Three Bal Folk Bourrées “Quinta” (#80) “La Montagnarde” (#84) “Frida” (#73) (that’s the correct order, they are listed in the wrong order in the video, sorry).
The first and the third of these were unnamed in the book, so I named them after two of my cats so I could keep them straight. from The Bal Folk Tune Book Project
Tune 17 in the Bal Folk Tune Book, this scottish has a nice harmonic ambiguity. A lot of different choices could have been made. In the end, for the A section, I went with Amin-F-Dmin-Bb. All the thirds in the chords are off, so the major/minorness is just implied. The B section is Amin and then G (with a smattering of D thrown in).
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Mazurka Auvergne (#134), Mazurka de Samatan (#142), and Mazurka (untitled, #136) played on my Hohner Erica, in A. The unnamed Mazurka is a variation on one that I play a lot, but it’s very similar to a version played by Gentiane, found below. Also includes their version of the amazing Brezon Valse.
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Continuing the Bal Folk Tune Book Project with three 2-beat bourrées — “Les Moutons” #153 “En Passant la Rivière” #144 “Bourrées Dérobée” #148 — done in a fairly straightforward style. The first and third tune are in G, the middle tune is in D. That was a choice I made, since it is a completely diatonic tune, and usually for that sort of thing I would either transpose to a home key for this box (G/C) or get a different box in the right key. I did neither of those things and, because the key is a not-home one for that box, it sounds clunky to me when I get to the C#.
Oy!
Well, that is why I took up the project — aside from obviating pandemic madness — to push me further in my playing. I’m almost ninety tunes into the Bal Folk Tune Book Project and the low hanging fruit is disappearing.
“Valse à Bonnejoie” is a tune I first heard of Frédéric Paris Carnet de Bal cassette. It’s a standard in the repertoire, and one that I sort of ignored for years and years. Who knows why? (Hint: not me) It’s also #103 in the Bal Folk Tune Book. Even though it is written in D, I am playing it in G. So there. Take that.
Three Bourrées from the Bal Folk Tune Book (#81, 77, 82) with Lou Diziou be Pierrou in the middle. Also, footage of fire. Decided to play these as melody only because … sometimes that’s a good test of your playing. Can you keep the rhythm without accompaniment? These are all great melodies.
Good thing I recorded this earlier in the week because I’m not feeling especially delightful today and this is a delightful polka. Photos by Sunshine Perlis. This is tune #193 in the Bal Folk Tune book, I my have doubled the third part, once. It took everything I had not to double it every time.
Introducing the second Free Reed Liberation Orchestra tune, La Françounette, a waltz which also happens to be #108 in the Bal Folk Tune Book. This is eleven box players (all from melodeon.net), one clarinetist, one fiddler, and two strummy-strummy players. I said this for the last FRLO recording (which was also the first). this is among the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life, and I am very grateful to everyone playing and listening.