SOTU 617: Bells And Whistles

[ukudancer]

Here's a S617 / 618 two-fer...I was actually procrastinating as early as Tuesday, but I didn't quite know how I wanted to build it and I lost an entire day to the covid vaccine. So, it was off to the races starting on Saturday night.

I started with the uke. No backing tracks help on this one. Just me and a metronome, but the time signature is mostly 4/4 with a splash of 2/4, so it was still tricky. I generally try not to play with a laptop in front of me so I'm forced to memorize and recall music, but this was just a pain.

Luckily, the main melody and the bridge wasn't too difficult to remember, so that was nice.

Oh, the qualifying bits for the seasons are the whistling part played on the keys and the word bell in the bridge. Obviously, I'm playing it instrumentally, but it's there!

 

[UkeCan1]

Wendy, who'd patiently been waiting all week, was finally able to share her Aussie Jingle Bells.

I wasn't, really! Despite the Santa hat, which I just bought last week while I was on 8 long days of Zoom, I'm really not that big on seasonal songs, and I had no idea what I was going to do.

All these Xmas songs about bells are also about winter, and it's hard to feel that when it's this hot and humid. Then I thought, Aussie Christmas song! Typed that into YouTube, and learned the first one that came up.

Then today I thought, how about a Christmas song with a whistle? So here you go.

It also zooms in at the end on three wallabies, so stay tuned for that.

"All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth"

 

[Ms Bean]

It's a bit after the deadline, so it's a good thing I'm hosting 617.

Prestwick Bells – Playford’s Dancing Master: The Compleat Dance Guide

playforddances.com

 

[Ms Bean]

The Season is officially over, and I'll leave you with a suggestion to listen to a fabulous piece of older music, William Byrd's The Bells. It was published in The Fitzwilliam's Virginal Book (Pt 1). Byrd's death in 1623 was remembered the past summer.

Fitzwilliam Virginal Book - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It may sound to your ears, as it is quite long and whilst there are no key changes, there are nine sections or variations that often mean a different time signature, going from 6/2 to 9/4, 3/2 to 9/4, and back to 3/2.

There are arrangements for 2 lutes or 2 guitars available on IMSLP:

The Bells, T 442 (Byrd, William) - IMSLP

imslp.org

Here's an impro on some of the themes:


Here's the whole piece on harpsichord: