| Author |
Topic: Making arrangements with popular melodies |
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 2:57 pm |
|
|
|
|
|
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:04 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:07 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:11 pm Re: Making arrangements with popular melodies
|
|
I'll bet I know what you wanted to say, Curt... Let me guess...
| Curt Trisko wrote: |
One thing I used to do often when I was beginning to learn pedal steel was take melodies from songs that I liked and recreate them on steel, adding dyads, triads, octaves, and bends to add flavor. I did this because it was something I could relate to. I never got anything out of pedal steel instructional books with songs I didn't like or didn't know. Once I reached a basic level of proficiency, I stopped doing this. I guess I figured that "purpose-built" steel compositions were better by nature since it doesn't involve reverse-engineering an existing song or trying to compromise the steel to it.
Well, this afternoon I heard a guitar intro from a song that I really liked as a kid and thought "I bet I can make that sound real good on steel". It was the intro from this song: http://tinyurl.com/oex4gyf
Because I already knew the notes and had such a good feel for it, it was really easy to do and adding complimentary notes to "steelize" it was pretty darn easy. This has got me daydreaming that maybe I could do this for a bunch of other songs and play them at some place like a coffee shop where I know the patrons would recognize them. Sure, you run into issues every now and then where the limits of your tuning causes you to make musical choices that are not optimal, but I bet most listeners wouldn't notice or care. Plus, my music theory is constantly improving and I'm becoming more nimble on the fretboard "finding" the notes that I want.
I'd think that something like this would be more common, but I don't see it often, if at all on this forum. Is this a bad idea that I haven't realized yet?
BTW, here's part of an arrangement I made of a Schubert piece when I was beginning. The recording is more recent:http://youtu.be/zA5XnKQYR3k |
_________________
www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com |
|
|
|
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:26 pm
|
|
| Thanks Jim. I don't know why it's not showing up on my computer. |
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:29 pm
|
|
It doesn't show up on mine either. But I saw it all when I clicked to "Quote" your post. Then I figured out that, for some inexplicable reason, the culprit that was making it all invisible was the first YouTube link. I can't imagine why, but I converted the URL into a tiny url and now it all shows up fine. Don't ask me why. Maybe b0b knows...
Meanwhile, while you're making arrangements with popular melodies, I'm making dinner arrangements with friends. 
_________________
www.JimCohen.com
www.RonstadtRevue.com
www.BeatsWalkin.com |
|
|
|
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:32 pm
|
|
| Probably something about copyright. |
|
|
|
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:46 pm
|
|
Curt, try copy and pasting and getting rid of all the codes? I just type URLs in without anchors. I'm out running errands, so I can't listen.
I DO like and endorse the mental approach.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
|
|
|
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 3:47 pm
|
|
Curt, try copy and pasting and getting rid of all the codes? I just type URLs in without anchors. I'm out running errands, so I can't listen.
I DO like and endorse the mental approach.
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
|
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 5:34 pm
|
|
The reason your post was blank... you left a space before the [/url] tag. The tags have to be right next to the text, no spaces. You also had a Quote tag around the whole thing, but that's not why it came out blank. I don't know if you wanted to quote the whole thing, but I deleted the Quote tags and deleted that space before the [/url] and it came out fine.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
One thing I used to do often when I was beginning to learn pedal steel was take melodies from songs that I liked and recreate them on steel, adding dyads, triads, octaves, and bends to add flavor. I did this because it was something I could relate to. I never got anything out of pedal steel instructional books with songs I didn't like or didn't know. Once I reached a basic level of proficiency, I stopped doing this. I guess I figured that "purpose-built" steel compositions were better by nature since it doesn't involve reverse-engineering an existing song or trying to compromise the steel to it.
Well, this afternoon I heard a guitar intro from a song that I really liked as a kid and thought "I bet I can make that sound real good on steel". It was the intro from this song: http://youtu.be/WUoEMFYbxiI
Because I already knew the notes and had such a good feel for it, it was really easy to do and adding complimentary notes to "steelize" it was pretty darn easy. This has got me daydreaming that maybe I could do this for a bunch of other songs and play them at some place like a coffee shop where I know the patrons would recognize them. Sure, you run into issues every now and then where the limits of your tuning causes you to make musical choices that are not optimal, but I bet most listeners wouldn't notice or care. Plus, my music theory is constantly improving and I'm becoming more nimble on the fretboard "finding" the notes that I want.
