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[caddy]

i have myself an 8 bass italian organetto and i have been learning a few songs from sheet music. i have come across the following tarantella which i would like to learn but i cant do it "by ear". Would anyone here know how to or know someone who would be able to transcribe to sheet music the tarantella in the below link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMlrrgNyT_A

any help would be much appreciated.

[caddy]

or even if someone could play it at slower speed and could film it, maybe i could learn it that way

[deltasalmon]

The best I can offer is to use www.snipMP3.com to convert it to mp3 and then use something like audacity to slow down the recording (it can slow down the tempo without affecting the pitch). There are other options for slowing tempo but that's the one I use the most.

[rees]

It would be handy if your organetto is pitched in the same key as the one in the video.

[deltasalmon]

It would be handy if your organetto is pitched in the same key as the one in the video.

Certainly something worth figuring out.

If it's not in the same key, Audacity can also transpose the pitch of the recording so you can match your instrument to it (assuming you know the key of the recording and the key of your instrument)

[ButtonBox21]

You didn't say what key your box is in. I am also trying to learn that tarantella. I play an AD 19 button organetto. I play by ear and the best I can tell you is this. On my box the basses for the first part are G on a pull and D on a press. The second part is A on a pull and D on a press. I agree that it is difficult to learn by ear when the song is in a different key than your box. I deal with this all the time and it does get frustrating at times. I strongly recommend you purchase the Amazing Slowdowner. I have used it for over 3 years to learn Cajun and Irish as well as Italian. Set the tracking speed to 40% to start and you should be able to learn the song. Here is a YouTube link for the same tune as part of a medley on an AD box. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S4LH93rj6k. This is the medley I am learning. Good luck. 

[Anahata]

or even if someone could play it at slower speed and could film it, maybe i could learn it that way

Switch to HTML5 mode on YouTube, and you get a "half speed" button. Or you used to - not sure if it still works.

[deltasalmon]

or even if someone could play it at slower speed and could film it, maybe i could learn it that way

Switch to HTML5 mode on YouTube, and you get a "half speed" button. Or you used to - not sure if it still works.

Wow! I was wondering how to do that because I wanted to look at someones fingering for a faster, rather tricky riff. This works great for that.

To do this you need to go to www.youtube.com/html5‎ and enable html5. then just search the video and hit the "gear" icon for settings. Your options are 1 of 5 different speeds, 2.0x, 1.5x, 1.0x, 0.5x and 0.25x

Thank you for that Anahata

[caddy]

Who here is able to learn a tune and play by ear. I have found a tarantella that i like and was hoping someone who may be able to play by ear could help by recording themselves playing it a much slower speed. It is played on an 8 bass accordion.
I have tried myself but i am unable to do it.

[BJG]

Incidentally there's plenty of PC software that can slow down an audio file, such as the excellent freeware editor Audacity.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
http://www.slideshare.net/lizfotheringham/using-audacity-to-slow-down-an-audio-file

[GuyWyatt]

Switch to HTML5 mode on YouTube, and you get a "half speed" button. Or you used to - not sure if it still works.

Gosh! That works a treat. Thank you.

[caddy]

I wasn't as clear as i should have been, Slowing down the recording is not the issue,that is easily done. What i should have said was, if someone is able to learn a tune by ear are they able to record themselves playing it slowly, that way i can see which buttons are being pressed and in which order.  BTW its not a youtube video its a sound clip.

[Matt (Kings Norton)]

Hi Caddy

On accordionists.co.uk, I said I would like to try a "bare bones" transcription if I had time,  I would find it interesting and if it helped you as well then so much the better.  Well as you can see I didn't find the time so far.  But I thought that was a bit weak on my part.  Also, now you are starting to discuss learning methods, I started to think about how I learn these Italian tunes.  (I don't play them well but that's another story.)

I do it by ear and I work on the assumption that the performances you hear are based around a "bare bones" of important notes that the players then ornament, vary and recombine according to their own taste.  This is what I think based on listening and no one so far has contradicted me, but I am ready to be contradicted if there is more to it than that.  There could well be.  I have heard about differences in style even from one area of Calabria to another but again from listening it seems like this would be about which tunes and licks were selected and how they were ornamented, so I'm thinking this would not change the basic approach to learning a tune.  Stop me if this is pretentious nonsense, I'm making this up as I go along.

My idea is, to transcribe every note, harmony and ornament of a modern Calabrian tarantella performance would be a long task and to play it back exactly as performed would be really hard.  But learning the "bare bones" is not so hard and then they can be the basis for developing a playing style.  This could go with learning from sheet music and the various teaching materials out there e.g. the Mario Carbone videos.  Stop me if this is missing the point etc.

You don't say what key your organetto is in, but it's a two row.  Mine's a one and a half row in G, so no point trying to play slowly on a video as the fingering would be different.

