Country road adaptation for the accordion

[Jaime_Dergut]

Hello dear accordion community,

I would like to have help and advice at how to learn this song on the accordion:




I want to get more into Americana folk music, but I have a hard time finding a decen sheet music for this particular song.

I would appreciate any help for this. Is a nice piece and I would like to play it on my local farmers market around Detroit.

Thanks for your attention.


-Jaime

 

[Tom]

I'm sending you one in PM. It's almost impossible to find "decent sheet music" in the key you want these days. I arrange almost everything I play for this reason. I suggest that, if you are going to continue in this fashion, you learn a system for creating your own lead sheets. I use abc but many people use musescore of others. The time if takes to learn the system will make up for not having to search in vain.

 

[cestjeffici]

I'm sending you one in PM. It's almost impossible to find "decent sheet music" in the key you want these days. I arrange almost everything I play for this reason. I suggest that, if you are going to continue in this fashion, you learn a system for creating your own lead sheets. I use abc but many people use musescore of others. The time if takes to learn the system will make up for not having to search in vain.

Dust in the Wind
I think this is relevant. I'm have an old friend who is a professional level guitarist. We are going to play a duet of Dust in the Wind. We had an initial sesion today and while I know the notes, the groove escaped me. We made progress and after he left I found the video above. I am going to learn this song, not from the sheet music but from listening to the song and following the lyrics. The sheet music just pointed me in the right direction.

 

[JerryPH]

Dust in the Wind
I think this is relevant. I'm have an old friend who is a professional level guitarist. We are going to play a duet of Dust in the Wind. We had an initial sesion today and while I know the notes, the groove escaped me. We made progress and after he left I found the video above. I am going to learn this song, not from the sheet music but from listening to the song and following the lyrics. The sheet music just pointed me in the right direction.

Hmmm...I've always liked that song, it's a classic.
If you need to practice with a guitar backing track, Jeff, try using this for some extra practice time:



I personally have never recorded a "modern" piece on accordion... what an interesting project that could be!

 

[Accordionna]

Hello dear accordion community,

I would like to have help and advice at how to learn this song on the accordion:




I want to get more into Americana folk music, but I have a hard time finding a decen sheet music for this particular song.

I would appreciate any help for this. Is a nice piece and I would like to play it on my local farmers market around Detroit.

Thanks for your attention.


-Jaime

Jaime, I'm curious about what you identify as a decent sheet music. Generally, I'll choose a lead sheet over a full arrangement of almost any song.

I was a pre-internet kid learning guitar when I picked out chords of Country Roads by ear. It's such a favorite, you'll have folks engaged within the the first four words.

 

[boxplayer4000]

I used this personally written set for years which I felt was arranged fairly close to what I heard in the original.
If there's any mistake please let me know.
Incidentally, though John Denver gets the credit for the song, I believe that it originated in France and is on-line.

 

[Jaime_Dergut]

I'm sending you one in PM. It's almost impossible to find "decent sheet music" in the key you want these days. I arrange almost everything I play for this reason. I suggest that, if you are going to continue in this fashion, you learn a system for creating your own lead sheets. I use abc but many people use musescore of others. The time if takes to learn the system will make up for not having to search in vain.

Thanks Tom. I got that now and I will play it based on it.

I think you are right. I used Musescore before so I think this is a good time to go back for it.

 

[Jaime_Dergut]

Jaime, I'm curious about what you identify as a decent sheet music. Generally, I'll choose a lead sheet over a full arrangement of almost any song.

Maybe not decent but accurate is a better word. Sometimes, I find sheet music that is not what I envisioned for the song and the emotion I want to express.

For example, here is the Ring of Fire.



It sounds really good here, and, unfortunately, the sheet music I have found it is is vastly different. Perahps I would have to make my own lead sheet based on that video.

I was a pre-internet kid learning guitar when I picked out chords of Country Roads by ear. It's such a favorite, you'll have folks engaged within the the first four words.

