Hello, I am new to the site and greeting you all.
These days, I listen to Farnborough Fair / the version of Celtic Women and I would like to find the sheet music for it.
I have already found the main melody but I am still looking for accompaniments for whistle, harpe violin and guitar.
I would be very grateful for your answers. Have a good day, Sybille.
Guitar chords for the Simon & Garfunkle version:
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/simon-garfunkel/scarborough-fair-chords-83977
Just listened to a couple of versions on YouTube (the arrangement style is not really to my taste but I ‘get’ the quality of the singing)
The whistle seems to be largely a version of the melody so I’d get my whistle player to see what they can come up with along these lines, rather than try for not for note replication.
Harp seems to be mainly just playing the chords
Note their use of key changes
Thank you for your answers.
Actually, I didn’t want Simon and Garfunkel’s version but thanks anyway. And yes, you are right about the whistle and harp voices, thank you.
I forgot to add the link to the video I’m referring to. So here it is:
https://youtu.be/wiZJP_XLmrQ
Actually, the Simon and Garfunkle version in terms of melody isn’t too dissimilar.
So, the chord sequence might be OK but, obviously, will have to be transposed into the correct keys (they change throughout the song).
“…the chord sequence might be OK…”
It’s not so much the sequence with the Martin Carthy/Paul Simon version but more the voicings and arpeggiated patterns that make it.
I think it’s what you do with the chords (which, let’s face it, are pretty basic) that’s more important - I might pluck up the courage to give the Celtic Women take a listen tomorrow.
To be fair, I didn’t study them that closely but “assumed” they would work.
🙂
You are right though about all the different possibilities.
“I might pluck up the courage to give the Celtic Women take a listen tomorrow.”
Fortunately there is an abundant choice of lovely whisky in Scotland Donald. All the best.
“lovely whiskey in Scotland”
As Llig used to say
Scotland: Whisky
Ireland : Whiskey
Scotland: Diddly
Ireland: Diddley
🙂
Gobby, you corrected it while I was typing my reply. Ach, never mind.
Ha’ ha,…. too slow there Johnny. But yes, I made a slip (and then spotted it) exposing my prejudice for the Irish stuff.
Funnily enough, I decided to be a good boy and refrain from having a dram this evening. Ah’m oot ramorra night so it’ll be Tuesday before the glencairn gets filled again (and promptly emptied).
Been on an international Burns session the nicht, so nae Simon and Garfunkel (spelling rears its ugly head again! And predictive text tries to make it it’s!!) Nae Scarborough Fair! But a wee dram o’ “The Laddie” (Bruichladdich) tae move things oan!
Apologies to the original poster, Sybille, who must think we’re all mad - at least the last few posts!
I doubt that anybody would write out that whistle part exactly as it is played. Any good whistle player would just ad lib their way around the basic tune. I have only ever dabbled with whistles, but that seems so basic to me that I have no doubt I could do it straight off. It would be in my own way, of course, but then that’s how it should be.
No problem - I’m from Switzerland, so I don’t really get the difference between whisky and whiskey (here, we drink absinthe) but I hope it will help with the Celtic Women’s version of Scarborough fair 😜…
It would take a lot of absinthe to make my heart grow fonder….
Try this, Gobby: https://thesession.org/tunes/10303
Well I gave it a listen.
Curiously it’s about 30 cents sharp of concert pitch. Starts with two verses in Cm, moves to Dm for the instrumental break and ends with two verses in Ebm for extra cheese.
Follows the basic chord structure, presented here in Am:
|Am - - |Am - - |G - - |Am - - |Am - - |
|Am - - |Am - - |C D - |Am - - |Am - - |Am - - |Am - - |
|Am - - |C - - |C G/B Am|G - - |G - - |
|Am - - |G - - |G - - |Am - - |Am - - |Am - - |Am - - |
with variations dotted here and there, like
|Am - - |Am - - |G - - |F - - |G - - | on the first line,
|F - - |Em - - |C G/B Am|G - - |G - - | on the third line
and
|Am - - |G - - |G - - |F - - |Em - - |D - - |D - - | on the last line.
Oh, and as with the S&G/Martin Carthy version, there’s a lot of use of the minor ninth (or sus2, if you prefer) on the home chord.
Ha!.. thanks Donald. I never knew there was such a tune. And I see you’ve provided the chords as well. I may learn it. I quite like the drink in wee nips.
It’s thanks to Covid I came across this.
You can hear the Sanctuary Band version of the tune here:
https://rossainslie.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-the-gorbals
by selecting “Absinthe Live”.
Not trad but just great music. It plays really well in D.
“Curiously it’s about 30 cents sharp of concert pitch”
Yes, I noticed that too but not the exact percentage. 😉
I had hesitated to mention it in case I was wrong and just unable to work out key. That’s why my initial comment seemed vague. The latter part did seem to be in concert pitch though.
Anyway, as a diversion.
Here’s one of my favourite versions. The melody is slightly different but it’s a wonderful track.
https://youtu.be/gQsIKVx3lMw
Tuning up a bit isn’t unknown in show biz (which C.W, certainly is, if anything). Brightens the sound as it goes over the loudspeakers, & as long as everyone is up there it won’t sound “out of tune”.
Thank you all for your inputs and also Donald for the Absinthe-tune with the nice whistle, fiddle and sax parts.
I have a illustration for the Absinthe in Aranya :
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02yKEZFbk6GzpEE8XW3zh4hqC9nLwLfLdpBEWaR3ZDH23uyrXmfC9GeFE9YuEePdQDl&id=100007341965013
