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10 Oct 02 - 04:37 PM (#800599) Subject: Major/minor mind mess From: GUEST,Les B. This morning I was listening to a CD of Kelly Harrell, an old-timey singer who recorded circa 1926. He was doing a song which had a number of verses normally found in "East Virginia Blues," including "I was born in East Virginia, North Carolina I did roam, there I met a fair pretty maiden, whose name and age I do not know..." The tune, however, was a minor key. After humming with it for a few moments, I realized it was the tune one usually hears with "Wayfaring Stranger." Now I have just started to sit down and learn "East Virginia Blues" after hearing it for nearly forty years, first from the Joan Baez recording which used some minor chords, and then from a slew of bluegrassers who use all major chords, but keep the modal sounding melody. After I heard Harrell's totally minor tune, I could not, for at least an hour, remember or sing the more common tune. My brain went into a melt down and I couldn't get the other tune back with any sort of accuracy - the melody kept coming out as strongly minor. I'm wondering; 1) Is "Wayfaring Stranger" a bona fide minor version of the "East Virginia" tune, and 2) Have any of you had this minor/major melt down with other songs? I've sort of experienced it with some instrumentals, but never with a sung tune. |
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10 Oct 02 - 05:34 PM (#800628) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: Bee-dubya-ell The bluegrass standard "Little Maggie" works well done in A minor. Nothin' chordwise but Am and G. Gotta slow it down to about 1/2 of its usual 'grass tempo, though. Turns it into a totally different song. I may have seen Doc Watson do it in a concert once and stole the idea from him. Don't really remember. |
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10 Oct 02 - 05:47 PM (#800641) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: Clinton Hammond A band I was fronting a while ago, in an effort to "Try Something New", decided to do Flower Of Scotland" in a minor key... about half way through my first hearing of it, I totally and forever forgot the 'original' in favour of the new 'matrix'... now when I hear it done 'properly' it sounds cheesy and wrong... ;-) Another example kinda close to topic... For an upcoming Christmas mix CD, I'm mixing both the "USA", and the "original" Robbie Burns tune for Auld Lang Syne... doing the verses in the original tune and the chorus in the more populare, more familliar tune... Lemme tell ya... on occasion the breakers in the ol' pate just trip en masse, and I have no recourse but to go lay down for a while... But at this point it's become a grudge thing... I'm GONNA get it or die trying... ;-) |
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10 Oct 02 - 05:57 PM (#800649) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: GUEST,Les B. I just remembered - I heard a great young local singer at jam session last summer do a haunting minor version of "You are my Sunshine," except he did it as "You WERE my Sunshine". He may have heard it off a record ?? |
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10 Oct 02 - 06:01 PM (#800651) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: Clinton Hammond That's creepy LesB... I'm gonna have to try it! LOL |
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10 Oct 02 - 06:08 PM (#800658) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: GUEST,Les B. Clinton - Ever since the popularity of the film, and recording, "Oh Brother Where Art Thou," "... Sunshine" has seen a return to popularity. For a long time it was only heard in church camp and at boy scout camps, but it's a pretty good old song. A gal in our group does a good job with it. |
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10 Oct 02 - 06:10 PM (#800660) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: Clinton Hammond Oh Ye Gods LesB!!! Thanks oh so much for that!!! It's perfect with Haloween being just around the corner! Heh... It's very reminicent of some of the X-mas carols played in the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas" ;-) |
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10 Oct 02 - 08:24 PM (#800738) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: Leadfingers My mate Gerry does a superb minor instrumental,very moooody and cool until he goes into the Major and it turns out to be Dorset Fourhand, |
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11 Oct 02 - 08:11 AM (#800957) Subject: RE: Major/minor mind mess From: Jim Dixon A similar meltdown can occur between songs that can be played in either 3/4 or 4/4 time, for example, "The Star of the County Down." I told a story about that song back in the thread What are the worst lyric screwups...?. |