Manha De Carnaval

[wirralaccordion]

I like this bossa nova piece on the accordion and I love this clip because it is instructional in the close-ups of the two hands ( seperately ).
It is played here in G minor instead of A minor and I think sounds better in G minor.
There is however a chord in the A minor version described as Bm7 ( b5 ), where b = flattened, which I think could also be played as a diminished chord or even simply the dominant seventh of G.

 

[losthobos]

Evening wirral, Bm7b5 is available by playing the 3rd of G (B in top row) simultaneously with the D minor chord.. Its sometmes written as B half diminished... 
Hope that helps, good luck, Terry

 

[GeorgeH76]

I like this bossa nova piece on the accordion and I love this clip because it is instructional in the close-ups of the two hands ( seperately ).
It is played here in G minor instead of A minor and I think sounds better in G minor.
There is however a chord in the A minor version described as Bm7 ( b5 ), where b = flattened, which I think could also be played as a diminished chord or even simply the dominant seventh of G.

Very nice tune which I never heard of. I had to print out the sheet music and play it several times. It was in A minor, but I found it easier to play Abdim7 instead of the Bm7(b5) on the treble side.

 

[lunarluxau]

Ahh it's from the film Black Orpheus. I thought I'd heard it somewhere before...

 

[JeffJetton]

Very nice tune which I never heard of. I had to print out the sheet music and play it several times. It was in A minor, but I found it easier to play Abdim7 instead of the Bm7(b5) on the treble side.

FWIW, a dim7 chord and a m7(b5) are not quite interchangeable. True, the dim7 will have a flat third and (depending on your accordion) a flat fifth, just like the m7(b5). But the seventh will be a a diminished seventh rather than a minor seventh. That is, it will be a half-step lower than it should be.

As losthobos mentioned, the best way to pull of a m7(b5) chord in the left hand is usually to combine the root with whatever minor chord is a minor third higher. In the case of Bm7(b5), you'd play a B bass button but a Dm chord button.

I find it easiest to use the counter-bass row for the bass button, and that makes the "formula" even easier:  To play a m7(b5) chord, just figure out where the root bass note is on the counter-bass row, then combine it with the minor chord button that's "one floor up" from that.


(Bonus Trivia: To get to the dominant 7th chord that will almost always follow a m7(b5) chord, you can either leap up to the regular 7th chord, E7 in this case, or get really fancy and play the E on the counter-bass along with a F dim chord button. That technically gives you an E7(b9), which often sounds very hip, and there's no leap involved. Then you can keep going "downstairs" and play the A in the counter-bass along with the C major chord button to get what is effectively a full Am7 chord.)

 

[Glug]

Very nice, shows what can be done with enough skill.
So no chance of me playing it any time soon

I haven't been to Rio in 10 years, but I could imagine playing that at one of the beach bars (after the virus).

Think I'll have to investigate Bossa Nova some more, anybody know something easy to play ?

 

[Eddy Yates]

Thanks. Always loved that classic.
Suadade.
If you're going to play it, listen to some of the Brazilian masters first. That melody line is more effective if you learn to play the 3 against 2 triplets in the original. It's not hard to do if you're aware of it.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...form=VDSHOT&shth=OSH.a7k2azDZzF%2BOODAXTPFmKQ
I think it was originally seen in the movie "Black Orpheus", and here it's played fairly straight and then with variations.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...form=VDSHOT&shth=OSH.%2BrLWusylAE0NS2Z3gtHjoA

 

[JeffJetton]

Very nice, shows what can be done with enough skill.
So no chance of me playing it any time soon

I haven't been to Rio in 10 years, but I could imagine playing that at one of the beach bars (after the virus).

Think I'll have to investigate Bossa Nova some more, anybody know something easy to play ?

Tunes like "Besame Mucho" and "Sway" can be done Bossa style and are fairly easy.

"One Note Samba" gets a bit fancy in the chord department, but (as you might imagine!) the melody is not too bad.

 

[Glug]

I just ordered "The Most Requested Bossa Nova & Samba Songs" by Hal Leonard from Amazon (only £15.25).

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). 61 songs featuring that bossa nova and samba beat, including: Agua De Beber (Water to Drink) * Bonita * Don't Ever Go Away (Por Causa De Voce) * A Felicidade * The Girl from Ipanema (Garota De Ipanema) * How Insensitive (Insensatez) * The Look of Love * Mas Que Nada * Meditation (Meditacao) * One Note Samba (Samba De Uma Nota So) * Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars (Corcovado) * Slightly Out of Tune (Desafinado) * So Nice (Summer Samba) * Sway (Quien Sera) * Triste * Watch What Happens * and many more.

Also includes Manha De Carnaval, full list here: https://www.halleonard.com/product/154900/the-most-requested-bossa-nova--samba-songs

Obviously they're not accordion scores, but it gives me something to start from.

 

[Glug]

This 'jazz' stuff gets tricky for a numpty like me

Here's a stab at a score:

PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_Xve2AEyWjQKybE7Wpg71aAXdHCy0Z1B/view?usp=sharing
Musescore: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kbWAIoDl5QyGe32B551Zz1u0btpBcEUp/view?usp=sharing

mp3 (using my custom sound fonts): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hiPSbohr2RFwASjbFSqVWU3WnYbnp22H/view?usp=sharing
Treble register is Bandoneon which seems about right.

