A video lesson for my arrangment of Blackbird is now available in the Acoustic Tonic Music store.
The lesson includes a transcription of the arrangement, a 30 minute video lesson and a reference performance video.
Find details about the arrangement here.
Level: Int/Adv Tuning: Standard Tuning
Includes Transcription + MP3
Good King Wenceslas always struck me as a bit odd when I was a kid. I liked the tune. But the lyrics seemed a bit different from other Christmas carols in that they didn’t seem to specifically reference Christmas itself.
“Away in a manger … “ , “Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the new born king”, “O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth. “. Those sort of carols are pretty obvious.
But “Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen …”? We didn’t even know what the Feast of Stephen was. For me, it always brought up an image of him watching people eating.
Interestingly, Good King Wenceslas was originally published in a collection of carols for Easter, not Christmas. It is only over time that it has become so closely associated with Christmas instead. Thank goodness the Feast of Stephen is on December 26, so there is at least a proximity connection.
Tempus adest floridum
But setting aside the original connection to Easter, for me there is a much greater issue I wrestle with when I have too much time on my hands.
The lyrics for Good King Wenceslas were written in the mid-19th-century. But the tune itself is taken from Tempus adept floridum, a 13th-century Finnish carol.
If I play an instrumental version of the song – ie. without the lyrics – am I really playing Good King Wenceslas? Or am I actually playing Tempus adept floridum?
This sort of existential angst always gives me a headache and provides an excellent excuse to reach for the eggnog and rum.
Happy holidays, everyone.
Includes Transcription + 40 minute Video Lesson + Reference Video Christmas Time is Here is an original arrangement of Vince Guraldi’s seasonal classic originally featured in A Charlie Brown Christmas.… Read More »
This is one of my favourite songs for the Christmas season. The title says it all.
(Transcription + 30 minute Video Lesson)
My imagining of how Christmas carols might have been played in Dave Brubeck’s home.
Level: Int/Adv Tuning: Standard Tuning
Includes Transcription + MP3
From the album
The Voice in the Grain
The Noodle Kitchen is an original composition that grew out of … well … some noodling on the guitar. I was playing around with a combination of a steady 8th note bass line – perhaps while goofing around with Every Breath You Take – and playing some sliding 5ths over top of it. It eventually evolved into this piece.
Level: Int/Adv Tuning: Standard
If you’d like to show your support, name your own price, or enter 0 to download it for free.
Take 3 is my imagining of what the traditional Christmas carol We Three Kings might have sounded at Christmas time around the household of the great jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. For those not familiar with his material, one of Brubeck’s best known pieces is Take 5, a piece written in the somewhat odd time signature 5/4 time. Much of Take 3 is also in 5/4. Coincidence? I think not. 🙂
