July 19, 2012 Learn this Cool Alto Song:
Rougham Farm, FULL Version
I forgot to mention in last tip that I was only posting the "A" part of the song Rougham Farm. This week we've got the
tab for the full song.
By the way, a lot of beginning kalimba players play with a structureless approach. To the extent that you can learn to play
with structure, you will find that structure is your friend. When I wrote this song, its structure was "A A B A A B A."
If you play the video, the first A starts at 0:05, the second A starts at 0:23, and the B starts at 0:42. You should hear
the change to the B part, and then back to A - you don't need to look at the tab to see that.
In order to showcase the paired Alto and Treble kalimba in F, I modified the structure to be "A A B A A A A B A."
Why those four "A's" in a row? Treble solo, Alto solo, Treble solo, Alto solo. This also serves to show you WHY
there is a B part - when you listen to those four A parts in a row, you start to feel that the song has gotten stuck!
The two things that keep interest high are the alternating kalimba solos between the Treble and Alto,
and the guitar, which does very different things on the third A part (the high chords) and the fourth A part
(a very forceful bass line followed by a mini solo) - but by the time the solo falls back down into the bass line
and we finally jump into the final B part at 2:15, there is much release, and you are probably glad that the
song has gone back to the B. The song wraps up with a final A part reprise - a final coming home.
By the way, the tablature, and most likely your Alto kalimba, are in the key of G, but the kalimbas in this video are in the key of F -
so you won't be able to play along with the video to learn how to play this song. Why is this video in F?
It is a demo for a new concept:
Alto and Treble tuned to OCTAVES - which works for the keys of F and E.
I have F because it is only one step on the circle of 5ths away from C (the key of F is all naturals, except for Bb) -
which makes it much easier to use with C instruments such as marimbas than if they were in the key of E.