And here's a file I found with how to play some of the chords: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1G1IRPSBNltz-b8GXnVw5QV2ghaq3Ui-V/view?usp=sharing

Definitely a work in progress, (fairly polite) suggestions very welcome

 

[JeffJetton]

Definitely a work in progress, (fairly polite) suggestions very welcome

Wow, looks like a lot work put in so far on this work-in-progress! Nice job.

Fairly polite suggestions:

While it's true that, for a lot of these jazzy sorts of LH chords, the bass note "combines" with the chord button to result in the desired four notes, I've found that you don't necessarily have to play them at the same time. So for that first Am7(b), for example, you could probably get away with maintaining the same bass/chord pattern you establish in the first measure (i.e., no need to repeat the A bass under that Cm chord).

(Oh, and you'll want to move the counterbass line under that first A bass note there while you're at it.    )

For the "missing treble chords" part, it sounds like he's just harmonizing the melody a sixth below while doing while doing a chromatic walkdown with single bass notes. So if you had to put chords on top of those triplets, maybe be something like Cm7 -> G7/B -> Cm7/Bb, I guess? Or maybe Cm7 -> Bdim7 -> Eb/Bb? A bit of interpretive leeway there. (Similar trick on the next triplet bit.)

Where it says "chords sound wrong", that is a Gm chord going on there. If you wanted to put some stabs in the RH under the melody, as you are doing there, the Eb + Bb won't really work (and would sound "wrong"). The Bb is fine, but you could drop the Eb down to D, or even raise it to an E natural if you wanted a nice Gm6 vibe there. Or drop both down to D + A for more of a Gm9 sound. Lots of options!

Note that in the version from the video, he just holds the G melody note without anything under it at all. The chords are all in the LH only. (And he misses the last Gm chord button even though it is heard, leading me to think that the bass side shots are all mimes done after the fact.)

The chords you have at letter C are the standard chords most people use there in the tune. But he's not doing that. Sounds more like Cm7 -> F7 -> Bbmaj7 -> Ebmaj7 -> Am7(b5) -> D7 -> Gm  Which not only sounds very nice but also happens to be the chords to "Autumn Leaves"!  I'm totally stealing that idea.

Your "not quite right" bit seems about right to me on those two measures, pitch-wise at least. Rhythmically you'll want to omit that first note and then skootch everything over by an eighth note. Slap a grace note on the (new) first note, and you're set.

 

[Glug]

Yay, thanks for the comments,  I'm going to study them in more detail tomorrow.

Interesting you say maybe "the bass side shots are all mimes done after the fact" it suggests the treble might have the same problem in places because the "chords sound wrong" section was made by slowing the video to 1/4 speed and seeing what's being pressed and it's the sound of the treble Eb+Bb that I don't think is correct but I think that is what's on the video. I can check the audio directly using the spectrum analyser in Audacity but that gets quite tricky, or I'll try your suggestions and see what sounds right.

Many thanks

 

[JeffJetton]

Yay, thanks for the comments,  I'm going to study them in more detail tomorrow.

Interesting you say maybe "the bass side shots are all mimes done after the fact" it suggests the treble might have the same problem in places because the "chords sound wrong" section was made by slowing the video to 1/4 speed and seeing what's being pressed and it's the sound of the treble Eb+Bb that I don't think is correct but I think that is what's on the video. I can check the audio directly using the spectrum analyser in Audacity but that gets quite tricky, or I'll try your suggestions and see what sounds right.

Many thanks

Oh, I didn't catch the end part where he plays the same thing but the camera is on the RH instead of the LH. Yeah, he's got to be playing D and Bb there under the melody. It's in the same rhythm as the chord button, so it blends right in (since the chord has a Bb and D in it too). I'm not hearing an Eb anywhere in there.

(Me? I'd lean toward putting D, Bb, and A under it.)

 

[Glug]

Think that's all the issues I can do anything about fixed:

PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/137sKgHmS2K3MylkxrkqLa44AFpErYX0r/view?usp=sharing
Musescore: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WKPur6Tuh7N1p4m4YisjusLfBYJ_0ria/view?usp=sharing

mp3 (using my custom sound fonts): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1My-HCmXJd98duBz2AeAukNteCOo22ZjH/view?usp=sharing

If I was good enough to actually play it I could probably fill in some more, but it's going to have to wait a while

 

[Glug]

Update after a long interval: The sheet music is now available online at Musicnotes - see the video header for the link.
I'm fairly sure that's a 'recent' change, I would have spotted it otherwise.

Also, it turns out the right hand is L register, cassotto I'm guessing.

 

[wirralaccordion]

Update after a long interval: The sheet music is now available online at Musicnotes - see the video header for the link.
I'm fairly sure that's a 'recent' change, I would have spotted it otherwise.

Also, it turns out the right hand is L register, cassotto I'm guessing.

Hey Glug,
Thanks for this information. L register is good for what is mostly a melodic line with single notes.
I note that there are 16 available versions on music notes. I guess you have to subscribe if you want to print one?
However, why is it that the sheet music version for accordion is showing at the video header above but not printable?

 

[Glug]

Basically I think he's trying to make some cash from selling his arrangements, fair enough.

The link in the text below the video (in what I called the header) is this:

Popaccordion "Manha de Carnaval (A Day in the Life of a Fool)" Sheet Music in G Minor - Download & Print

Print and download Manha de Carnaval (A Day in the Life of a Fool) sheet music by Popaccordion arranged for Accordion. Instrumental Solo in G Minor.

www.musicnotes.com

Which is his version, and the one shown in the start of the video.

I bought a PDF download for £5.50 and then put it into musescore.
A touch expensive, but I've bought books for basically one score so I'm ok with it in this case.