My Boy Tonight?", "Give Me The Roses While I Live", etc. It's a long list.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Tootler
Date: 29 May 13 - 07:53 AM

Tootler, i do not know what kind of thinking you are talking about, but   i disagree with you, i think using the uke like a small guitar is excellent for small children, small children can also learn the uke in its traditional format with re entrant tuning, why on earth cannot not be used in two different ways.

Dick, I have on many occasions come across the attitude; "OK, they can play the recorder until they are big enough to learn a 'proper' instrument." As if a recorder was not a proper instrument with it's own techniques and repertoire.

That's why I'm against using the baritone uke as a stepping stone to guitar. It smacks of the same attitude. Yes there are similarities between recorder & flute oboe or clarinet but there are also differences. They are not that great that transition from one to another poses a major obstacle but what really sticks in my gullet is the attitude that the recorder is not a proper instrument. I can see the possibility of the same attitude developing about the ukulele.

There is another possibility. There is a guitarlele, a six string instrument size of a tenor ukulele. It is tuned ADGCEA, so the top four strings are the same as standard ukulele and the six strings have same relationship as the guitar so they can learn chord shapes and picking patterns which are adaptable to guitar should they wish.

OTOH why not just let them learn ukulele, they can still learn the basic techniques and if they wish to take up guitar later, they can and keep on with the ukulele. After all that's what George Harrison did and it seems the uke was always his real love. I don't think the difference in tuning is a major issue. The relationship between the strings is the same. Several of the members of my ukulele group started on guitar and they have adapted no bother. To me it's like transferring between descant/tenor and treble or bass recorder - same fingerings, different notes (or chords).

Geoff

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: Northerner
Date: 29 May 13 - 12:46 PM

Thank you for all the song suggestions.

Subject: RE: Folk songs with 3/4 time signature
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 29 May 13 - 05:12 PM

The uke should not be compared to the recorder, but it has something in common with the tin whistle: being primarily optimized for affordability (hence "penny whistle"), only secondarily for ease of playing. The "re-entrant" tuning makes for cheaper strings and less demand on the stability of the body.

Eventually both instruments developed their own cultures, characterized by slight self-irony even in the hands of virtuoso players. Comparable to designer jeans or gourmet pizzas.