Comments

I'm building a tune here ...

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

How about building a session.org original tune. If someone posts a short section of ABC text for it to be contributed to by the next person and so forth until a whole tune (or knowing this site - tune book) emerges. Might be fun :-)

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by No Cause For Alarm

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Al - clever stuff - wot, on this here thread?

Ok, someone start a jig!

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Rudall the time

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Jeremy'll just delete it, 'cause your not supposed to write abc stuff here. But just in case, here's the first half a bar:

a csharp g

The key/mode (or lack of) will sort itself out as we go

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by ...

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

My husband's discovered a few months ago that he could write a few tunes. Apparently he was feeling depressed and started to get creative then. His stuff's good so I'm spending about 5 nights a week at sessions to give him time in his own sad company to let him express himself :-)
I wrote a couple of tunes but it's just so hard not to drift into a tune that I already know, that I don't know that these are fully original...

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Cath

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

no worries

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Cath

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

I've just realised that it's the 16th June, must be funny for someone in San Francisco to have their early evening post of 15th June dated 16th. Just a thought.
Right, it's 00.53 and I'm off to bed.

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Cath

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

michael gill, did you mean A^cg or a^cG or what?

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by daiv

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Great idea,likel crime novelists all writing seperate chapters of a book.Let's take it as ac^
g.Here's my contribution,although if anyone's got a better idea,that's ok with me.
K: Amix
6/8
|ac^g ec^A|Bgg dBG|

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

About Jim's question,I never sit down with the express purpose of writing a tune.My tunes usually come when I'm mindlessly watching tv and quietly plucking away on the bouzouki or cittern.Sometimes a bar or two will pop out that doesn't sound too bad,and then I finish the tune.If it doesn't resolve itself in fifteen or twenty minutes then i forget about it.If the tune does get finished,then I have to make sure it's mine.In the past I've "written" quite a few well known tunes.

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

I don't write tunes at all ( but this is how you'd play it on the flute )
K: Amix
6/8
AcG EcA|BGG dBG||AcG EcA|BGG Bcd|

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by harry

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Great.Who's next?

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

I tried putting it in the minor:

X: 1
T:
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Amin
AcG EcA|BGG dBG|AcG EcA|BGG Bcd|
efe edc|B2

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Dr. Dow

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

What about this?
X:1
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Amin
AcG EcA|BGG dBG|AcG EcA|BGG Bcd|
AcG EcA|BGG dBG|Ecc BAG|EFG A3:||

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

What about this?

X:1
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Amin
AcG EcA|BGG dBG|AcG EcA|BGG Bcd|
efe edc|BGG dBG|Ecc BAG|EFG A3:||

Otherwise it gets a bit repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive repetitive...

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Dr. Dow

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Someone write a B-part in C major!

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Dr. Dow

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Very good Dow,I like it.

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

C major is to predictable.What about D mixolydian?

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Something like this perhaps?
X:1
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Amin
AcG EcA|BGG dBG|AcG EcA|BGG Bcd|
efe edc|BGG dBG|Ecc BAG|EFG A3:||
||:f^af^ gf^e|cdc BAG|

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

B part:
age aba|ge^f ged| cAg age|dcA ~G3|

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Donough

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

I can't wait to see this posted in sheet music style so I can give it a go! I really should learn that ABC stuff someday.
As for a name, how about The Sessionista Jig?
Or perhaps The Collective Jig (that has an interesting socialist twist to it)?
Or perhaps Many Hands Around the Tune?

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by AlBrown

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Jim, I have to actually sit down with the express purpose of writing something. I hardly ever have something bouncing around in my head before I even pick up an instrument - or, rather, the melodies that are constantly bouncing around in my head are not the same ones that end up coming out when I finally sit down to "write a tune."

At the same time, I get a lot more satisfaction out of a freshly minted melody than I do from just about anything else in life. Just after the moment of creation, when my fingers are comfortable enough to play it well but my ears still hear it as an unfamiliar tune, there's an appreciation that for the moment, I'm the only soul on earth to have heard that particular string of notes put together in that particular way.

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Kerri Brown

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Not a writer myself. I only know about 700 tunes, so where would I get off writing more when I can't play most of them anyway.

However I would like to nominate a title:

"Building a Tune".

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Owell Mabee

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Well, rockbox, that's the biggest perk of all - if you wrote the tune yourself nobody can tell you you're playing it wrong.

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by Kerri Brown

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Too bad it's a jig, or it could be named "The Barn Dance Raising".

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by tulloch

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

I've occasionally had a tune come into my head (about one every three years, I'm not exactly prolific), but like Dafydd I have to be very careful to make sure it's not already been written by someone else. And I simply can't "make" a tune, I can only "find" them. Net result: a handful of phrases. :-p

My husband, however, has written several tunes and a couple of songs. For him also, it's a matter of them showing up; he can't go out and get them, or build them. Either they're there or they aren't.