I'd think that something like this would be more common, but I don't see it often, if at all on this forum. Is this a bad idea that I haven't realized yet?
BTW, here's part of an arrangement I made of a Schubert piece when I was beginning. The recording is more recent: http://youtu.be/zA5XnKQYR3k
_________________
My Site / My YouTube Channel
25 Songs C6 Lap Steel / 25 MORE Songs C6 Lap Steel / 16 Songs, C6, A6, B11 / 60 Popular Melodies E9 Pedal Steel |
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
|
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
|
|
|
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 5:50 pm
|
|
When I wrote the post I highlighted the link and clicked the "URL" button. Must've gotten the space after it inside the highlighted portion too. Still doesn't explain why it caused the website to mess up the entire post instead of just the link.
I also have issues with the website timing out when posting. I always cut+copy my larger posts before posting for that reason. |
|
|
|
Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
|
|
|
|
Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
|
Posted 16 Aug 2014 6:23 pm
|
|
I heard "In The Mood" last night and thought it would be a neat pedal steel song...
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
|
|
|
Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
|
|
|
|
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
|
Posted 17 Aug 2014 2:07 am
|
|
| Scott Duckworth wrote: |
| I heard "In The Mood" last night and thought it would be a neat pedal steel song... |
It was one of the songs on the first Swing Shift CD. I does indeed work well
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
|
|
|
Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
|
Posted 17 Aug 2014 2:54 am
|
|
OK Lane, you peaked my interest... what is the "Swing Shift" CD?
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
|
|
|
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
|
Posted 17 Aug 2014 4:55 am
|
|
Swing Shift was a project of Buddy Emmons and Ray Pennington.
Since they didn't play much, I don't know that I'd call it a "band". They did a combination of swing, western swing and classic country.
They were on Step One Records, which has since folded.
I think they had about 7 CDs before they pulled the plug.
Buddy on steel. Gregg Galbraith on guitar, Billy Linneman on bass, two or three fiddles, Bunky Kiels on keys and a full horn section.
Most of the CDs also had the solos tabbed out, available separately, with steelless backing track.
I still remember a big chunk of the track listing of the first one:
In the Mood
Undecided (nobody has done that as well as the Mills Brothers)
String of Pearls
Tuxedo Junction
The Kind of Love I Can't Forget
Don't Worry I'm Not Staying Very Long
When You've Seen One Broken Heart (You've seen them all)
_________________
2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects |
|
|
|
Scott Duckworth
From:
Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies
|
Posted 17 Aug 2014 9:34 am
|
|
Thanks for the info Lane!
_________________
Amateur Radio Operator NA4IT (Extra)
http://www.qsl.net/na4it
I may, in fact, be nuts. However, I am screwed onto the right bolt... Jesus! |
|
|
|
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 17 Aug 2014 11:46 am
|
|
Thanks for the compliment Mike.
On YouTube you'll see tons of videos by piano players doing their own interpretations of popular songs. I suppose it's easier for them because they can more easily translate the entirety of the song, but it's still an art to create a nice final product. I guess we don't see it more for pedal steel because the average age of steel players means that they'd rather play stuff like "Amazing Grace".
I have a blast with it and it seems I'm constantly finding new licks and tricks for later. A lot of it hides in plain sight and it's just a matter of putting it in the right context. Isn't that what separates a good songwriter from a good musician anyway? Taking a the melody and feeling from a natural-born songwriter and glamming it up on pedal steel adds so much more to it because it's such an expressive instrument. |
|
|
|
Lane Gray
From:
Topeka, KS
|
|
|
|
Pete Burak
From:
Portland, OR USA
|
Posted 18 Aug 2014 11:31 am
|
|
The Rhythm Tracks for those Swing Shift CD's are great fun to play along with.
I also hear a Song/Melody and work it out on Steel every once in a while:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfrUZICq5sM |
|
|
|
I guess I've learned a few things in the 1000s of hours spent here on the forum!