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Author Topic: The Lark on the Strand  (Read 2820 times)

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Pierre B

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The Lark on the Strand
« on: June 14, 2013, 12:35:01 AM »

Hi to all,
I'm learning The Lark on the Strand on a B/C using 3 fingers (wise recommandation of Steve Jones), and my "finger memory" is almost fine at this stage. My fingering pattern is almost OK now. Is there any special difficulty with that tune? I try to play it with the most fluidity possible, but I'm far from it.
Moreover, I can't find it played on the accordion.
Thanks and happy boxing.
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Stiamh

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2013, 02:41:46 AM »

Hello Pierre,

I wouldn't take too much notice of that fellow if I were you.  ;)

The question is, which Lark on the Strand - there are at least two common tunes that go by that name, both jigs. The more common one is easy to describe, because when you start it in a session the unwary will assume you must be playing the Kesh Jig and will promptly sabotage your efforts by jumping in and playing that old chestnut. And apparently it has another name and has become known as Lark on the Strand by mistake. Its proper name has Primrose in it somewhere IIRC.

The other - the true Lark on the Strand - is a strange old-sounding A-modal sort of tune. It starts with a pronounced A but never quite comes to rest anywhere until you get back to the beginning and honk out the A motif again, to everyone's relief.

Can you pin it down from these descriptions? Or maybe it's another one...
« Last Edit: June 14, 2013, 02:43:49 AM by Steve Jones »
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Pierre B

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2013, 03:20:16 AM »

Hello Steve,
Here's the one I'm working on.
http://music.gordfisch.net/montrealsession/lookup.html?id=57&tb=jigs.abc

And here, "hummed" by Amelia Hogan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZneR1aaaCQ

thanks
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KLR

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2013, 03:21:12 AM »

Michael Coleman and Michael Walsh recorded the Lark on the Strand and the Primrose Vale, fiddle and flute, way back in 1925.  No surprise that people get the titles mixed up 90 years later.  Heh, I tried to find you a recording of someone playing it on the box and found this:Paddy O'Brien - Lark on the strand / Pipe on the hob.  This was recorded in the 1950s.  He was an excellent and very influential B/C player.  He's playing the Primrose Vale - probably where the confusion began.
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Chris Ryall

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2013, 09:49:33 AM »

I very much like the "scatted" version  8).

The other? Well as a youth I'd comment on some of the Newcastle/Tyne "hard Irish" session tunes that "they seem to play it through a few times; and then turn the music over and play it the other way up".

Much later I realise that my brain is wired to perceive music in chords and that such tunes are much more melody driven. And that a tune doesn't have to resolve, though I still prefer it that way.
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Stiamh

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #5 on: June 14, 2013, 01:33:33 PM »

Hi to all,
I'm learning The Lark on the Strand on a B/C ...
Moreover, I can't find it played on the accordion.


Charlie Harris plays it here. The second tune @1:40.
He calls it something else and he is not playing B/C style either!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxFL9WN5J4I

And just to add more confusion, the first tune Charlie is playing is the Lark in the Morning (no, not that Lark in the Morning, but a close cousin): the name Hardiman's Fancy is usually applied to the tune more commonly known as Derrane's.

So Charlie is playing two Larks but whoever captioned the video was oblivious to that fanciful pairing. And the larks sound exceedingly bright a semitone higher than we expect them.

Stiamh

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #6 on: June 15, 2013, 11:05:49 AM »

Here's the one I'm working on.
http://music.gordfisch.net/montrealsession/lookup.html?id=57&tb=jigs.abc

Hi Pierre, this is a good choice of tune. You'll be glad to hear that I think it is slightly easier on B/C than C#/D. You can play it all on the C row, and this is because there are no sharps in the tune - indeed no Fs or Cs at all.

It is in fact a pentatonic tune (and the key signature of one sharp, labelled A dorian in the ABCs, is totally spurious).

The interesting thing about pentatonic tunes like this one is that you can play them in three different positions all on one row. Once you have it solidly anchored in your brain in the normal key, it's a very good exercise to try it in the other positions - starting on G (which would be C#/D fingering) and starting on D.

All this means of course that you don't need a B/C to play it - it will work fine, in 3 positions, on any row of any diatonic box.

If you want another tune in exactly the same mould, try "Tom Billy's jig" - the two-part tune of that name.

http://music.gordfisch.net/montrealsession/lookup.html?id=107&tb=jigs.abc

Just replace the f# in the first line of that setting with a d and it will fit the pentatonic mould and sound better to boot.

Gromit

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #7 on: June 15, 2013, 05:44:03 PM »

Quote
Charlie Harris plays it here. The second tune @1:40.
He calls it something else and he is not playing B/C style either!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxFL9WN5J4I

Brilliant - where can I get one of those machines??  ;)
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ButtonBox21

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #8 on: July 16, 2013, 12:50:00 PM »

This is one common problem we all encounter when playing folk music. One song with many different titles. This is true with Irish, Italian, Cajun, French ect. Regarding the Charlie Harris set, the sheet music I have is "The Morning Lark" and "Drunraney Lass". I believe Charlie Harris plays in DD#. I play C#D and play both on the inside D row. I get my Irish music from The Session.org and Henrik Norbek's Irish Tunes site. Lark on the Strand is also known as Lark in the Morning and visa versa. If you need the music, I can post it for you. Let me know as I have Lark on the Strand, Lark in the Morning and Morning Lark. All three are excellent jigs. One final suggestion. Learn to use your pinkie. you will need it for the intricate fingering used on a BC box. Good luck and keep squeezin'. :||:
« Last Edit: July 16, 2013, 03:48:56 PM by streetcleaner0 »
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Keep on Squeezin'

deltasalmon

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Re: The Lark on the Strand
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2013, 02:05:16 PM »

Hello Steve,
Here's the one I'm working on.
http://music.gordfisch.net/montrealsession/lookup.html?id=57&tb=jigs.abc

And here, "hummed" by Amelia Hogan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZneR1aaaCQ

thanks

Dervish plays this version of Lark on the Strand on their Midsummer's Night album. Tom plays a great fiddle solo about 2:33 in.
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Sean McGinnis
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