Howdy, Are there any books out there that cover large amounts of pureley trad session tunes but also have chordal accompinament for most or all of them? I need them to help me with coming up for harmonies. They'd also be useful as just chords.
Gracias
Waltons (Mel Bay in the US) has two volumes of session tunes and the books have melodies and chord names, but not chord diagrams. Both books come with CDs with the tunes, so one can play along.
The chords change quickly and are not exactly 'beginner' changes.
HomeSpun Tapes has L.E.McCullough's "121 Favorite Session Tunes" book, also with CDs. On these CDs, the tunes are played twice, the first time slowly and the second time at speed.
Neither version is very fast, tho sometimes they aren't very different speeds at all... The chord changes are simpler and are again just letter notations (not diagrams) above the staff.
Keep in mind that the specific chords used in any given tune can vary greatly depending on the accompanist. The chords in books are just one person's version of what chords can be played over a tune. That's one reason more than one accompanist is a bad idea at a session. There's no guarantee that they will be playing complementary chords (or ryhthms either for that matter).
That said, the McCullough book is actually pretty good in that it doesn't always use the lowest-common-denominator chords, plus the DADGAD guitar is isolated on a stereo track by itself.
Another is "Ireland's Best Fiddle Tunes: With Guitar Chords" by Paul McNevin.
Here are some web sites that have chords along with the tunes. Compare different versions of the same tunes to see the different chords that can be used.
Cray' writes, "Keep in mind that the specific chords used in any given tune can vary greatly depending on the accompanist. The chords in books are just one person's version of what chords can be played over a tune. "
Good point, very true.
"That's one reason more than one accompanist is a bad idea at a session. "
And if there might be more than one, that's why they really need to listen to one another, too.
I have a great time playing zouk with guitarist Bernie Hannon here in Bloomington, and with Mark Rosenthal on guitar in Louisville. We have some fun, and so far, no melodists have been harmed. <GG>
David Mallinson has written four books, starting with "100 Essential Session Tunes", followed by "100 Enduring Session Tunes" and "100 Evergreen Session Tunes" and also a book of 100 Polkas. All have fairly good chord selections, although sometimes a bit busy for my tastes.
Ralph Sweet, the American fife maker, put out a book called "The Fifer's Delight," which contains many familiar session tunes along with American fife and contradance tunes. It has some nice simple chords for the accompanist, and is an excellent starting point.
Remember, the books just give you ideas. Figure out your own stuff, be creative. Learn the theory behind the harmony. And enjoy!
Stv,
I play octive mandolin, sometimes melody and sometimes accompaniment. Like you, I also work with a guitar player, a close friend. We usually work out complimentary arrangements on our own before springing them on our session. That way there are no surprises and no scary collisions. Also, it frees up my friend, a DADGAD player, to develop pretty complex chordal things without worrying about what I might do in the spontaneity of a session. But if there is a different guitar player at the session, I will yield to him. With the better players, there is no telling what kind of funky chords they may through in there, and it's easier to just sit a tune out or switch to melody and let the other guy go at it alone.
Thanks Clifardo for asking this question and thanks to all for the very helpful replies. Its great to have some resources to pull from- I've been looking for music with accompaniment suggestions, guess just not in the right places. Its been fabulous to have gotten so much info from the threads over the past few days. I'm a happy, happy girl!
Craymcia,
We are in complete agreement. I also play guitar, so I can switch up depending on what other chordophones show up in a session, but as you point out, I too enjoy allowing an unfamiliar picker to do what they do and I'll figure out how to complement that, or just lay out.
Clifardo, cuthail, best wishes and have some fun with the resources!
stv
The Culchies' CD "Bruscar Bán" is available at
Ossian USA, a wonderful shop full of great Irish music
and books -- http://www.ossianusa.com
The Portland Collection has chords in it, and LOADS (318) tunes in too. They're from the Portland (Oregon) contra dance scene, and there are some cracking tunes in there that are a bit unusual along with the usual ones. Downside - it's not all Irish stuff (it's only a downside if you don't do the other traditions), and that the incredibly common tunes (Morpeth rant, etc) aren't in there on the grounds that they're in millions of other publications. Upside, there's lots of tunes and, more importantly, they're workable dance tunes. Tune list can be found here: http://www.theportlandcollection.com/tunes%201.htm
one of my freinds showed up the other day with a new edition of "SMOKE IN YOUR EYES" that has chords added. richard darsie's books also have pretty straight forward chords on a lot of standards.
Books with chordal accompinament
Books with chordal accompinament
Howdy, Are there any books out there that cover large amounts of pureley trad session tunes but also have chordal accompinament for most or all of them? I need them to help me with coming up for harmonies. They'd also be useful as just chords.
Gracias
# Posted on August 19th 2006 by Clifardo Albrechto
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Try Tony 'Sully' Sullivans excellent Irish Music Session Tune books available here:
http://www.halshawmusic.co.uk
# Posted on August 19th 2006 by Sugarfoot Jack
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Waltons (Mel Bay in the US) has two volumes of session tunes and the books have melodies and chord names, but not chord diagrams. Both books come with CDs with the tunes, so one can play along.
The chords change quickly and are not exactly 'beginner' changes.
HomeSpun Tapes has L.E.McCullough's "121 Favorite Session Tunes" book, also with CDs. On these CDs, the tunes are played twice, the first time slowly and the second time at speed.