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by sara g

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

X:1
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Amin
AcG EcA|BGG dBG|AcG EcA|BGG Bcd|
efe edc|BGG dBG|Ecc BAG|EFG A3:||
:age aba|ge^f ged| cAg age|dcA ~G3
ABA ~B3|cBc efg|age cBG|ABA ~A3:||

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

What about "The Serendipity Jig"

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Sorry,got the abc wrong.What about this?
X:1
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Amin
AcG EcA|BGG dBG|AcG EcA|BGG Bcd|
efe edc|BGG dBG|Ecc BAG|EFG A3:||
:age aba|ge^f ged| cAg age|dcA ~G3
ABA ~B3|cBc efg|age dBG|ABA ~A3:||

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by dafydd

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

I quite like it. It has a nice bounce to it!!

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by No Cause For Alarm

Oops! - Seem to have opened the wrong door. Why are you all crammed int othis booth together?

X-Pressing ourselves are we?
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Amin
|: G |
Ac/B/A EcA | BGB dBG | AcA EcA | BGE DB/c/d |
ege edc | BGG dGG | Ecc BAG | EFG A2 :|
|: g |
age aba | ge^f ged | cAg cAe |1 dcA ~G2 g |
age aba | ge^f g2 d | Bgg BAG | EE/F/G A2 :|
2 dcA ~G2 e |
cBA ~B3 | cBc egb | age dBG | EE/F/G A2 ||

Maybe the next stall is empty?

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by ceolachan

Sorry gang, it just came on me that way. Maybe it is the Hay Fever, the itchy eyes and sneezing...

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by ceolachan

Maybe it was shaking hands with a priest this evening?
Divine inspiration?
Immaculate conception?
Hardly the latter, not with three of us involved...
Hey we've given birth!

# Posted on June 16th 2005 by ceolachan

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Nice one, 'c'. I like the consistency of the part endings. Hangs together as a whole much better.

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Dr. Dow

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Can you play a low G instead of g in the B part 3rd bar?
This would turn out as:
X:1
T:Pressing ourselves are we?
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Amin
|: G |Ac/B/A EcA | BGB dBG | AcA EcA | BGE DB/c/d |
ege edc | BGG dGG | Ecc BAG | EFG A2 :|
|: g |age aba | ge^f ged | cAG cAe |
1 dcA ~G2 g |age aba | ge^f g2 d | Bgg BAG | EE/F/G A2 :|
2 dcA ~G2 e |cBA ~B3 | cA/B/c egb | age dBG | EE/F/G A2 ||

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Donough

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

My F nats disappeared when I played through Donough's version, and it began to smooth itself out to this:

X:1
T:Bust A Gut
M:6/8
R:jig
K:Ador
G|AcA E2c|BGB dBG|AcA E2c|BGE DBG|
AcA E2c|BGB deg|age dBG|EAA A2:|
a|age aba|gef ged|cAG E2c|BGB deg|
age aba|gef ~g3|age dBG|EAA A2a|
age aba|gef ged|cAG E2c|BGE DBG|
AcA E2c|BGB deg|age dBG|EAA A2||

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Dr. Dow

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Dow
That has changed the tune a bit but I do like it. Not bad for a combined effort even if it was mostly you in the end. Now can you post this to the Tune archive or is someone else going to want to tweak it further.
BTW where did the name come from ?

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Donough

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Donough, I only changed it a leetle bit. Mostly I changed the A-part back to something more like what dafydd originally suggested and scrapped my own bar 5 variation! So very little of the tune is anything I've done. Anyway, it's just what happened naturally to the tune after I played it a few times. The name comes from "pressing ourselves" = "busting a gut" to write a tune. Someone can change the name - it was just an idea...

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Dr. Dow

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Ok Dow-ky so now how about posting it if no-one else offers tweaks - cosmetic or otherwise. Would Beebs like to add a little of her syncopation?

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Donough

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

I've also found myself leading into the second part with the 'a' instead of the 'g', and I was fighting my want to 'normalize the A-part with some kind of agreement between bars 1 & 2 and 5 & 6, as to Donagh question, G/g, A/a, etc., classic variations up or down an octave, for example the aforementioned 'agreement', bars 2 & 6, second beats, Dow's take, 'dBG' and 'deg', despite the 'e', are in agreement... I also generally prefer narrowing down a tune to it's basics, sans ornaments and little flurries/options like Ac/B/A for bar 1, first beat... So, trying to keep to that, but returning to f'n it ~ and maybe just giving a hint of what's to follow bu tsaving back the real 'rise' for the second part ~

|: ^G |
AcA E2 c | B^GB dBG | AcA E2 F | GDG B2 ^G |
AcA E2 c | B^GB dB=g | a^ga =gec | EFG A2 :|
|: a |
age aba | ge=f g2 d | cAG E2 c |1 BGE D2 a |
age aba | ge=f g2 B | A^GA =gec | EFG A2 :|
2 BGE D^GB |
AcA E2 e | dBg dgb | c'ba gec | EFG A2 ||

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

HEH, HEH, HEH!!!

