This week's winner is Beech Spring (also found as Beach Spring), which was submitted as an Old Time tune. I'm not familiar with it, and it hasn't been that easy finding info on it for ya'll! Anyone that has anything to offer, please do! You can apparently find this tune on Ken Burns' Lewis and Clark CD, and I was able to find the CD on Amazon.com, and listen to a snippet of it (it's in 3 places on the CD). The first time, it seems to be in the key of G. This is apparently the tune played for several hymns; Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy, and Come and Find the Quiet Center, and As the Flame of Faith is Carried. I found several YouTube vidoes of the tune. It lends itself to open tunings on mandolin, and guitar, when played in D. Here is a great video of a young woman playing this on mandolin in D (she seems to be in an open tuning) Here it is in G, on a mandola Here it is in an open D tuning on the mandolin Here it is on a guitar in drop D tuning
I like the young girl's version. Seems to match the hymn "Come Ye Sinners Poor and Needy" really nicely. Takes you back to that little church in the wild wood.
Man, the more I hear it the more I like it!
Here's my video. I tuned my Collings MT2O mandolin to an open tuning (ADAD), played once through the bare bones melody. Then, doubling up the strokes, then using that strum/picking pattern to add the open strings. It got kinda messy there, so I threw in one more video clip of it a couple times through, with the open strings strumming, and trying to play a little more clearly.
The tune "Beach Spring" is pretty old. Goes back at least as far a Benjamin White's Sacred Harp (1844).
Very pretty, Barbara. Can you tell me more about DADA tuning? Is that DADA starting with the bass string? If so, are you tuning the strings down? That would make it almost like a mandola I guess. I love open tunings, but have only experimented with GDGD so far.
Duh, it's not DADA, it's ADAD! I'll correct that! I tuned the G up to an A, and the E down to D!
Thanks, that makes sense. It really sounds nice for this song. Great demonstration.
Here is my quick version in normal tuning with tab http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/at...5&d=1317584034
Nice versions, Barbara and Richard. Mine is from LNWhymns.com arranged by Ken Bible in the key of F and unusual time signature of 3/2. Good exercise in double stops!
Hi nice mine is in 3/2 as well I just play it slow
It seems we've covered this Lewis and Clark sound track pretty well. In addition to Beech Spring, we've voted in Sitting in the Stern of a Boat, Bonapart's Retreat, and Heart of the Heartland for past song's of the week. All great tunes. Here's what I've worked on for this one so far.
This is great - you guys can sound make this tune sound all kinds of different ways. I went Maudlin Mandolin's route and played it in F, with my own fancy arrangement. It sure is a pretty tune.
Great dynamics and feel to that one David. Put this one on the CD too.
David, I fully concur with David.
Excellent effort David –– from the recording to the musicianship! Marcelyn, lovely old time feel.
Can someone please help richardoxley2 fix the link / attachment? Cant find it on Mandozine... Thanks a lot in advance! Dan
HI its not a link to mandozine its my own tab, I tried to put it up but I am not sure how to do it, I followed the instructions but it just becomes a link maybe you cant post tef files as an attachment
Tried again still cant do it I must be thick :P
Hey Richard, I think what I've seen Michael C. do is post the file to the forum on the Cafe for uploading MP3s. He then links to that. I could be wrong though. The resonator is a good deep sound for this tune. Nice work.
I wrote out this rough notation for myself. I'll post a link in case it is helpful to anyone. http://www.windjaydesign.com/images/BeechSpring.jpg
Thanks Laura! That's a real time-saver!
Thanks to Barbara for her instructional video, I wouldn't have figured it out without it. I transposed it to A Major and tuned my octave mandolin to AEAE for a nice droning sound and I added some pictures of Beech trees to the video.
That sounds glorious
Y'all have done such a nice job with this one, there's not much I can add to it other than my dulcimer.
Good both times Martin - I really enjoyed the dulcimer version, even though dulcimers aren't usually my favorite.
Thanks everyone!
HI everyone I think my tef link may be working now can somebody check it please
Hi Richard, yes the tab looks good
Oh great got it at last Thanks
Nice work everyone. This is a pretty song. The hardest part for me was figuring it out by ear. I tend to rely way too much on sheet music. I used ADAD tuning to help fill out the sound.
Hi Laura I have the same problem...so used to having the score, that's why I bought TablEdit I now figure it out and tab it as I go. Now I know how to put tabs up here I will try and add them for everything I do it may be helpful for others like you and I that liKe to read as we go
Laura, nice idea jumping up an octave. Good job.
That's really pretty Laura. Good plan, Richard, working out a tune by ear and writing down the tab yourself is a great way to improve both your ear and playing, IMHO. I reckon that if you do it about 20 or 30 times, you may stop needing tab completely for straightforward tunes - at least, that's what happened to me.
Thanks Old sausage. I have only been playing mandolin since I got this new instrument about a month. While I was waiting for the instrument to be made (about three months) I tried to learn the fingering by tuning an old 5 string banjo to GDAE I got on OK but I still need tab to remember most of the tunes. I love playing old time and Celtic and this forum is a wonderful resource.
Lots of wonderful versions. I love all the crosstuned/drone versions. Nice job on those Barbara, David H. and Laura. Martin, the dulcimer works very nicely on this tune. Great sound. OS, wonderful playing and arrangement.
Great tune, and great work everyone. I can't wait to learn it. I just might have to experiment with an open tuning for once.
Lots of wonderful versions posted previously! Old Sausage and David Hansen's are both excellent – and so very different from one another! Here's an arrangement in the key of G. It was recorded on my Gibson F2 and I used my Bauer parlor guitar to provide backup.
Nice waltzy beat Mic! Well done as always. That's in standard tuning, right? Lovely chords. Great expression.
Too many great efforts to praise everyone by name. I particularly like OS's version and wish I had the notation.
Ooh yes, love the guitar work, and the upper register of that Gibson sounds mighty sweet. Excellent job Michael.
I'll see if I can come up with that tab for you, Manfred...
Standard tuning is correct. Listening to a pianist playing this as an instrumental was the inspiration and his was strongly in 3/4 time. The backup chords just evolved while trying to harmonize the melody. (The mandolin was recorded first and then the back up guitar.) I feel really fortunate to have found such wonderful instruments to play these beautiful tunes on... OS: you can play this Gibson all the way up the neck and it is perfectly in tune.
Here you go Manfred: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/sh...396#post973396 Update - I hadn't included the lick at the end originally, I've included that in the new tab here: http://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/at...0&d=1318002137
Ok, here's my first version of Beech Spring. It's an absolutely beautiful tune; I hope I can do it justice. I want to try out an alternate tuning version of it, or maybe even test out a version in A (a key that usually treats this particular mandolin well). Again, I'm playing my Vega, with D'Addario strings and a Blue Chip CT 55 pick.
Hi Kyle Thats a really nice version. I like the octave jump
Kyle, you have a nice clean picking style. That jump to the upper register sounds really sweet.
Hi, I would just like to say a big thanks to 'Richardoxley2' and 'OldSausage' for posting their TABs for this tune - it is tremendous help to people like me who are new to playing the octave and mandolin.
Hi Velo. Happy to post them, I have TablEdit so I can get most of them from ABC sites and adapt them a bit. Those I cant get I usually try to find them on youtube Make an MP3 from it and then slow them down in media player and try and tab them from that. In most cases I need the Tab myself to remember stuff so happy to share.
Thought I would give this one a try. I love the cross-tuning. Dukaine