Neither version is very fast, tho sometimes they aren't very different speeds at all... The chord changes are simpler and are again just letter notations (not diagrams) above the staff.
stv
http://cdbaby.com/Culchies
# Posted on August 19th 2006 by stv culchie
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Keep in mind that the specific chords used in any given tune can vary greatly depending on the accompanist. The chords in books are just one person's version of what chords can be played over a tune. That's one reason more than one accompanist is a bad idea at a session. There's no guarantee that they will be playing complementary chords (or ryhthms either for that matter).
That said, the McCullough book is actually pretty good in that it doesn't always use the lowest-common-denominator chords, plus the DADGAD guitar is isolated on a stereo track by itself.
The Mel Bay books are "Ireland's Best Session Tunes" Volumes 1 & 2.
http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=WM1366CD&Heading=&category=&catID=&head1=&head2=&sub=&sub1=&mode=related&sendmode=&title=Ireland%27s+Best+Session+Tunes%2C+Volume+1&source=98774WW
http://www.melbay.com/product.asp?ProductID=WM1314CD&Heading=&category=&catID=&head1=&head2=&sub=&sub1=&mode=related&sendmode=&title=Ireland%27s+Best+Session+Tunes+Volume+2&source=WM1366CD
Another is "Ireland's Best Fiddle Tunes: With Guitar Chords" by Paul McNevin.
Here are some web sites that have chords along with the tunes. Compare different versions of the same tunes to see the different chords that can be used.
The Kitchen Musician Website
http://www.kitchenmusician.net/pages/kmmusicbyorigin.html#iirish
SlowPlayers.org
http://www.slowplayers.org/Slowplayers_Music_List.html
The Pub Scouts Tune List
http://rigel.csuchico.edu/pubscout/songs.html
Spud's Tunes
http://www.thursdaycontra.com/~spuds/TuneLinks.html
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by Craymcla
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Cray' writes, "Keep in mind that the specific chords used in any given tune can vary greatly depending on the accompanist. The chords in books are just one person's version of what chords can be played over a tune. "
Good point, very true.
"That's one reason more than one accompanist is a bad idea at a session. "
And if there might be more than one, that's why they really need to listen to one another, too.
I have a great time playing zouk with guitarist Bernie Hannon here in Bloomington, and with Mark Rosenthal on guitar in Louisville. We have some fun, and so far, no melodists have been harmed. <GG>
stv
http://cdbaby.com/Culchies
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by stv culchie
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
David Mallinson has written four books, starting with "100 Essential Session Tunes", followed by "100 Enduring Session Tunes" and "100 Evergreen Session Tunes" and also a book of 100 Polkas. All have fairly good chord selections, although sometimes a bit busy for my tastes.
Ralph Sweet, the American fife maker, put out a book called "The Fifer's Delight," which contains many familiar session tunes along with American fife and contradance tunes. It has some nice simple chords for the accompanist, and is an excellent starting point.
Remember, the books just give you ideas. Figure out your own stuff, be creative. Learn the theory behind the harmony. And enjoy!
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Stv,
Also, it frees up my friend, a DADGAD player, to develop pretty complex chordal things without worrying about what I might do in the spontaneity of a session. But if there is a different guitar player at the session, I will yield to him. With the better players, there is no telling what kind of funky chords they may through in there, and it's easier to just sit a tune out or switch to melody and let the other guy go at it alone.
I play octive mandolin, sometimes melody and sometimes accompaniment. Like you, I also work with a guitar player, a close friend. We usually work out complimentary arrangements on our own before springing them on our session. That way there are no surprises and no scary collisions.
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by Craymcla
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
I also play OCTAVE mandolin.
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by Craymcla
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Thanks Clifardo for asking this question and thanks to all for the very helpful replies. Its great to have some resources to pull from- I've been looking for music with accompaniment suggestions, guess just not in the right places. Its been fabulous to have gotten so much info from the threads over the past few days. I'm a happy, happy girl!
Clifardo, you can check out this thread for other replies on the subject:
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/10920
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by Cailin Rua
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Craymcia,
We are in complete agreement. I also play guitar, so I can switch up depending on what other chordophones show up in a session, but as you point out, I too enjoy allowing an unfamiliar picker to do what they do and I'll figure out how to complement that, or just lay out.
Clifardo, cuthail, best wishes and have some fun with the resources!
stv
The Culchies' CD "Bruscar Bán" is available at
Ossian USA, a wonderful shop full of great Irish music
and books -- http://www.ossianusa.com
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by stv culchie
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
The Portland Collection has chords in it, and LOADS (318) tunes in too. They're from the Portland (Oregon) contra dance scene, and there are some cracking tunes in there that are a bit unusual along with the usual ones. Downside - it's not all Irish stuff (it's only a downside if you don't do the other traditions), and that the incredibly common tunes (Morpeth rant, etc) aren't in there on the grounds that they're in millions of other publications. Upside, there's lots of tunes and, more importantly, they're workable dance tunes. Tune list can be found here:
http://www.theportlandcollection.com/tunes%201.htm
# Posted on August 20th 2006 by Andy V
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
beg borrowed and stolen has chords as well.
# Posted on August 21st 2006 by Joze
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
Walton's has a series of tune books -- Ireland's Best . . . . series. They have guitar chords.
# Posted on August 21st 2006 by justwhistle
Re: Books with chordal accompinament
one of my freinds showed up the other day with a new edition of "SMOKE IN YOUR EYES" that has chords added. richard darsie's books also have pretty straight forward chords on a lot of standards.
# Posted on August 22nd 2006 by Dont