A holiday tune of sorts

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Gregory Freed

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Oct 4, 2019, 5:47:50 PM10/4/19
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So, this mostly me being silly/trying to write things that sound idiomatically Sacred-Harpy. I think it fails partly on the second count. It's on a text used in "Plenary" in the red book and the tune...well, let's just say it's largely cribbed, as is Plenary (I've credited the original writer, though the story on that is slightly complicated, too) and would pass for a holiday song among some small minority of SH singers.

Since I'm partly trying to figure out how to write for the different parts in a way that would not cause singers of those parts consternation, I'm quite open to critiques/suggestions. I do have a feeling handing the basses so many "mi's is probably off. 
Alameda III.pdf

Leah Velleman

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Oct 4, 2019, 5:55:38 PM10/4/19
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Yeah, I think your gut is right about the mi's in the bass. Chords often sound weird with that as their lowest note, and it can make everyone feel unsettled and awkward even if they've all got the right note. 

On Fri, Oct 4, 2019 at 5:47 PM Gregory Freed <gnf...@gmail.com> wrote:
So, this mostly me being silly/trying to write things that sound idiomatically Sacred-Harpy. I think it fails partly on the second count. It's on a text used in "Plenary" in the red book and the tune...well, let's just say it's largely cribbed, as is Plenary (I've credited the original writer, though the story on that is slightly complicated, too) and would pass for a holiday song among some small minority of SH singers.

Since I'm partly trying to figure out how to write for the different parts in a way that would not cause singers of those parts consternation, I'm quite open to critiques/suggestions. I do have a feeling handing the basses so many "mi's is probably off. 

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Rodman Campbell

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Oct 8, 2019, 8:45:06 PM10/8/19
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I think it is interesting that you have the number 8 (for singing an octave lower than written) under the G cliff of the tenor line. 

I wonder if the problem with the mi's in the base isn't so much the mi's itself, but having a 4th fa above it. The resulting interval being a diminished 5th and not a perfect 5th, which may cause consternation to the singers? I think people often consider the dim5th (with its relatives the Aug4th and tritone) to be the most unstable of intervals. Mi contra fa est diabolus in musica and all that.  I also wonder if a class wouldn't have a problem with the mi in the bass and only the 2nd sol above it (with mi at the octave above) since that is a minor third, albeit with the half-step below the whole step. 

Though maybe any chord, whether triads or dyads, that is built up from the 7th degree of the scale is going to cause problems?


On Friday, October 4, 2019 at 2:55:38 PM UTC-7, Leah Velleman wrote:
Yeah, I think your gut is right about the mi's in the bass. Chords often sound weird with that as their lowest note, and it can make everyone feel unsettled and awkward even if they've all got the right note. 

On Fri, Oct 4, 2019 at 5:47 PM Gregory Freed <gnf...@gmail.com> wrote:
So, this mostly me being silly/trying to write things that sound idiomatically Sacred-Harpy. I think it fails partly on the second count. It's on a text used in "Plenary" in the red book and the tune...well, let's just say it's largely cribbed, as is Plenary (I've credited the original writer, though the story on that is slightly complicated, too) and would pass for a holiday song among some small minority of SH singers.

Since I'm partly trying to figure out how to write for the different parts in a way that would not cause singers of those parts consternation, I'm quite open to critiques/suggestions. I do have a feeling handing the basses so many "mi's is probably off. 

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Wade Kotter

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Oct 8, 2019, 9:24:28 PM10/8/19
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Rodman, male tenors already sing the notes an octave lower than is written. The little 8 is used in some "standard" musical notation software for a staff that is identified as tenor. I suspect this is why Gregory has this cleff on the tenor staff. This is not how it is notated in shape-note music,

Wade Kotter
South Ogden, UT
"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord"


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Rodman Campbell

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Oct 8, 2019, 9:33:53 PM10/8/19
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I knew that, though I can see my post not making that clear. I just thought it was interesting (or different from the norm) that he did that.



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Wade Kotter

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Oct 8, 2019, 9:37:14 PM10/8/19
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I thought you probably understood that but wanted to point out that he might not have used it on purpose but it might have been "added" by his software.

Wade

Wade Kotter
South Ogden, UT
"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord"

Rodman Campbell

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Oct 8, 2019, 9:39:33 PM10/8/19
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Ah, got it!
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Gregory Freed

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Oct 14, 2019, 12:51:14 PM10/14/19
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Yeah, there's any number of problems with "mi" over and over in the bass, seems like. Well, I wrote the song mostly as a novelty/for fun but I may see if I can fix that particular idiosyncracy in case I'm at a singing where a Hannukah Song is wanted. Thanks for your help, everyone.

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