The Bonney Miller three-two

BONNY MILLER, THE. English, Old Hornpipe? England, Northumberland. B Minor (reconstruction) or D Mixolydian? (original MS. version). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABBCC. Similar to "Pawky Adam Glen" (Seattle). Seattle suggests a few changes to Vickers’ manuscript version, including changing the metre to 3/4 and the key to two sharps.

Lovely version recorded by Hannah James and Sam Sweeney on their album State and Ancientry, paired with ‘Strike a Bell’, a tune which I’m currently writing out the ABC for.

Say something? :-/ It’s interesting that we’ve had a run of 3/2 tunes this month, great fun…

However, don’t forget your maths ~
M: 3/2
* L: 1/8
R: three-two
K: Bmin
|: A2B2 B2g2 f4 | G2B2 B2e2 c2A2 | G2B2 B2g2 f4 | e2A2 A2e2 c2BA :|
|: f2ga f2d2 g2e2 | fga2 f2d2 e2A2 | fga2 f2d2 g2f2 | e2A2 A2e2 cBA2 :|
|: d2B2 f2B2 a2B2 | f2B2 B2e2 dcB2 |d2B2 f2B2 a2B2 | e2A2 A2e2 dcB2 :|

I was too quick, but I did play through the tune a few times first. :-D

Thanks for this contribution, appreciated… (& the last one too.)

Please consider adding the recording to the database here, so it will link through, and adding further support for the music… Is this a transcription from the album? Always, to further support the music and musicians, credit any sources…

- performing a House Gig in The Well House in Bedfordshire October 2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWM0EJpTenQ

play video

http://www.hannahandsam.co.uk/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAzhCFtiWew

play video

It is with regret that I admit I misunderstood this tune when I edited it for the early (1986) Vickers edition. It is with greater regret that I hear my own mistakes played by others who trusted that I knew what I was doing! Vickers has several inaccuracies and arbitrary inconsistencies which I am now in a better position to clarify:

X: 1
T: The Bonny Miller
M: 3/2
* L: 1/8
R: three-two
K: Bmin
|: G2B2 B2g2 f4 | G2B2 B2e2 c2A2 | G2B2 B2g2 f4 | e2A2 A2e2 cBA2 :|
|: fga2 f2d2 g2e2 | fga2 f2d2 e2A2 | fga2 f2d2 g2f2 | e2A2 A2e2 cBA2 :|
|: d2B2 f2B2 a2B2 | f2B2 B2e2 cBA2 |d2B2 f2B2 a2B2 | e2A2 A2e2 cBA2 :|

Only strain 2 is in B minor. Strain 1 is G lydian, strain 3 in D. This is one of a few ‘extended-mode’ tunes in the Border piping repertoire, one kig sig or scale, three centres of gravity. Try it the way I’ve posted it, I think you’ll find it makes better sense.

Only strain 3 is in B minor. Strain 1 is G lydian, strain 2 is D.

It will be good when the ‘edit’ facility kicks in…

And, imo this is one of the best of the shorter 3/2s, it really motors.

So, C#s in the first 2 parts?

I am no great musical theoretician. Statements I have made on this site previously have been proved to be wrong, but here goes…

Being an accordionist I have, as I have stated before, got to do something with my left hand. This leads to, what some would term, a harmonic and/or rhythmic straight-jacket.

But it does give different insights to some of the music presented on this site.

Yes, ethical blend, I reckon all three parts have the sharpened C. It helps give the tune what it is, so they stay.

I have added harmony (sorry chaps) using Colin Hume’s WebEdit (which has a useful abc section). Here is my take (using Matt Seattle’s notes, as posted above)….

X:3
T:The Bonny Miller
%%MIDI gchord czc
%%MIDI beat 100 95 80
Q:1/2=120
M:3/2
L:1/8
R:three-two
K:Bmin
|: "Em"G2B2 B2g2 "Bm"f4 | "Em"G2B2 B2e2 "A"c2A2 | "Em"G2B2 B2g2 "Bm"f4 | "A"e2A2 A2e2 "A"cBA2 :|
|: "D"fga2 f2d2 "A"g2e2 | "D"fga2 f2d2 "A"e2A2 | "D"fga2 f2d2 "A"g2f2 | "A"e2A2 A2e2 "A"cBA2 :|
|: "Bm"d2B2 f2B2 "Bm"a2B2 | "Bm"f2B2 B2e2 "A"cBA2 | "Bm"d2B2 f2B2 "Bm"a2B2 | "A"e2A2 A2e2 "A"cBA2 :|

When copied into Hume’s programme it asks how the MIDI guitar chords should be played (as the um-pah-pah of a waltz or chum-rest-chum of a minuet?). The result is the line "%%MIDI gchord czc", which sets chords on the first and last beats of each bar. I have set my abc notation in this way to show it as well as hear it.

The line "%%MIDI beat 100 95 80" is a volume thing, I think, usually used to define how a waltz is played by the guitar chords in MIDI; so probably not needed here. Just put in by Hume’s auto-pilot!

The tune could probably go quicker than "Q:1/2=120".

I tried "G" and "D" chords in the A music (instead of "Em" & "Bm"), but it did not sound "right" in the context of the tune. So I am not sure about the "G lydian" suggested by Matt Seattle. Could it be E dorian? and does it matter?

The B music seems to be D and the C music Bm, as stated.

If I were to end this tune with a "chord", in the allegedly "Scottish" style that I play, I would resolve to "Bm" after the "A" of the last bar.

I find it quite interesting that, with this rhythm going on in my left hand, the tune seems like a "reel" version of a slip-jig (well, as I would play it). Is there any such thing as a "slip-reel"?.

All the best

Peter Jenkins

Here are mine

[|: G / / | G / A | G / / | A / / :|]
[|: D / G | D / A | D / G | A / / :|]
[|: Bm / / | Bm / A | Bm / / | A / / :|]

I understand yours, my taste for this tune is that ‘less is more’. For ex. in line 1I prefer holding an f# over the G chord to make a Gmaj7 rather than changing to a Bm.

This is not a ‘tune in isolation’. It belongs to a tradition in which there are well-established procedures for constructing tunes, which were understood by many over a long period and in different parts of ‘what-is-now-the-UK’. I have written extensively on this elsewhere (‘Harmonic Proportion’, Appendix to The Master Piper). It was only after some years of exploring this that I clearly saw the corrections I have proposed for Vickers’ notation.

Harmonic Proportion is not a watertight ‘system’ in that there are certain specific flexibilities, and the chords I have given mirror these. Another way to describe this particular tune is the ‘fluid tonic’ - the dominant is fixed as A, the chord of the drones, while the ‘tonic’ extracts triads from the extended opposing chord GBDf#a. If this sounds complicated, ignore it. The tune rocks.

With corrections for L: 1/8…