This week’s tune is English Morris dance tune Constant Billy. There are versions in most of the different Cotswold Morris tradition in various keys, though often transposed into G major to suit the commonly used melodeon. We made two different versions of the chords, the first being a conservative version that harmonises every half bar and the second a more contemporary version that harmonises every full bar. To refer back to our inspiration arrangement, Coronation Day, we have used/tried:
- long notes that can also be used as in a shuffle rhythm
- Playing the tune with a pedal G (tonic) underneath throughout, and also trying a pedal D (dominant) throughout
- Using a chord sequence that doesn’t resolve to the tonic of G at the end of each phrase (from the long notes pattern)
We will look at long and short ostinati next week and use these to make an intro/outro for the whole piece, also extending the tune by developing certain phrases.
Here is the video, with the second version of the chords:
Here are the dots:
