Learning New Songs from Transcriptions

Ellen — Wed, 07 May 2008 04:08:08 +0000

I know I learn best when I can both hear and read the music. But sometimes a transcription will catch my eye and I just want to learn it. Sometimes I’m in the mood to learn something (a modal tune or cross tuning piece, etc.) and I skim through my collection of books. Sometimes, I admit it, I just like the title.

I don’t totally trust transcriptions if I don’t know the source, and even then I try to keep an open ear.

Last night an old modal piece called Ducks on the Pond caught my eye, even though it’s in a book I’m not overly thrilled with. In the pre-mp3 days that might have been troublesome. But I went out to Amazon and sampled a bunch of songs until I found one I liked. I found this mp3 called Ducks on the Pond- southern appalachian and while it doesn’t match exactly it gives me enough of an idea to come up with a version that sounds good.

At least I like it–and that’s who I’m playing for.

Coleman’s March / Lady of the Lake

Ellen — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 04:07:24 +0000

I’m still confused by what tune this actually is but tonight I learned (that is memorized) the 3rd song in a set by Pete Sutherland. Apparently there are multiple songs out there with the same names AND the same tune with multiple names. The one I learned tonight starts like this:

Playing Fiddle » Old Time

Learning New Songs from Transcriptions

Coleman’s March / Lady of the Lake