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Discussions => Tune of the Month => Topic started by: Clive Williams on September 01, 2016, 01:44:30 AM

Title: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Clive Williams on September 01, 2016, 01:44:30 AM
At our own smiley's suggestion, this month we're doing music from or associated with Australia. If like me you're scratching your head wondering what Australian music you know and/or can learn, smiley has thoughtfully provided the following links to collections of Australian music:

http://bushtraditions.wiki/tunes/index.php?title=Category:Tune
http://www.vfmc.org.au/FiresideFiddlers/IndexSettlers.html
http://www.vfmc.org.au/FiresideFiddlers/IndexFiresideFiddlers.html
http://www.mcdonaldstrings.com/musicfolder/music.html
http://www.wongawillicolonialdance.org.au/page/FREESHEETMUSIC/
https://sites.google.com/site/newportbushorchestra/
https://sallysloane.wordpress.com

Some more recently composed tunes:
http://www.bushtraditions.org/music/cont_trad/ctindex.htm

You should be able to find something amongst that lot!

Cheers,

Clive
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: smiley on September 01, 2016, 01:14:16 PM
Thanks Clive, and I might as well start things off by reposting a video of a couple of Aussie jigs that are well-known over here. Frog Puddles and Girls of Ivy (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3xdz5mVM4A) (or Ivory)

Frog Puddles was a popular melody written by Howard Whitney for a pantomime in 1901 and it was then taken up by musicians in the bush who turned it into a dance tune. Girls of Ivy was collected from Harry Cotter at Binalong NSW - read the background story at Bush Traditions (http://bushtraditions.wiki/tunes/index.php?title=Girls_of_Ivory).

Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: troman on September 02, 2016, 04:31:45 PM
My shot at Jack's Waltz.

https://youtu.be/kCpWqagEpHU (https://youtu.be/kCpWqagEpHU)

Taken from the Newport Bush Orchestra's Tune Book; from the playing of Sally Sloane.

Trevor
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Lester on September 02, 2016, 04:41:15 PM
Mudgee Waltz (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceH7-Qf1G7M)

A beautiful waltz from the concertina playing of Fred Holland. Fred taught the tune to other musicians in the Mudgee district, from whom it was collected in variant forms and published them in Folk Songs of Australia

Recently had an email from Australia re this recording from my blog:

My name is Ray Bird. I live Down Under some 230 miles down the road from Malcolm Clapp at a place called Tumbi Umbi.
 
I discovered button accordions at age 80 and now enjoy bringing old boxes back to life and playing them. I discovered the pretty little tune, The Mudgee Waltz from your tunes...never had heard it before. My old neighbour(89)  in my Retirement Village, lived  on  a farm in the Mudgee area as a youngster. He remembers a Fred Holland on a neighbouring farm. He recalls Fred and his sons playing accordions and concertinas at local dances Possibly the same Fred Holland you make mention of?


Small world  (:)
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: malcolmbebb on September 02, 2016, 05:17:37 PM
From my little book, Fred played an concertina made by John Stanley of Bathurst. There is a photo of him with three sons, one playing a one-row Hohner 1040 style, one a mouth organ, and one a two-row box resembling an Erica or maybe Corso. So there you go.
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: syale on September 03, 2016, 02:53:09 PM
See here (https://books.google.com/books?id=JKZO1aevsiIC&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=fred+holland+australia+concertina&source=bl&ots=yjCx7xE-7d&sig=0snYzwruJg2sFAo09JCWAlwlm_Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiOo5PyqvPOAhXHNSYKHT-vB5IQ6AEIKzAC#v=onepage&q=fred%20holland%20australia%20concertina&f=false) also.

Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Roman Simcik on September 03, 2016, 10:26:14 PM
This is a tune I could as well have posted in the previous month's theme ;D

Waltzing Matilda (https://youtu.be/DLH8xQ1n11o)

Cheers,
Roman
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: busbox on September 04, 2016, 05:13:43 AM
I thought I had best contribute to this. As I live on the Mudgee side of Bathurst, on the Limekilns Road towards Wattle Flat and Sofala, I have played this in Mudgee without being run out of town!
Tony

https://soundcloud.com/the-sheep-teacher/mudgee-schottische
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: smiley on September 04, 2016, 06:05:35 AM
Tony, I reckon I've heard you play the tune as far afield as Gulgong. Keep it up mate :)
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Lonnie on September 06, 2016, 01:10:43 PM
Here's a new one for me on melodeon: Click Go The Shears.
   https://youtu.be/4UhEVpBtKTc

The tune is from the US: "Ring The Bell, Watchman."  Like many songs in the Australian canon it was collected and formalised in the 1940s or 50s but its origins were otherwise unknown.  Its probable original publishing in 1891 was found a few years ago after regional newspaper The Bacchus Marsh Express was digitised and someone found the text.  The pastoral station where it was written is near where I live, and I never cease to be amazed that I have the good fortune to busk regularly at a market at the restored homestead.  I crank it out on PA, but thanks to this exercise it will be moving to melodeon soon.

More information:
FolkStream - http://folkstream.com/022.html
Wikipedia   - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click_Go_the_Shears

Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Alan Morley on September 08, 2016, 07:50:21 AM
Here's on I did ages ago 'Click Go The Shears' we used to use it for a Border Morris tune..
I also have a version which was played through a WahWah pedal - I'll post it if I can find it, it worked quite well..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXLBmNOf28
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Harmonicatunes on September 08, 2016, 09:10:38 AM
After 5 years on the forum, give or take, I've decided to take the plunge and post in "Tune of the Month". We've taken the theme "Tunes from Australia" quite literally, we're from Australia, we've recorded a tune.. It's "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine", I'm joined by my 11 year old son Hunter, playing a superb Mike Rowbotham D/G Hohner Liliput. It would be fair to say that Hunter contributes the most, taking the lead the second time through, playing the harmony part at the end. As is often the way, poor old Dad is just trying to keep up.

We call ourselves "The Accordionaires"

https://youtu.be/poHp_8rgIfY (https://youtu.be/poHp_8rgIfY)
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Clive Williams on September 08, 2016, 11:36:54 AM
After 5 years on the forum, give or take, I've decided to take the plunge and post in "Tune of the Month". We've taken the theme "Tunes from Australia" quite literally, we're from Australia, we've recorded a tune.. It's "Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine", I'm joined by my 11 year old son Hunter, playing a superb Mike Rowbotham D/G Hohner Liliput. It would be fair to say that Hunter contributes the most, taking the lead the second time through, playing the harmony part at the end. As is often the way, poor old Dad is just trying to keep up.

We call ourselves "The Accordionaires"

https://youtu.be/poHp_8rgIfY (https://youtu.be/poHp_8rgIfY)

That's really lovely :-) And an inventive reworking of this month's theme that I can only applaud!
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Roger Howard on September 08, 2016, 12:45:29 PM
I'd echo Clive's feeling - brilliant to see the two of you playing together!

 (:) (:)

Roger
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Harmonicatunes on September 10, 2016, 03:54:25 AM
To keep the Australian flag fluttering at least, here is another tune from Australia, under the previous guise of "recorded in Australia". The tune is "The Wren".

Again I'm partnered by my 11 year old son Hunter, again he runs the show. Note in particular the "on the fly" arrangement during the final chorus.

It's hard to over emphasize how good Mike Rowbotham's D/G Liliput sounds. He asked me to send a sound file of my Peter Hyde tuned Saltarelle Le Bouebe, then tuned Hunter's Liliput precisely to it. On this video, and particularly on the last note, you can hear what a good job Mike did.

We're at https://youtu.be/_sGw9qUNCj0 (https://youtu.be/_sGw9qUNCj0)
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Clive Williams on September 12, 2016, 01:29:50 AM
Here we are, after much searching of ABC tune books, I came across this little tune which I rather like:

The Echuca Waltz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiAxeurSkSo

The only information I can find on it says it's collected by Harry Schaefer and is from the Schaefer manuscripts held in the National Library of Australia. I think he collected quite a few tunes, of which this is just one.

Played on the Preciosa in Bb/Eb.

Cheers,

Clive
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: smiley on September 12, 2016, 11:27:07 AM
Thanks Clive, that's a lovely waltz and your playing evokes fond memories of watching from the stage as dancers dressed in formal attire turned in unison to this elegant waltz tune at the annual Dancefest at Bundanoon (held on the Queen's Birthday weekend in June).

I've often heard Harry Schaefer's name mentioned but never thought of reading about him until now. There's some interesting background here (http://trove.nla.gov.au/people/679089?q=%22Harry+Schaefer%22&c=people)  which provides a bit of context to his music. Graham McDonald has written a harmony line for the tune too, which you can see here (http://www.bushtraditions.org/music/books4free/2012%20Gathering%20Tunes%20in%20Parts.pdf)
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Clive Williams on September 12, 2016, 09:52:50 PM
Thank you - good to know the tune is well known; I couldn't find any recordings of it anywhere!
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: busbox on September 13, 2016, 04:38:19 AM
I was going to post this earlier as I live in a cooler part of Australia and we get definite seasons. Then I heard a blowie and thought 'Oh no! I missed spring!'
https://soundcloud.com/the-sheep-teacher/the-springtime-it-brings-on-the-shearing

Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: penn on September 13, 2016, 10:12:17 PM
From  Jeff Conroy of  Glenquarry NSW via Suffolk it's “Barney Buy Me a Milking Cow”.
https://youtu.be/cFGdTTAxhus (https://youtu.be/cFGdTTAxhus)

Those links at the top of this page have some really great tunes and nice fiddling from Greg O'Leary on the MP3s.
Chosen originally, I suppose, for the title, but the tune hasn't left my brain all week.

