| ID | Recordings | Notes | Notation |
| Spanish Romance | Spanish Romance (in Em/E) (C, 2013-12-28) (1:41 min / 1.2 MB) Recorded using the "audio only" setting on my ZOOM Q3 with lower quality (MP3, 96 kbps) selection. ("Quick and dirty" demo recording) |
Learn on Wikipedia about Romance more than you ever wanted to know!
My sheet (see column to the right) as well as my demo recording (left) contain just the bare core melody. For the chords, I worked from printed music (that I got about 30 years ago) -- very similar to what is shown on http://pgtonline.net/sound/sheetMusic/SpanishRomance_anon.gif --, trying to identify the chords from the triplets (descending arpeggios), but in several places, these notes would not yield a standard chord (as available on the autoharp): Then I assigned my chords after my gusto! So my arrangement may not fully agree with your preferences. :( |
Spanish Romance in Em/E
In order to support playing together with a guitarist, I marked (for the first time!) so-called "rhythm chords" in this sheet. If your (chromatic!) autoharp hasn't the E chord or the Bm, you may use the version in Gm/G (as does the fabulous Ray Choi -- see http://youtu.be/2GL0IAXzQ5o -- though I'm not sure which chords he is using). If you want to try my chords, here is my Gm/G version: Spanish Romance in Gm/G |
| Green- sleeves | My Greensleeves YouTube video
Greensleeves (in G Dorian) (C, 2012-10-13) (1:47 min / 1.3 MB) Recorded using the "audio only" setting on my ZOOM Q3 with lower quality (MP3, 96 kbps) selection. |
Of the sheets in the column to the right, the first one gives the usual A Melodic Minor version, the second one presents a version in G Dorian. For the latter, the tune was slightly modified, such that it can be played on a single key diatonic 'harp. The corresponding recording in the column to the left was played, however, on my chromatic d'Aigle 'harp. | Greensleeves Greensleeves (in G Dorian) |
| Adieu & Good Night | - | This German Volkslied (ca. 1850) makes a nice gig ending. Here is my translation of (the gist of) the content and style of (the condensed version of) the German words
as given in the row with ID label "Ade" in the German language songs sub-table: Adieu! And Good Night to you! The music, the songs all are through. Please hand me my walking cane! |: In summer when warm winds blow, in winter with ice and snow, I then shall come back again. :| The maidens' so frivolous play makes many a man go astray, breaks many a heart for fun. |: So I have to bid you adieu, with music and you I am through, I have to be moving on. :| |
Adieu And Good Night
This sheet was made in order to demonstrate use of different modes: Ionian mode (with proper use of the V7 chord, of course!) for the A part, Dorian mode for the B part. |
| Gentle Maiden | My Gentle Maiden YouTube video | The layout of the 'harp to which the arrangement applies is explained here. | Gentle Maiden A diatonic arrangement in the key of F. The notes in this sheet came completely from a MIDI file I downloaded a dozen years ago. Consequently, identifying the autoharp chords was really no big deal. (As for that site's name, I have not recorded it then, alas, and meanwhile forgotten. And now, April 2012, I couldn't find it again.) |
| 500m | - | The sheet music in the column to the right gives only the melody and alternatives for melody playing chords, for the lyrics you may consult these sites: - Most sources I consulted agree that the standard (original) chords are the ones found along the words here for the key of G. - A slightly different set of chords is presented with the words here for the key of C. |
Chord variations on 5 0 0 M i l e s This well known pentatonic tune allows for quite some chord choices which all support playing this melody on the autoharp! Some are shown in the sheet music. |
| wedding song | The first phrase of this old ... Experimental Tune (B, 2011-08-14) (1:45 min / 0.87 MB) ... was once probably inspired by a pop standard of which this is ... my first YouTube video (!!!) ... in the key of A. |
More than four decades ago, when I began my private study of music structures, I was interested in what determines the key of a tune. So I made up this tune as an experiment for
playing around with major keys (really playing it on my Magnus Chord Organ). However, when I adapted it to the autoharp my experiment came to an end because the necessary
choice of chords forces a decision for the key. So the tune got frozen in its state at that time, a state I admittedly like: my very first composition!
Several years later, I put German words to this tune, celebrating the wedding of a couple who are friends of mine; therefore I refer to the tune also as Wedding Song. |
An Experimental Tune I concocted this tune long long ago in my pre-autoharp days as an experiment of a tune the (major) key of which is left undecided for as long as possible. |
| Irwin | One more dreadful "beta version": Planxty Irwin (B*, 2011-06-18) (2:30 min / 1.2 MB) * played on my ZephyrHill 'harp |
Roughly every other year I feel the need to play Planxty Irwin again, and each time it took me sooo long to recall my chording! In order to save me that brain racking in the future, I sat down this time and notated what I remembered. (The demo recording, however, is sub-optimal as usually.) | Planxty Irwin (Key of D) This arrangement differs from the one we got from Mike Fenton during Sore Fingers Week 2000 mainly in the new minor chords; it contains the same number of sevenths (though not in all the same places). |
| SFW 2011 | Forgot to really plug in first: Student Concert tune (A, 2011-05-11) (2:06 min / 1 MB) Student Concert tune (B, 2011-05-11) (2:02 min / 1 MB) [At least, nobody can say I'm inconsistent, making the same mistake 4 times! However, listening to my recordings again a few days later, I feel meanwhile that my subconscious just saw the need for a retarding moment. Whatever that may mean ... :)] |
This is the tune our "scratch band", Down Under All Over, played as 2nd tune in our slot in the Student Concert during
Sore Fingers Week 2011. (I recorded the tune in order not to forget what I learned there. (*))
[And I recorded it twice because I had started Audacity before plugging in the USB audio interface. After listening to the recording and getting aware of the computer fan noise I realised my mistake, saved the recording, stopped the program and began anew. Now I have, by accident, a direct comparison of an "acoustic" and an "electric" recording of the same piece!] *) Actually, I did not learn faulty counting in England, it happened to me only after returning home! |
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| Paloma split | Another "beta version": La Paloma Over Naples (B, 2011-02-26) (6:26 min / 3 MB) The first tune is played first in the key of D and then in C, the second tune is played twice in G. |
Some noodling in search of a southern feeling ... (and I felt much better during playing than when listening to the recording! It's a shame that the computer always listens so intensely for my errors only. Wonder what can be done?) | La Paloma (Key of D) La Paloma (Key of C) You Banish Ice? (Key of D) You Banish Ice? (Key of G) ... a little nutrition advice |
| bottle | Me And My Bottle (B, 2011-02-13) (1:50 min / 0.9 MB) |
Me And My Bottle (lyrics)
[A remark for those who care: Even two centuries ago, when Langbein wrote the poem from which these lyrics are derived, at a time when the French beheaded their king and certain colonists seemed to prefer beverages stronger than tea, even in those times alcoholism was certainly not widely accepted as a desirable state of living in any of the German speaking principalities of that time. And, looking closer, it becomes obvious that Langbein's poem is also a very skilful parody on those numerous poetic outpourings by individuals having just fallen in love.] Ich und mein Fläschchen |
Me And My Bottle [For English lyrics look left.] |
| auld lang syne | Auld Lang Syne (B, 2010-12-31) (1:45 min / 0.868 MB) |
... played in the key of G two times, first using the ordinary I, IV and V7 chords, second time using only the I and ii chords: a Dorian version? | In the key of G, the I, IV and V7 chords are G, C and D7 - the I and ii chords are G and A minor. |
| Potato Praise | A chromatic exercise: Potato Praise (B, 2010-10-18) (0:44 min / 0.4 MB) |
Potato Praise To guzzle or to graze, potato, in thy praise I'd spend a lot milreis: You sure amaze! Hear all the world resound, your taste is well renowned! Your virtues do abound, I'm glad that you were found! |
Potato Praise
This sheet contains many more notes than needed for autoharp playing; the additional notes are there in order to create a more interesting MIDI file: Potato Praise (MIDI) |
| 'Harp Idol | You Are My Idol (B, 2010-10-13) (2:37 min / 1.2 MB) |
Chorus: You are my idol, my 'harping idol, you are inspiring, leading the way, you give me hope to improve the playing my autoharp a little each day. The other night then when I lay sleeping, I dreamt I played the 'harp like you. When I awoke then I played and blundered, and I felt so sad and blue. (chorus) I love to watch you, to listen to you, your wisdom words encourage me to still aspire to something higher, getting good to some degree! (chorus) |
You Are My Idol
This is an arrangement of Y o u A r e M y S u n s h i n e, fitting an "Ode to the Artist". |
| Cuban bolero | A "beta" version: Only Once (B, 2010-09-28) (1:29 min / 0.75 MB) |
Only Once Only once, only once to get the rhythm! Only once, only once just get it right! It seems easy, so easy, but I simply seem always failing! Others get it alright, only for me it's always a plight! Only once, only once to get the feeling! Only once, only once just get it right! See this jangling fandangle I mangle and badly entangle! Through this Cuban bolero I gangle, an unlucky wight! |
Only Once
This is an arrangement of S o l a m e n t e U n a V e z, a parody thematising my being "rhythmically challenged". |
| Sunday | Picking Diamonds Divine (B, 2010-09-26) (4:28 min / 2.1 MB) |
26 September 2010, 10 h MESZ (Sunshine, 11°C) Celebrating this Sunday morning with some joyful noise, produced by a little workout on the autoharp! |
Tune #1 is played in the key of G and tune #2 in the key of C. The playing of the tunes is based on traditional versions. |
| Finnish | Livet I Finnskogarna (B, 2010-09-25) (2:02 min / 1.0 MB) |
... a Finnish folk song. Its tune was also used for Mocking Bird Hill, a Country Music success of ca. 1950. |
The tune is played in the key of A, using just the ordinary I, IV and V7 chords. |
| Toulouse | Noodling 3 tunes, relating a bit to Johnny C. (B, 2010-09-18) (7:45 min / 3.6 MB) Tunes #1 (Mourn Toulouse) and #2 are played in the key of C, tune #3 in the keys of C, D, E, F, G, A and C! (thus checking all my majors chordbars!) |
I Mourn Toulouse (since I'm bound to lose Toulouse ... even before I ever got to it!) For Toulouse, I'd like to board a train. It's a dream: a place without that rain! All my life, I always felt so cold. In Toulouse, there's warmth, so I've been told. To Toulouse, the world looks for to see how to grow airplane economy. There they have the Airbus industry. In Toulouse, there's high technology! Oh Toulouse, I hope for you in vain. For it needs to build an aeroplane special skills that I do not command. Oh Toulouse, my never-never land! In Toulouse, they need me maybe still, they may need my autoharping skill! But that's low technology, it's true. I mourn Toulouse: Toulouse, I'm losing you. |
Mourn Toulouse The lower line of chords, the one immediately above the staff, is representing a "normal" chording for the tune B o r n T o L o s e . The upper line presents a fully minor alternative. Note that, while "Wildwood Flower" got its title from the very last words in the very last line of the very last verse, "Mourn Toulouse" derives its title from the very first words in the very last line of the very last verse. Interesting, isn't it? Is there a hidden meaning, a secret code? Or just sheer nonsense? Is there any significance in the fact that Ziggy wrote these lyrics in August 2010, the wettest August ever recorded? |
| grass ? | Tocky Rop? Roppy Tock? Rotty Kot? Potty Rock? Rocky Pot? ? ? ? (B, 2010-08-11) (2:46 min / 1.3 MB) |
... if I only could recall the name of that darned tune! | - |
| cheer up! | Don't let your deal go down, for you're a jolly good fellow! (B, 2010-08-08) (2:26 min / 1.2 MB) |
Cheer up, old fellow! Don't let your deal go down, little girl, don't let you deal go down! Don't let your deal go down, little girl, 'til your last old dollar is gone! For you're a jolly good fellow, for you're a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny! |
For Don't Let Your Deal Go Down I use exactly the chords, D, C, A7 and G, from the handout I got at Charles Whitmer's MLAG 1999 workshop, In the Mode.
For Jolly Good Fellow (in 4/4 time!) I use for the first occurrence of the syllable "fel" instead of the G chord (= the IV chord in the key of D) a C chord, thus giving this tune also a bit of a modal feeling (since the other one is in D Mixolydian mode). |
| 3 fingers roll | Practising 3 fingers rolls (B, 2010-08-07) (10:50 min / 5 MB) |
... from the darling to the roses down in Dixie, a fast-paced journey through old time topoi (even touching a foreign place)! | Tune #1 is played in the key of A, #2 in D, #3, #4, #5 and #6 in G, and tune #7 is played in the key of C. The playing of all these tunes is based on traditional versions. |
| condor | Kuntur phawan (El kOnDoor Passer) (B, 2010-08-07) (2:18 min / 1.1 MB) [adopted from the version on the Runasimi site] |
Read all about this entry in the posting sent to the Cyberpluckers:
Condor Music and "Poetry". |
El kOnDoor Passer arrangement based on original composition by Daniel Alomia Robles (1913) as presented on the Runasimi site |
| Spanish red eyes | Having the blues with red eyes, or so ... (A*, 2005-11-06) (1:30 min / 0.8 MB) * played on my ZephyrHill 'harp This recording follows my arrangement of 2005, which differs slightly from my new one but not significantly. |
2010-07-07: Oh, the tears run tonight from my red eyes Disbelieving, I tonight rub my red eye as I'm watching our team's ship going down. Expectations filled our sails, and we had high hopes for not in Spanish waters to drown. Oh, the tears run tonight from my red eyes as our hope sinks in deep Spanish sea! Oh, the tears run tonight from my red eyes as the soccer storms blow so unfavourably! |
Tears Run Tonight From My Red Eyes
This is an arrangement of T h i n k i n g T o n i g h t o f M y B l u e E y e s, modified from an arrangement I made in 2005. |
| USA anthem | This recording is "definitely sub-optimal" with respect to my playing. I hope to replace it with a better one well in time for the next Independence Day. The Star Spangled Banner (B, 2010-07-04) (1:35 min / 0.8 MB) (2011-07-03: Alas, didn't find time to make a better recording for tomorrow's Independence Day. Sorry.) |
2010-07-04: A little tribute for Independence Day. [In my European view, it's just a really beautiful tune!] |
The Star Spangled Banner
While the alternative chording in measure 31 (the last but one) is inspired by Drew Smith's arrangement published in Autoharp Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 1 (Fall 98), in other parts I dared to significantly deviate from Drew's version! |
| Tessin | L'inverno l'e passato (B, 2010-04-27) (0:40 min / 0.32 MB) |
A cuckoo song I learned in school. Our music teacher was a lover of Italian opera and song and tried - mostly in vain, of course - to teach us the Italian words. With me, he succeeded in that I remember the words for the 1st verse of this song even today! | L'inverno l'e passato (After winter, Cuckoo has returned with May.)
A lively lovely tune, very easy to play using just the I, IV and V7 chords. |
| Night | All Through the Night (B, 2010-04-19) (0:55 min / 0.5 MB) |
During Sore Fingers Week 2010 I played one night in the class room this tune in order to give those still present a strong hint that I'd like to lock up the Music School for the night. I played the tune using just the ordinary I, IV and V7 chords. Mike Fenton happened to be also present and he came over to me, saying that he hears a minor in this tune; but I didn't see right what he meant. Back home again I recalled this event and experimented a bit. Now I don't know, however, whether my result would be acceptable to Mike. | All Through the Night (a partly minors version)
[The words in the sheet are as I remembered them. Meanwhile I was checking with the Internet and found several different versions. So I stick with mine.] |
| Italian #1 | Italian Alpine Mountain Song (B, 2010-04-12) (3:19 min / 1.6 MB) [My (usual) "uneven timing" is here, of course, solely due to the striking of chords in my heart while striking the chords on my 'harp, especially the minor ones!] |
A tune that I recently resumed working on: (Italian folk song: L a M o n t a n a r a) The autoharp: touching chords when striking chords by picking cords - what a cordial/cardiac connection in harmonious accord! |
Italian Alpine Mountain Song |
| Italian #2 | Vieni sul mar (in the key of C) (B*, 2010-05-21) (1:40 min / 0.8 MB) * played on my ZephyrHill 'harp In the 2nd half of the verses part, I use some chords slightly different from the ones I thought appropriate in 2001. The chords used correspond to those of the version in the key of G: Vieni sul mar (in the key of G) (B*, 2010-05-22) (1:35 min / 0.8 MB) * played on my ZephyrHill 'harp |
In October 2001 I travelled to Tampa, FL, for a computer science conference, but also for to receive my ZephyrHill 'harp from the hands of its builder, Mark Fackeldey,
and to meet Judy and Glenn Barrett. Those wonderful days inspired me to set new words to a classical Italian tune, "Vieni sul mar", and I named the result "Planxty Barrett".
(It was printed in Autoharp Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2.) I chose this tune because I was learning it at that time; it was the first tune I played on my brand new 'harp when
I got it in Mark and Linda's home! Mark knew the chorus part of the tune (and "bawdy" words to it that I can't recall) but he apparently heard the verses part the first time from me!
Meanwhile both, Mark and Glenn, have passed but are still fondly remembered. |
Vieni sul mar / Planxty Barrett (2001 version in the key of C, as printed in AQ)
Vieni sul mar / Planxty Barrett (2010 version in the key of G) The sheet music has two pages, the well known chorus part is on the 2nd page. Italian lyrics can be found on the Internet, e.g. here. |
| Italian #3 | A quick recording: Tiritomba (B, 2010-05-19) (1:10 min / 0.6 MB) |
An Italian folk song The lyrics can be found on the Internet, e.g. with Ingeborg. |
Tiritomba (Notice the Dorian-like chorus arrangement.) |
| Italian #4 | Compared to Caruso's passionately enthusiastic interpretation, my version is rather lacklustre, of course: Santa Lucia (B, 2010-06-01) (1:15 min / 0.6 MB) After I was employing the "chorus unit" on my old electric Oscar in the recording of the Caissons tune (cf. last entry in Classical Music sub-table), I thought it would be interesting to use it also for Santa Lucia: Santa Lucia (via "chorus unit") (B*, 2010-06-03) (1:16 min / 0.6 MB) * played on my Lancer-like electric solid body OS-85C (from ca. 1980) |
A Neapolitan folk song, praising the Santa Lucia quarter of Naples The original Italian words claim that Santa Lucia is the Empire of Harmony - a claim hardly maintainable because everybody knows that the Empire of Harmony lies within an autoharp! |
Santa Lucia - an easy to play arrangement, using just 5 chords: the I, II7, V7, ii and vi chords (no IV chord!) The Italian lyrics, sung by the great Enrico Caruso himself, can be found here! 2014-05-30: Loaded up today a version with minor modifications, corresponding to the way my playing has changed after several years; however, instead of the newly introduced A7, a G7 can still be played. |
| Green Fields | (Am working on it, not ready for recording, yet.) | For more information read an e-mail I sent the Cyberpluckers: The green fields of Virginia. | [C.K.Harris'] 'Mid the Green Fields of Virginia |
| Folksy Green Fields | Newer noodling: 'Mid the Green Fields of Virginia (B, 2010-02-01) (3:11 min / 1.5 MB) [Played in the key of A, not C as in the sheet. - With an "experimental" part in the middle.] |
I offer this as a glimpse of the "folk process" working on what ole A.P. brought us as The Green Fields of Virginia, as I am involved in evolving the tune myself. (Or is it only imperfect guessing because of poor hearing?) | [Traditional] 'Mid the Green Fields of Virginia[, sort of]
As an exception, this sheet was made using Finale NotePad, while all the others are made with MusicTime (as told in the PRINCIPLES note, referred to on top of this page). |
| Train | Waiting For a Train (B, 2008-09-14) (1:29 min / 0.75 MB) |
According to German copyright law, a work becomes "gemeinfrei" (public domain) 70 years after the death of its author.
Jimmie Rodgers died in 1933, this site is hosted with a German ISP, so everything is legal here.
You may notice in the recording that I tried unsuccessfully to get the yodel right. :( |
Waiting For a Train
The main reason for tending to this tune was the chord sequence A7 - D7 - G7 - C7 - F, which occurs twice in my arrangement. |
| Greek | New noodling: That's all Greek to me! (B, 2009-09-13) (10:48 min / 5 MB) 3 tunes by M i k i s T h e o d o r a k i s , followed with 3 tunes by M a n o s H a d j i d a k i s . For tune #6 see also my YouTube video ! |
... evoking a bit of Mediterranian mood, I hope. (Different English spelling, in Latin letters, of the second composer's name: H a t z i d a k i s ) The layout of the 'harp used in the video is explained here. |
[I play these tunes as I heard them. But my "musical ear" is not really reliable. So my versions are at best approximations of the originals.] |
| Light | Incident Report (dizzy) (B, 2009-08-21) (1:32 min / 0.77 MB) |
The music is a version according to the arrangement shown in the sheet music: A report of an outage used as a parody, poking a little fun at a well known song. | An Incident Report (dizzily) |
| USB #1 | 2 Austrian tunes + 1 Hawaiian (B, 2008-06-01) (4:48 min / 2.3 MB) [My first recording via the USB audio interface.] |
Tune #1 (key of G) comes in 3/4 and in 4/4 time; tunes #2 and #3 (key of C) employ the 3 diminished sevenths. | The 2nd of the Austrian tunes: Pearl of Tyrol The Hawaiian tune: Aloha Oe |
| Arise | Arise to merry autoharping! (A, 2008-04-20) (1:18 min / 0.66 MB) |
An autoharper anthem - a posting to the Cyberpluckers, listing all the words to "Arise to merry autoharping!" | Arise to merry autoharping! |
| Dorian | A tune in Dorian church mode (A, 2008-04-06) (1:12 min / 0.6 MB) (For those who care: I use for this tune [with key signature of C] these chords: D, G, C, F, D7, Em, Am, Dm, Gm. Except for the Gm, handy and used for only one note, all the other chords are in the sheet music explicitly given, as accompaniment chords.) |
Since I wanted to have a definitively Dorian tune in my repertoire, I learned this beautiful one from a book of national anthems.
The explanation accompanying the printed music of this tune namely informs that it was modified from an older composition into Dorian church mode
by the Silesian Franz Eckert, court musician to the Emperor from 1879 to 1898.
(Quiz: Which emperor of which nation?) It's a bit frustrating for me that this tune, Dorian by definition, does not exhibit the simplified formal criterion for being Dorian: that 6 of the scale's 7 notes are to be played using just the I and the ii chords. |
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| Smiles | A bald head smiles tonight (A, 2008-03-07) (1:50 min / 0.9 MB) |
If you think, after listening to this tune, you know its words, you better think twice. For the real words are the following:
I'll deck my bald head never with artificial hair. Too many 've seen me chrome-domed and know my top is bare. And even if tomorrow the sky falls down on me, no strand of hair will be my shelter, my "rooftop" will stay free. My top will stay exposed, boy, my top head will stay free. And if the sky may fall upon me, my head top will stay free. |
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| Lieder #1 | Wanderlieder-Trilogie + Bonus (A, 2007-07-04) (4:44 min / 2.2 MB) |
This file gives you 3 German Wanderlieder (walking or wandering songs) plus a bonus tune (what could be more suitable than to enter the "Tavern in the town"
after heavy walking?)
More information can be found in an e-mail I sent the Cyberpluckers: Micro-modulation I invented the term "micro-modulation" for designating a certain kind of temporary modulation. In early 2009 I've come across a better term: Tonicization! |
(sheets for all 4 songs, "Das Wandern ist des Müllers Lust", "Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud", "Wer recht in Freuden wandern will" and "(There is a) Tavern in the town" are being prepared - check back later) |
| suite #1 | A little Saturday morning practice (A, 2007-05-19) (11 min / 5.2 MB) |
If you have patience enough to listen to the whole MP3 file, you will hear "work in progress" versions of:
1. "Lueget vo Berge-n-und Tal" (older arrangement) 2. the duet at the end of G. Verdi's opera La Traviata 3. the "drinking song", opening La Traviata 4. "Es steht eine Mühle im Schwarzwälder Tal" 5. "In einem kühlen Grunde" 6. "Es Burebüebli mah-n-i nit" (Swiss folk song) 7. "Bicycle built for two" 8. "Plaisir d'amour" 9. "Yield not to temptation" All of these tunes are in 3/4 or 6/8 time. (While I began in a decent pace, I soon lost my patience, and in the end I shamefully yielded to temptation, succumbing defencelessly to the thrill of speed. As a result, it was nearly impossible to get out of the groove again. :>)) All the tunes are played in the key of G, except #6 which is played in the key of D. More information can be found in an e-mail I sent the Cyberpluckers: Saturday morning practice |
ad 1 cf. row with ID "Swiss #1", below
ad 4 cf. my English version Black Forrest Mill and row with ID "old tape" in the German songs sub-table ad 5 cf. row with ID "old tape" in the German songs sub-table |
| Swiss #1 | Lueget ... + Es Buerebüebli ... (B, 2011-05-22) (4 min / 1.9 MB) |
A tune that I recently resumed working on: (Swiss folk song: Lueget vo Berge-n- und Tal cf. also entry with ID "Swiss #1" in the German-language songs sub-table.) |
Look, How on Mountain and Dale |
| open #1 | Habanera (A, January 2007) (2:48 min / 1.3 MB) |
This file was the first one I put up on my former Web site. Obviously (or so I hope), this recording is inspired by an aria from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. | - |
| MLAG contest | Serenade (3:18 min / 3.8 MB) (C: recorded by MLAG staff, played on my ZephyrHill 'harp, June 2003) |
I entered this tune (and another one that I really bungled) for the contest during the Mountain Laurel Autoharp Gathering 2003. | - |
| UKA #1 | - | UKA Series, #1 -- A glimpse into DustyHarpZiggy's Creative Laboratory
Pages 1 - 3 of this little piece were printed in the Autumn 2008 issue of UK Autoharp Notes, page 4 in the Autumn 2009 issue.
Since we are having these days (March 2010) here in Germany a hot debate on intertextuality vs. plagiarism, I better point out that the metaphor I use in my words "In your dream ride a beam on the Sun Ray Road ..." is not my invention: Already 100 years ago Albert Einstein was musing how it would be to ride on a beam of light. |
[The paper contains sheet music to 3 own "creations".] |
| UKA #2 | Listen What Is Coming In (B, 2009-10-11) (1:29 min / 0.7 MB) (more being prepared - check back later) |
UKA Series, #2 -- DustyHarpZiggy's First Selection of German Folk Songs This little piece was printed in the Spring 2009 issue of UK Autoharp Notes. | The paper contains commented sheet music for four German folk songs. For one of them I added English lyrics:
Listen What Is Coming In (Horch was kommt von draußen rein) |
| UKA #3 | I hope to re-record this couple of tunes when I've managed, at last, to silicone my G chordbar! Alas, it's either practising or tinkering, and I hate the latter.
That Old Mountain Dew (B, 2010-08-22) (1:21 min / 0.68 MB) 3/4 Mountain Dew (with modal spirit!) (B, 2010-08-22) (0:44 min / 0.39 MB) The chordbars on my ZephyrHill are better, but not my playing, alas: Bridget Cruise, Third Air (modal version) (B*, 2010-08-22) (0:52 min / 0.45 MB) * played on my ZephyrHill 'harp |
UKA Series, #3 -- Ziggy Harpdust sips Mountain Dew ... and senses its modal spirit! - printed in the Autumn 2010 issue of UK Autoharp Notes. | The paper contains commented sheet music for two versions of That Old Mountain Dew and a version of Bridget Cruise, Third Air, an O'Carolan tune.
For the latter one I later added rather odd English lyrics: Bridget Cruise, Third Air ("modalised" and with peculiar words!) Since this tune is not so widely known, a MIDI file (made from this sheet) might help: Bridget Cruise, Third Air (MIDI) |
| fast right | - | After my first stab at rhyming in English, cf. row with ID "first step", and the close follow-ups, cf. rows with ID "manifesto" and "Italian #2", the sluice gate was opened
and particularly my Cyberplucker fellows had to suffer from or, at least, endure many more of my shoddy efforts over the years. Some of them can be found under the guise of
new words to known songs, cf. rows with ID "Light", "Arise", "Smiles", "suite #1" and "Swiss #1". Then there are, of course, the lyrics to the songs in the paper referred to
in the row with ID "UKA #1".
Another example of my mental disorder's rhyming outbursts can be found in this report: Holding fast to the right |
In Autoharp Quarterly, Vol. 12 No. 2 (Winter 2000), there is printed an arrangement of Hold Fast To The Right by Nathan Sarvis. |
| manifesto | An Autoharper's Manifesto? (B, 2010-02-13) (2:33 min / 1.2 MB) A not really diatonic version appears as the 2nd tune in this YouTube video in the key of F. (The layout of the 'harp used in the video is explained here.) |
The sheet music presented here is a slightly re-edited version of the one that was printed in Autoharp Notes, the magazine of the UK Autoharps club, Vol. 1, Issue 3, December 2001.
It was re-printed in Autoharp Quarterly, Vol. 19 No. 4, Summer 2007. While the words are definitely mine (my second English lyrics!), the music may be a faulty representation of an Alpine folk tune; I did some research on identifying the original tune but to no avail. Any help much appreciated! |
An Autoharper's Manifesto?
By the way, the words reflect my attitude of "melody first" when I say "... hit the right string, get at the chord, together them ring ...". I really started my autoharp playing with plucking the melody, using the chordbars primarily to damp the unwanted strings. Getting this way a chordal accompaniment for free, that's the really nice thing with the autoharp! (This "naughty" attitude is, of course, in stark contrast to the common approach, namely viewing the autoharp primarily as an instrument for strumming chords and from there discovering that there's also melody in those strings!) |
| first step | - | My memory is not 100% sure, but this song may well be presenting my very first English rhymes!
Before I started my English "rhyming career", at the turn of the century, I've been making German rhymes for a long time. A few of them can be found in the German songs sub-table. |
A re-invented tune?
A MIDI file, generated from the sheet: A re-invented tune? (MIDI) |
| label | music | annotation | sheet |
| label | music | annotation | sheet |
| label | music | annotation | sheet |
| Why | No recorded music here! | But why play autoharp?! - a little essay on my reasons for doing it |
No printed music here! |
| What for | No recorded music here! | In mid October 2010 I got somehow into a kind of self-assessment mood and contemplated in a posting sent to the
Cyberpluckers on 2010-10-14 about the terms "autoharper" and "autoharpist", see the excerpt: "... visiting my homepage you see that I call myself an "autoharper", not an "autoharpist", for the latter term echoes the word "artist", inappropriate for me. I prefer to view myself a worker, at best a craftsman, with respect to autoharping. Comparing my playing with that of true autoharpists, I hear in my recordings more often than not a rather coarse, rough, heavy approach far away from artistic elegance, a paver approach, cobbling together my pieces. But since the world needs probably more house painters than painter artists, I see a certain value also in my workman approach. And anyway, in ten or twenty years I may graduate from autoharper to autoharpist! And then achieve not only accuracy but also precision! (referring to Lucille's lucid distinction) ... " And then, a few days later, a posting by Todd Crowley, An Interesting Quote, got me into even deeper contemplation, resulting - I hope - in a clarification what I'm doing it for, what I'm doing, here on my Web site and on the strings of my autoharp. (What I'm doing - or trying to do - may appear to some as "doing what comes naturally", to others as sheer nonsense; for me, it is at least a matter of justifiability, of having a decent reason for spending all that time. (Or am I simply paranoid?)) |
No printed music here! |