Anyway, I want to try something really simplistic and see if this helps in any way.

So, the first section of the You Tube video that you link to: I'm sitting here without an instrument, but it seems to me that if this was being played in G, the melody would be based around "bare bones" that go something like: BDDED,DBBAB,AAG  .  (No rhythms there but I think it's easier to pick up rhythms by ear.)  This is then repeated a few times with varying ornaments and harmonies.

So first thing: does that sound right or have I got the notes wrong sitting here without an instrument?  In particular as I play a 2 bass instrument I am not good at identifying the chords.  I think my "transcription" is OK because it ends with a right hand tonic against the dominant chord on the pull.  But I could very well be wrong and I don't have an instrument now to try it, when I next have an instrument I won't be able to try it.  Also, as his instrument is different from mine, I can't tell from the buttons he's pressing which notes he's likely to be playing.  Anyway if the melody of the "bare bones" is right you could try transposing it till it fits right with the chords.

But secondly and more to the point, is this an approach that could work in working out how to play this tune*?  Does it help at all?  I hope so.  But maybe not...


* Are these "tunes" "tunes" in the normal sense of the word?  Anyway that's another story.

[Matt (Kings Norton)]

Hi again Caddy - second thing about this tarantella video is what gives it part of its unusual feel.  I think most two bass tarantella players on organetto play two bars pull, two bars push etc.*.  Obviously there are exceptions e.g. little bellows shakes, little change of direction for convenience or for a nicer harmony on a certain note, or sometimes you hear them double up at the end so it's one bar out, one bar in for a bit of extra excitement at the end.  (Obviously if you have a minor section and a bigger instrument its a whole different ball game.)

This one starts with bellows out and does two bars push, two bars pull.  The notes are all still there but you get more clashes and the "bassline" (if it was in G) sounds like GGDDGGDD instead of sounding like AAGGAAGG or FsharpFsharpGG.  If you're used to the other pattern it would take a bit of getting used to but I think it would soon become mechanical.

I hope i) I'm not getting this all wrong ii) it's not too simple - this is the level I can cope with, I am sure others would have more insight.  I'll take a look at the middle section if I have a minute.  Cheers, Matt.

* Anyone who thinks that's repetitive should hear the bagpipe versions.

[Matt (Kings Norton)]

OK so then if what I wrote down previously was right, in the section section he varies the first section slightly by heading higher:
DDDEDDBBCD,FsharpDDCDDBB,CDAAG -very similar to the first bit.

But then he goes up to E at 0'30'': EEDCDEED, then adding in some Fsharps and Gs above.  He changes chord as well.  Is he now going between D and A?  I have no idea if that would be possible on an 8 bass box cos he's still going push pull, push pull.  Depends on what key the box is in I suppose and not having a 2 row I'm not clever enough to work it out.  Then it's back to the first section in different (simplified) variations, and he ends on a pull (the V chord not the I).

Well that may or may not be any use - I'll try it soon (with 2 basses only) and see what comes out, but let me know if you get anywhere in the meantime.

[Matt (Kings Norton)]

Right, I had a go with an instrument and I think what I said above about the melody of the first section is correct, and I think it is in G (the melody, no idea what key the box is in) so I think the notes I suggested are the right ones.  For the second section I was wrong and it's FsharpFsharpEDEFsharpFsharpEDE with Gs and As thrown in as it repeats.

My attempt at the left hand was embarassingly rubbish.  The bellows directions are as I said but the chords are nothing weird just DDGGDDGG for the first section.  Then the second section I think is what i thought, DDAADDAA.

So there you have it.  I think.

[Matt (Kings Norton)]

So to summarise my long monologue, here's what I think and I could be wrong:

- best approach to this music is to learn the bare bones and then work out what you want to do with it
- Melody in G (don't know what key the box is in)
- chords are DDGGDDGG then in the middle section DDAADDAA
- first section melody is based on BDDED DBBAB AAG, it's not hard to work put the rhythm by ear
- as the first section is repeated it varies by going up the scale, roughly DDDEDDBBCD FsharpDDCDDBB CDAAG
- the second section where the chords change is based around FsharpFsharpEDEFsharpFsharpEDE, with Gs and As thrown in as it repeats.
- then back to the first section.

I think.

[caddy]

Thanks Matt,
i really like this tune, i  hope you are enjoying yourself playing it.

[Matt (Kings Norton)]

Hi Caddy, no problem,  I enjoyed my effort at transcription and I have used the music while playing, I can't play as well as that guy though.  With only 2 basses and no real understanding of the 8 bass instrument I can't get a similar feel to the recording, but it still adds to my stock of tarantella licks.  So whether or not it helps you, it was worth doing for me.  Good luck with the tunes.

[bellmartin]

I love that video. A slice of life from that guy's home. Nice!