It sounds great! Is a nice addition to my repertoire and I find it relaxing to play.

 

[Jaime_Dergut]

I used this personally written set for years which I felt was arranged fairly close to what I heard in the original.
If there's any mistake please let me know.
Incidentally, though John Denver gets the credit for the song, I believe that it originated in France and is on-line.

I think this is close to the original key of the song that I heard from Jhon Denver. It was in A major key signature, I believe.

Is hard for me to pick the pitch of certain songs but I am working on it. I will study this too. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[Accordionna]

Maybe not decent but accurate is a better word. Sometimes, I find sheet music that is not what I envisioned for the song and the emotion I want to express.

For example, here is the Ring of Fire.



It sounds really good here, and, unfortunately, the sheet music I have found it is is vastly different. Perahps I would have to make my own lead sheet based on that video.


It sounds great! Is a nice addition to my repertoire and I find it relaxing to play.

Maybe not decent but accurate is a better word. Sometimes, I find sheet music that is not what I envisioned for the song and the emotion I want to express.

For example, here is the Ring of Fire.



It sounds really good here, and, unfortunately, the sheet music I have found it is is vastly different. Perahps I would have to make my own lead sheet based on that video.


It sounds great! Is a nice addition to my repertoire and I find it relaxing to play.

That's an amazing rendition of Ring of Fire! Using the low treble reeds replicate Cash's growl. It seems a bit peppier than the original recording and asks for some quick moves to play the block chords in the right hand.

How could you develop your personal arrangement with a lead sheet, at the skill level where you play now?

You might find an arrangement on MuseScore that incorporates the block chords between lyrics, but my guess is that will mean cobbling together your own notation. Some of the delight I've had preparing pop music was finding my way by ear, adding features or textures that aren't always included in notation.

One of my favorite summer tunes is Under the Boardwalk. I developed the arrangement -linked below- by ear for an online event, knowing I had about 90 seconds to present it online. I start with the bridge, then move to verse and chorus before it ends (as I recalled hearing it over and over on the radio as a kid). When I play it now I use different reeds, starting with the bassoon before the organ and master, and extend it by playing the song with bridge in different octaves. The time and attention I spent putting it together has kept it in my fingers for a few years.

Being dedicated to making the song your own, however long it takes is immensely satisfying. As our skills improve, we can improve on our originals. Enjoy!

A friend shared her phone capture of some of the performances for Baltimore County Public Library's International Pub Crawl. It's fuzzy, and demonstrates some of the challenges playing via Zoom, including keeping as many tunes as possible at or about

A friend shared her phone capture of some of the performances for Baltimore County Public Library's International Pub Crawl. It's fuzzy, and demonstrates some of the challenges playing via Zoom,...

www.facebook.com

 

[Tom]

I think this is close to the original key of the song that I heard from Jhon Denver. It was in A major key signature, I believe.

Is hard for me to pick the pitch of certain songs but I am working on it. I will study this too. Thanks for sharing it!

Hi Jaime, If you don't mind "cheating" this website will detect and present the chords to song that you have in youtube or mp3 form.. It seems to work pretty well.. It will identify the key for you and show you the chords in real time..

www.mazmazika.com/chordanalyzer

 

[JerryPH]

Maybe not decent but accurate is a better word. Sometimes, I find sheet music that is not what I envisioned for the song and the emotion I want to express.

It sounds really good here, and, unfortunately, the sheet music I have found it is is vastly different. Perahps I would have to make my own lead sheet based on that video.

The answer to that one is simple... go to the source, the original. Compare your lead sheet to a video of the original singer to see the differences.

 

[cestjeffici]

The answer to that one is simple... go to the source, the original. Compare your lead sheet to a video of the original singer to see the differences.

I spent some time with Dust in the Wind learning the basic structure. I'm polishing it off by listening to Kansas perform with just the lyrics on the screen. The groove just didn't come to me from the notes, playing along and singing with the original makes more sense to me.