A bit of an uneven pace and messy ending, I think I was distracted by the wasp I was chewing throughout.

Steve
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: folkbluesnbeyond on September 15, 2016, 08:45:23 PM
Susan Colley's Waltz

https://youtu.be/zPjN4IaMJYs

All the best

Bill
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: busbox on September 19, 2016, 04:33:23 AM
https://soundcloud.com/the-sheep-teacher/wattle-flat-races
I wanted to post this brief track to get Joe Yates into the mix. To drive from home to Sofala we pass by the Wattle Flat Racetrack, venue for the Bronze Thong. Joe did not necessarily have names for all his tunes, but this one seems obvious enough.
BTW when Nick visits Tasmania he will no doubt hear of some siblings names Dawson. Edie especially would name her tunes as though there were lyrics for the first lines - an aid to memory perhaps - such as 'Take Your Boots Off and Go To Bed, John'.
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Nick Collis Bird on September 19, 2016, 07:49:41 AM
I'll certainly look it for Dawson , thanks for that Busbox.
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Rog on September 20, 2016, 07:12:45 AM
Are you going to Tazzie Nick? It's a fab place.
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Nick Collis Bird on September 20, 2016, 09:15:53 AM
Sure am Rog. I've pm'd you.
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: busbox on September 23, 2016, 10:29:26 PM
Correction and apology.
Sorry to mislead everyone. I told Nick that for his Tasmanian journey he might look up a tune 'Take Your Boots Off and Go To Bed John' but misattributed this. It comes from the playing of 'apple isle fiddler' Eileen McCoy.
Thanks
Tony :|bl
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Lonnie on September 26, 2016, 11:30:39 AM
And anothery from me - Lachlan Tigers
   https://youtu.be/2JOAs8v9asg

The conventional wisdom* says that the tune is "related to the Scottish song 'Musselburgh Fair.'"  Is anyone familiar with that tune or song?
   * http://folkstream.com/082.html

 I've searched around and found a small pile of similar songs with great lyrics.
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Harmonicatunes on September 29, 2016, 02:12:28 AM
Just sneaking another one in before the "Tunes from Australia" theme expires. Here we have my 11 year old son Hunter showing up his poor old Dad in a brisk version of "Whiskey before Breakfast". To be fair on the old fellow, he's clumping away on a Hohner HA114, while the young chap is zipping along on a Castagnari MAX. Not fair really

https://youtu.be/_tEFUBKuQPc (https://youtu.be/_tEFUBKuQPc)
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Prestidigitator on September 29, 2016, 10:02:31 AM
I was rather hoping that someone would come up with "The Banks of the Condamine". This pops up as occasional music (on a concertina, I think) in the 1956 film "A Town Like Alice", but, try as I may, I can't get it quite right. I need inspiration!
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Roger Hare on September 29, 2016, 04:40:17 PM
I was rather hoping that someone would come up with "The Banks of the Condamine"...

I don't know if this is quite what you're looking for, but see:

http://www.davidjohnson.id.au/music/obs/abcweb/htm/Banks_of_the_Condamine_The_17.htm

for .mid and ABC versions.

Roger
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: Clive Williams on October 01, 2016, 09:21:09 AM
Thanks again folks - end of the month and onto a new theme! Late entries welcome as ever - just stick 'em on the end.
Title: Re: Theme of the Month for September 2016: Tunes from Australia
Post by: smiley on May 14, 2018, 12:37:26 PM
A very late addition but I finally got around to recording one of my favourite Sally Sloane tunes.

Annie Shaw's tune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JTl-jCW1_A (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JTl-jCW1_A)

While growing up in Parkes NSW around 1910, Sally said she would hear a next door neighbour (Annie) playing this tune on piano with her violin-playing suitor.  Sally's mother used to ask Sally to play "Annie Shaw's tune" and the name stuck.

Its one of the most commonly played Sally Sloane tunes at Australian local tune sessions, usually in D but sometimes in G - or whatever key your one-row box is in ;)
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