May 2020 – New Ealing Sessions

Ievan’s Upcycled Jig

This is a tune that came into being last week – I was looking at a tune called Chartley March, but my brain kept pushing me towards the tune I’ve covered here, which is pretty similar. Having played it down the phone to a number of friends, no one could work out what it was, but luckily the hive mind of the class (I think Bob cracked it!) managed to identify it as a jig version of Ievan’s Polkka, which we’ve renamed Ievan’s Upcycled Jig.

Here’s the slow and faster version to listen to before you try learning it:

And here’s the walk through:

Here are videos on ornamentation and on melodic variations:

And finally here are the dots with a PDF here , with a second PDF with possible jig rhythms for chords instruments or for fiddle shuffles (chord shapes are listed in the bonus post below this one).

Ifan's Upcycled Jig

I also did an Acapella arrangement, with fiddle shuffles and two melody lines to demonstrate the chord rhythms and to show how varying the ornaments and melody doesn’t necessarily create clashes – I tried to make the two parts as different as possible without going overboard, and I didn’t plan anything out before I started so it’s more an example of how the tune might sound in a session – for a concert performance or recording I would probably standardise things a little and definitely arrange the structure more.

Bonus post: two note chords on the fiddle

Here are some videos talking about how to play accompanying chords on the fiddle, as requested last week. The first two videos are explanations, there are then some hastily drawn chord shapes, and finally some ACapella videos demonstrating the chord sequences and rhythms in context.

Video one – basic chords and rhythms, using Step Back as a reference:

Video Two – slightly more difficult chords and some other things to consider, using Idbury Hill as a reference. Also, I turned the lights on.

Here are some pictures of the chord shapes:

And finally, the shuffle ideas in context:

Idbury Hill

Here are the videos from Monday 11th session, with apologies for the lateness! Idbury Hill is a Morris tune, from the Fieldtown tradition. The first video is a slow version of the tune – have a good listen before you start to learn or relearn it:

Here’s a walk through of the tune:

Once you’ve got the tune under your fingers, here are some videos on 1. ornamentation and 2. varying the tune:

Finally here’s a video with a play through including ornaments and variation, and a PDF with some of the ideas covered in the above videos.

Here are the dots – click here for a PDF, and a here for a PDF of the two chord sequences we tried.

Idbury Hill basic

Step Back

Monday 4th saw us tackle English Morris tune Step Back. This version is from the Field Town traditional of Leafield in Oxfordshire, and is related to the slightly better known tune/dance Old Molly Oxford. It’s a little unusual for us in that it doesn’t have any repetition of phrases, so I’ve talked a little in the videos about how to learn a tune like this. It seemed like a useful topic to cover right now! I’ll lay out my top tips here too, for brevity and clarity (first time for everything):

Listen to the tune. A lot. And listen in different ways; listen with focus but also while you’re doing other things and are a little distracted. Both are great ways of getting the tune in your head.
Sing the tune! Either out loud or in your head, silly words optional.
Trace the shape of the tune in the air with your hand/finger. You can do this as you listen to the video or as you sing along.
Name each phrase in a way that helps you identify what happens.
Play it lots. When you (inevitably) forget bits, go back to the video or to singing it rather than diving straight for the dots. To paraphrase violinist Itzhak Perlman, if you learn something slowly, you’ll forget it slowly!

Video One is the tune played slowly, followed by the tune a little faster: