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Author Topic: The view from my first plateau  (Read 1132 times)

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Mark Leue

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The view from my first plateau
« on: May 05, 2019, 02:06:08 PM »

I've been playing for about three months now, and I'm starting to see what I need to work on next,  but unsure what resources I need to get going.

I can play a number of familiar and some novel tunes with the right hand pretty well. I have a couple of tunes I've practiced enough through lots of repetition that I can keep a good rhythm with a simple umpah left hand accompaniment well enough to play for my Morris practices where they don't complain of the occasional train wreck when I stumble ( there's usually someone else playing something to pick up the pieces) If I keep up what I'm doing now I'm sure this will all get smoother.

I'm excited to hear what other players are doing in recordings and I think the next thing I need to work on is making the left hand parts more interesting and dynamic.

Here's then rub for me. I've been playing music since I was 12 years old mostly by ear, and have gotten quite fast at picking up melodies. The bass parts and also right hand harmony and counterpoint, however are very hard for me to decipher by ear. I can read standard music notation or better yet tablature although I find it  a bit tedious. Abc notation seems like two layers of difficult for me as the the technicalities of the software is an added hurdle. I'm willing to work on all that, but not wanting to get too bogged down in it.

So here's what I am seeking at there moment: Is there a "method" book for DG that has: A good number of English tunes,  video recordings and notation of the bass parts played separately at a moderate pace, and harmony and counter melody for the right hand approached in the same way?

Also, I learned a lot form Liam (forgetting his last name) youtube of bass parts for there tune Bear Dance. Are there other youtube videos of bass parts played separately at a moderate tempo?  I'd love to see some recordings on tune and theme of the month that show separately what the bass side is doing....

thanks
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Eshed

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2019, 03:01:42 PM »

Here's then rub for me. I've been playing music since I was 12 years old mostly by ear, and have gotten quite fast at picking up melodies. The bass parts and also right hand harmony and counterpoint, however are very hard for me to decipher by ear. I can read standard music notation or better yet tablature although I find it  a bit tedious. Abc notation seems like two layers of difficult for me as the the technicalities of the software is an added hurdle. I'm willing to work on all that, but not wanting to get too bogged down in it.
I know this is not the answer to your question, but I still think this might help.
Deciphering harmony takes practice!
I haven't done it with a box, but back in my early guitar playing days I'd sit and find the chords of songs, going bar after bar, rewinding again and again until I got it right.
I can't see why this can't be done with a box. Start with melnetter simple recordings where the basses are not just the two finger trick and try to figure them out without looking at the bass end.
I'd recommend the youtube channel of gmatkin of this parish https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_rJcwlTuaP55QzsIdlieUQ as he is using basses in interesting ways and every tune is later repeated slowly which should be helpful.
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Jesse Smith

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2019, 03:06:55 PM »

Audio software such as Audacity makes it very easy to slow down a tune without changing the pitch. Once I've slowed a tune by 50% it's much, much easier to understand what the bass side is doing.
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Alan Pittwood

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2019, 04:26:42 PM »

If you acquire/hold your music in ABC notation [and you have a Windows computer] you will find that the ABCExplorer software can:

show the music in staff notation;
playback tunes through speakers/headphones;
reduce (and increase) the playback speed.

ABCExplorer is at http://abc.stalikez.info/abcex.php/ the download link for the software is at the foot of that page.
« Last Edit: May 05, 2019, 04:35:58 PM by Alan Pittwood »
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Mark Leue

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2019, 05:05:23 PM »

I have a Mac, and tried to import some ABC software but either its improperly installed, I don't understand how it works, or it doesn't work. Computers are not my strong point.   
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Steve_freereeder

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2019, 06:03:57 PM »

I have a Mac, and tried to import some ABC software but either its improperly installed, I don't understand how it works, or it doesn't work. Computers are not my strong point.
EasyABC is good for running on Macs
Download it here.
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Steve
Sheffield, UK.
www.lizziedripping.org.uk

Mark Leue

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2019, 06:53:37 PM »

I have a Mac, and tried to import some ABC software but either its improperly installed, I don't understand how it works, or it doesn't work. Computers are not my strong point.
EasyABC is good for running on Macs
Download it here.

Doesn't work at all on my Mac.  Cant get audacity to work either.  I used to be able to get stuff to work that I downloaded, but these days IApple tells me east ABC needs to be updated by the developer to work on my computer, and audacity just tells me to drag it to the applications folder where it sits like a turd.  Love computers,,,
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Steve_freereeder

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #7 on: May 05, 2019, 07:25:33 PM »

Doesn't work at all on my Mac.  Cant get audacity to work either.  I used to be able to get stuff to work that I downloaded, but these days IApple tells me east ABC needs to be updated by the developer to work on my computer, and audacity just tells me to drag it to the applications folder where it sits like a turd.  Love computers,,,
Sounds like you may have fallen foul of the latest Mac operating system 'Mojave' OS 10.14 which only supports 64-bit enabled applications.  :(
I haven't upgraded from High Sierra OS 10.13.6 and have no intention of doing so for the foreseable future as I want to keep all my useful 32-bit applications running.
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Steve
Sheffield, UK.
www.lizziedripping.org.uk

Lester

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2019, 07:32:44 PM »

Sounds like you may have fallen foul of the latest Mac operating system 'Mojave' OS 10.14 which only supports 64-bit enabled applications.  :(
Not so!
Mojave quite happily runs 32 bit apps once you click the 32 bit compatibility pop up, I run Mojave on both my laptop and the iMac.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208436

Steve_freereeder

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Re: The view from my first plateau
« Reply #9 on: May 05, 2019, 07:43:16 PM »

Sounds like you may have fallen foul of the latest Mac operating system 'Mojave' OS 10.14 which only supports 64-bit enabled applications.  :(
Not so!
Mojave quite happily runs 32 bit apps once you click the 32 bit compatibility pop up, I run Mojave on both my laptop and the iMac.
https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT208436
Thanks for that Lester. I am clearly misinformed. Will send a PM.
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Steve
Sheffield, UK.
www.lizziedripping.org.uk
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