Anyone able to transcribe a tarantella to sheet music

[caddy]

i have myself an 8 bass italian organetto and i have been learning a few songs from sheet music. i have come across the following tarantella which i would like to learn but i cant do it by ear. Would anyone here know how to or know someone who would be able to transcribe to sheet music the tarantella in the below link


any help would be much appreciated.

 

[caddy]

thankyou in advance for any help

 

[Matt Butcher]

I would be interested to do it (for the bare bones of the tune anyway) and it would probably do me good cos it's an interesting/unusual performance so I would learn something. I have a LOT on at the moment, and I havent finished the list of accordion clubs that I promised, so if you can't wait long enough for something that I might never get round to, I think there is free software that can tell you what notes are being played. Not sure. Hope you get there, if I can find the time I will but no guarantees.

 

[caddy]

That would be great Matt, even if you are able to learn it and film yourself playing it very slow that would help.

 

[jarvo]

I am led to believe that the Tarantella is so called because the beat is supposed to be reminiscent or similar to the way that a spider scuttles ....Tarantula therefore Tarantella.........I will try and dig out where these words of wisdom came from and publish them......anyone else heard of this ?



EDIT :

Just checked out Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantella

Seems what I read was half right.....certainly spiders are involved it would seem !!

 

[Matt Butcher]

The thing about the spider bites is odd, but this amazing video shows what it might have meant in practice... (about half way through)

I dont know if a video of me playing it slowly would help as my playing is wildly inaccurate, also I think with this type of music the key thing is to learn the overall shape of the tune and then add your own details, and then finally if you have a g/c and I have a g one and a half row the way of playing it would be totally different. The guy in the video is up on the inner row all the time which would not be possible on my box. Anyway I will see if I can get to this, in the meantime it would certainly be good practice to try picking out the longer notes by ear...

 

[BobM]

This could be a bit tricky, I’d suggest trying to get another version of it to compare the format etc.

BobM.

 

[Matt Butcher]

I'm not sure that another recording will exist, at least not with the same notes. It might, but if it does, it might not have a name, and this one might not have a name either, or any names might be generic place names etc. Asking the player through You Tube...? For someone who knows Italian...

 

[donn]

So, caddy - have you gotten anywhere with learning it by ear? I feel somewhat optimistic that anyone can learn tunes by ear, and this is not a bad one to start with. I mean, most of it is just a few notes played over and over kind of fast. Sometimes with a longer and more complex tune, I transcribe a tune in the process of learning it, because otherwise I'll confuse myself and learn my own erroneous renditions of the tune. Don't think it would be called for in this case.

 

[Matt Butcher]

Just posting something about this on melodeon.net, either it will get shot down (quite likely I would say), or if it has any merit in it, I will post the same thing here as well. (It's not a full transcription or even close to that, don't get excited.)

 

[Tom]

Yup, this is this guy's interpretation of the basic tarantella, with lots of stuff played in the lower rows of basses, which tends to go well with the inner treble row, as Matt says. Would be interesting to see your transcription. As Matt mentions, I would also recommend not trying to play it exact but get the basics down and come up with your own version, the real gist of this style. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Matt Butcher]

So to summarise my long monologue on Melnet, here's what I think and I could be wrong:

- best approach to this music is to learn the bare bones and then work out what you want to do with it
- Melody in G (don't know what key the box is in)
- chords are DDGGDDGG then in the middle section DDAADDAA
- first section melody is based on BDDED DBBAB AAG, it's not hard to work put the rhythm by ear
- as the first section is repeated it varies by going up the scale, roughly DDDEDDBBCD FsharpDDCDDBB CDAAG
- the second section where the chords change is based around FsharpFsharpEDEFsharpFsharpEDE, with Gs and As thrown in as it repeats.
- then back to the first section.

I think.

 

[BobM]

With respect to the OP, when it comes transcribing this piece the words “barge pole” spring to mind..

Sorry...

 

[Matt Butcher]

Bob, I wasn't sure if you meant didn't like the music, or it's hard to transcribe, or that I've missed by a mile... which could all be valid opinions. The reason I tried is that, for those of us that like this music, but aren't in a place where you hear it all the time, it's hard to communicate about because it's hard to pin down. If we could find a way to talk about the music it might feel like progress. Anyway I now know another tune, although admittedly a bit of a weird one.

 

[BobM]

Bob, I wasnt sure if you meant didnt like the music, or its hard to transcribe, or that Ive missed by a mile... which could all be valid opinions. The reason I tried is that, for those of us that like this music, but arent in a place where you hear it all the time, its hard to communicate about because its hard to pin down. If we could find a way to talk about the music it might feel like progress. Anyway I now know another tune, although admittedly a bit of a weird one.

From the video, it seems to me that this is a nice family moment after a meal, and that he’s playing in the style of the Tarantella. It could be an actual piece, but without another version to compare it with, it’s nigh impossible to tell. He could just be doodling..

If you’re going to the trouble of transcribing something, I would veer on the side of caution and have a backup version for comparisons.

I’ve downloaded parts from ABC sites and when I’ve played them with others, have found them sometimes to be quite different from theirs.

BobM.

 

[Matt Butcher]

He is just doodling, but it's also a performance of a Calabrian tarantella. In that sense there are lots of other versions to compare to, but even the best players on commercial recordings are playing what seems to be a partly improvised journey through themes and licks taken from a big traditional store of licks that they then combine and vary as they go. In other words even the greats are partly just doodling as well. So there may never be another version of exactly this set of licks to compare to. Some of it is familiar from other performances, Tom is right that it's basically an adaptation of the generic tarantella framework that he learnt as Tarantella Lucana, but the second section is unusual and I've learnt a couple of tricks that I might use at some point from the first section as well. (I just got started on tarantellas at a very simple level this summer.). So I think there is a value in listening to an individual performance and seeing what they did, to add to your stock of licks, if that's what your into. I am also increasingly seeing the value of the sheet music transcriptions that are out there to learn the most common bare bones from.

It's interesting that most recordings on you tube are called "tarantella", "tarantella from (place name)", or "tarantella by (person)".

Bob, I have a feeling from what you say that you know a lot more about this transcription thing than me, so please forgive me if I'm talking total nonsense.

 

[BobM]

Bob, I have a feeling from what you say that you know a lot more about this transcription thing than me, so please forgive me if Im talking total nonsense.

I’ve had to do a lot of transcriptions/ arrangements in the past, and of course I don’t think that you’re talking nonsense.
But rather than trying to get all the notes, and as a way to get to the essence of this piece; maybe try to grab the reoccurring phrases that are common to this style?

Like this one.

 

[donn]

I know less about it than anyone, so in the Internet tradition, I feel obligated to comment --- my bet is that he isn't doodling much, strictly speaking, but the tune has evolved through that process so that it's the same difference. You won't hear it anywhere, except when he pulls out the accordion everyone in earshot knows it's him.

 

[smdc66]

this is going to have to go in the bucket list of songs to play me thinks as the song is well known to me

i cant play it at all currently but the bass in particular seems like new territory to me :?

its not waltz or tango which is mainly what i know ..so

what bass technique would you use or are there options :?:

 

[Tom]

Lots of intersting points here, thanks. My wife and I have a running joke about this type of music, we call it The Song as in Heres another youtube and they are playing the song! Since I tend to watch this stuff so often. Anyway, thanks for the transcription, Matt, I havent tried it yet but I like this persons version

Heres a couple more descriptive points that may heve been made already but very very often you see a phrase like e g gag e g gag (on the way in) followed by f g gag f g gag (on the way out). You see, itt the same notes resolving to the different note on the same button on the way in or out. Another variation is the same fingering pattern on the same keys on the way in or out, like gec gec (in) b b b (out) followed by fdb fdb (out) c c c (in). Same fingers, same pattern resolves to a differnet note when the bellows direction changes. In the key of c. Does that make sense, I hope so because it is basic to this style. So the basses, since much of this music is played on an organetto with only two basses, is: bass fundamental note long, chord short. If in cut time the first ryhthm mentioned might be quarter, eighth, triplet, quarter, eighth, triplet. The bass note comes on the quarter and the first note of the triplet, the chord comes on the eighth and the third note of the triplet.

Heres the sheet for the note people among you.


http://www.organetto.net/index.php?...&view=file&Itemid=69&id=140:tarantella-lucana

Watch this classic guy for this type of playing in action





Ok, again i hope this makes some sense.