The Session: Tunes - An Cupan Tae (jig)

An Cupán Tae

Right, this is a simple tune I wrote myself. This is my first time using ABC notation so there may be some mistakes. My little sister came up with the name.

# Posted on October 29th 2007 by Seabhac

I'm guessing you mean the Cs to be the c between d and A (not the low C you notated). And the endings need a longer beat on the E. So more like this?

X: 1
T: An Cupán Tae
M: 6/8
L: 1/8
R: jig
K: Edor
EFE GFE|dcA BAF|EFE GFE|dcA B2|
EFE GFE|dcA BAd|EFE GFE|AFD E3:||
eBB eBB|efg fed|eBB eBB|afd e3|
eBB eBB|efg fed|efe BAB|AFD E3:||

Change it before Jeremy converts it to sheet music and the dots will come out all right. Otherwise they're permanent.

# Posted on October 29th 2007 by Will CPT

Oops - that B2 in bar 4 of the first half should be a B3 or a B2 D

# Posted on October 29th 2007 by Will CPT

"An Cupán Tae" ~ after a little time with it

Damn feral cats... 8-)

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by ceolachan

An Cupán Tae

Too late, sheetmusic is up.

Ah well, I'll know next time.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by Seabhac

An Cupán Tae

I listened to the sound file and it seems right though.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by Seabhac

Looks like Jeremy edited your abcs before converting to sheet music.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by Will CPT

"Next time............"

Can I remind you that the agreed convention on this website is that if you post a tune which you've composed yourself, you are expected to follow that with about 5 traditional tunes before posting another original.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by Kenny

! ~ FAQs ~ Frequently Asked Questions ~ !

This is Seabhac's first ever submission, but I guess it is better to be forwarned. I've tended to leave comment on such things late, on their 4th or 5th composition in a row... Which a few people have had the audacity to do...

Yes Seabhac, you will gain greater respect by respecting the FAQs, which Kenny rephrases. Here it is word-for-word:

http://www.thesession.org/members/index/faqs

Can I submit my own compositions?

Well... The Session isn't really intended for that.
If you do post one of your own compositions, then you must do your "penance", so to speak, by balancing each original composition with about five trad tunes.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by ceolachan

ABC music notation

Also, rather than risk ABC notation problems or leave our webmaster Jeremy with a mess to clean up, and it's good to see he's give you time, PLEASE, just ask one of us for guidance. There are folks here who would be glad to pre-check your ABCs and give guidance.

You may already know this link, but here's some online guidance on the subject of ABC notation:

Steve Mansfield's tutorial
http://www.lesession.co.uk/
http://www.lesession.co.uk/abc/abc_notation.htm

http://www.walshaw.plus.com/abc/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abc_notation

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by ceolachan

An Cupán Tae

By next time, I meant next time I submit a tune I'll make sure the ABC is correct.
Don't worry guys, I don't compose very often and I don't intend to flood the site with my tunes.
And thank you for going over the tune and making sure the notation was correct.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by Seabhac

We've all seen a lot worse Seabhac... Also, just remember, some of us still have a memory of our early battle with notation of any form, and there are some really helpful souls on site here, including Kenny... So, next time you want your ABCs checked, just ask - - - Kenny... ;-)

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by ceolachan

~ K: ??? ~ minor or Dorian ~ ???

It seems I've been playing the c's as naturals, not sharps. In other words, K: e minor, not K: E Dorian? Shoot me for cut-and-paste and assuming that was correct without really looking...

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by ceolachan

K: E Dorian ~ or ~ K: e minor

It works either way...

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by ceolachan

I also do the lead-in raised so ~

~ and a couple of other possibilities as I'm adding this one...

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by ceolachan

It's not a bad little tune, but a bit too repetitive for my ear. The fact that bars 1, 3, 5 and 7 of each part are the same is a problem for the tune in my opinion. Somehow it makes it sound "untrad". In a traditional tune, those bars would be more likely to be varied a bit, so that e.g. bar 3 differed from bar 1.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by Dow

Variations

It is rather repetitive but I put little variations in while playing. It's simple enough that you can play around with the melody without upsetting the tune.

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by Seabhac

A consideation of speed

Hi Seabhac

I've just been playing this and like it. Its simplicity is very attractive but I must disagree with Dow about its repetitiveness. I think that is a strength not a weakness in this case and cannot see it as "untrad". There are many "trad" tunes which have a strong repetitive character e.g "Hag with the Money", "The Flame in the Fiddle", "Paddy O'Rafferty", "Hartigan's Fancy", "the Mist on the Meadows" and possibly many more. Those examples just happen to be in front of me at the moment and which I play regularly. Chances are that I could find many more. Sorry Dow I mean no offence just an opinion.

On the question of tempo. I started playing this fairly slowly in order to get the fingering and bellows action correct and felt that it was nice to continue playing it at a fairly slow/steady pace. I added a bit of swing as well especially at the beginning of bars 1, 3, 5 & 7. (A music) a similar treatment in 'B' music as well. Obviously gives it a different character and possibly not what you intended. What do you think?

# Posted on October 30th 2007 by hetty

Fantastic Tune

Seabhac this is a fantastic jig well done, I would love to hear more of your compostions on this site, it would go well with Jump at the Sun in Em
http://www.thesession.org/tunes/display/736
The rules are there to stop rubbish being posted this tune definately isn't that. In a few years this will be a traditional tune.
Keep them coming.

# Posted on October 31st 2007 by JACKB

Bar 7?

Hetty, maybe I've been a bit harsh. However, in none of those examples you gave is there repetition in 4 bars of each part like in this tune. Bar 7 is often the place where a variation comes in in anticipation of a turnaround. Maybe with a change of bar 7 of each part to something like |cAA BGG| it would sound more trad to my ear.

# Posted on October 31st 2007 by Dow

Maybe not in 4 bars in each part but certainly in three. Is three bars traditional then and four bars NOT? I've tried some alternatives for bar 7 but keep coming back to what is here as it is right for what comes in bar 8. I think we are going to have to agree to differ on this point. It's a nice tune all the same and better than many of the self penned tunes submitted to this site.

# Posted on October 31st 2007 by hetty

~ | efe BAB | AFD E3 :||

A classic 'trad' solution would be for bars 7 & 8 to 'agree' in both parts, eliminating the agreement between bars 3 & 7 ~ keeping with your transcription...

JACKB is a kind man Seabhac, but taken with some of the sand of history here. Enamoured with his own compositions he's one of those who contributed a slew in a row and ended up with enough upset here that a few got axed and he was 'kindly' asked to read the FAQs and curb his enthusiasm for his own genius, real or imagined... :-/

# Posted on November 1st 2007 by ceolachan

You hit on it, 'c'. If you make the bar 7's agree, it all clicks together nicely. I'd be quite happy to play it in a session like that - don't get me wrong Hetty I did say it was a nice tune.

# Posted on November 1st 2007 by Dow