This
month's tune is a 5-part round I made up using parts of various fiddle tunes.
In putting a round like this together, all you need to do is find tunes (or
parts thereof) with the same number of measures (8 in this case), and the same
chord progression. I started with "Bile Them Cabbage Down", and noticed that
the chord progression is a measure of D, a measure of G, a measure of D, a
measure of A, a measure of D, a measure of G, then 1/2 measure of D, 1/2 measure
of A, and a measure of D.
It turns out the the the B-part to "Soldier's Joy", the B-part to "John Ryan's
Polka", the B-part to "Tell My Ma", and the A-part to "Dixie Hoedown" all have
the exact same chord progression, so they work well played together as a round -
you just need at least 5 players! Experiment on your own with arranging when to
bring in the various parts.
One idea would be to have everyone start with "Bile Them Cabbage" in unison a
few times, and then have the first group go on to "Soldier's Joy" while everyone
else keeps playing "Bile THem Cabbage". When the first group finishes
"Soldier's Joy", they would go on to "John Ryan's Polka", and the second group
starts "Soldier's Joy", and so on and so on until all five groups have played
through all 5 tunes several times. When you decide you've played through the
tunes enough times, the next time each group gets back to "Bile Them Cabbage",
have them keep playing it over and over until all 5 groups get back to Bile
THem Cabbage, and then end as you began, playing that tune in unison.
I've also included the standard fiddle tune ending "Shave-and-a-Hair-Cut", which
everyone would play only one time in unison at the very end.
The midi (sound) file that accompanies this month's tab plays each part "solo"
one time, then goes back and adds each one in one at a time, and then plays all
5 together one last time at "fiddle tune speed", ending with the
"Shave-And-A-Hair-Cut" ending.
Enjoy!
In music and friendship,
--Tull
Tull Glazener www.tullglazener.com
Indianapolis, IN
Click here for a
printable copy of the introduction