It must be those poisonous plants I've been handling this morning, just preparing for a jaunt down south to Cymru... Maybe it is the Welsh rising in me in preparation for a Saesneg/English free couple of days, well, minimal English...

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

HEH, HEH, HEH!!!

X-pressing Ourselves?
Or - DD Cup?

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

Now that's an irritating laugh, evil don't you think?

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

"Bustin' a Gut"

Come on, let's see if we can come up with a name, or will it yet evolve.

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

"Under Construction"

"Heavy Plant Crossing"

"Beware of Dog"

"Screw Loose"

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

"The DDD Cup Jig"

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

"Jimmy Troy's"

"Jimmy Troy's Riddle"

"The Fall of Troy"

"James and the Giant Peach"

"Jim Troy's Folly"

"The Trojan Tune"

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

"Jim Troy's Transfusion"

"The Transfusion of Troy"

"The Trojan Transfusion"

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

Well, sorry about this guys, since everyone seems to be napping and since I'm soon out the door and away, my foot is pulling bac and ready to slam this into the 'zone'...

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Mind if I add a third part?

D|EAA DAA|EAD EAc|dDc BAG|AGE DFG|
EAA DAA|EAD EAc|dgd BAG| EAA A2:|

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Conán McDonnell

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Sorry folks, I'm not much of a music writer and so didn't contribute to your composition. Hope you don't mind me suggesting some names. I think it's really cool that you all did this :-)
anyways,

"Inspired by Jim Troy Jig"
"Jim Troy Inspired Jig"
"Jim troy told us to do it jig"
"Collective Fancy"
"Jim Troys Challenge"

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by tulloch

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Perhaps in time it might simply be known as "Jim Troy's Favourite"... waddaya say Jim? Hehe :-)

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by tulloch

Back to the origins ~

About your question James, I can only speak for myself. The music never stops coming, either something I've already known or something I later realize I don't know. Even when I'm ill, like when I had pneumo and was in a constant wheeze, I turned the wheezing into melody. I can't escape it. Even when moaning in pain I often find myself turning it into a tune. Can you imagine, in the loo, bent over and heavin' between bits of melodic groaning? "Ooh!, that's a nice, ooh!, slip jig, ooh!"

Anyway, these things come too easily and I find it hard to lay any claim on them, but after I've had them for awhile they do change some bit more under my handling of the gift given. Mostly though, they just come for the moment and I never hear them again, in a rain storm, "walkin' with my baby"... I just enjoy them while I can. It's not that I wouldn't want to grab them and quickly write them down. They are a bit like butterflies, you see them for a short while and appreciate them, and then they move on. Sometimes when I try to catch them and hold them long enough to ABC them, they evolve, slip into something else. It's a bit like trying to catch trout by hand. Mostly they get away, but you can usually with patience, time and skill catch enough for a nice meal.

Amongst my many faults, this is one of my most prized blessings. I can turn to music when I'm happy or sad and there is always something there, old and familiar or fresh and new... It isn't always ITM though, sometimes, like your friend, I sing, but don't tell anyone...

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

"ooh-oh, ooh-oh, oh-oh-oh!" ~

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

Maybe it is to do with my form of dyslexia? My brain is definitely wired differently from the norm, or at least that's what people keep telling me...

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

Also, as you might already know or imagine, such inspiration does not preclude naff tunes. Some things are only appropriate for the moment - like in the bushes somewhere in the sticks of Kerry drawers down and tending to necessary business with midges eating my privates and me lilting polkas in the hopes that it will see things done and over with the sooner... If for no other reason, finding a title might be tricky...

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

Somehow, I would guess, that if you don't allow for the 'naff' ones, and can respect their place in things, everything would dry up, that they are all part of the same thing. Fighting too hard for a tune is like using a ballpeen hammer and tin cans to make a Porche. Once you start to try to move it ~ it rattles and shakes clumsily...

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by ceolachan

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Freshly minted with the tune name generator:

Carefully Trip the Troy
Eat her Jim and Bloom Us
The Pleasure Jim

...Our Jim

(http://www.tradcentre.com/cgi-bin/Shari/Generator/GR.cgi?noun1=Jim;noun2=Troy;adj1=;adj2=;)

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Kerri Brown

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

This needs to be a consensus thing but I go with the last version Dow posted. Ceolachan's Gsharps just twisted my brain a bit too much.
Conán - I do like your 3rd part so let's tag it on.
As for the G^ bit it's up to everyone else - vote now :)

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by Donough

Re: I'm building a tune here ...

Looking forward to trying out thattune at home,

What about "Troy Harder" as a name.

# Posted on June 17th 2005 by BegF

Lingua Franca Jamie, Lingua Franca mon ami ~

6 takes on a tune scrum:

James and the Giant Peach
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display.php/4605

# Posted on June 19th 2005 by ceolachan

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