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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
 Posted - 07/22/2008 : 04:13:54 AM
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aloha kakahiaka,
i've been thinking about this for a year now. i'm using the word "pedaling" the way john keawe uses it: playing a simple picking pattern just to fill time. when i'm playing guitar in a lu`au band, i do a lot of pedaling - i don't want to step on anyone - and try to emphasize the bass line a bit because we often don't have a bass player. it works well (at least, we keep getting hired...)
last year at AMC, though, keola beamer encouraged us not to pedal while playing solo and singing. he did this in a cute way: he put a stupid look on his face, started pedaling, and singing in a silly voice. ^_^ so, i've been trying to take his advice to heart.
but, finding the right balance is hard! if you do too much, not only is it hard to sing, but it conflicts with the singing. in that class we came up with a cool version of Leahi, with a muted strum while singing. One of keola's books has another idea in his tabbed version of Mino`aka, where he starts with a simple single note bass line and increases the complexity through the verses. chris yeaton has used percussion to add complexity that doesn't overly distract.
i've tried a bit by adding more complexity. in maori brown eyes, for example, i've added a more complex bass line while playing since it adds some depth (and maybe distracts from my voice...)
those of you who sing while playing solo: what is your approach towards playing while singing? is there an artist whose style you try to copy in doing this?
aloha,
keith
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Edited by - marzullo on 07/22/2008 04:14:31 AM |
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Allen M Cary
Lokahi
USA
158 Posts |
Posted - 07/22/2008 : 1:55:55 PM
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Although he is not a Hawaiian music player, one of the most interesting self accompanyists I have heard is the Celtic folk singer Alex Beaton. He is able to maintain a "lead style" accompaniment while singing that enhances, but does not compete with or interfere with the vocals. He plays at a lot of the Highland Games and Celtic festivals on the West Coast. Check out www.alexbeaton.com. He is worth a listen.
Aloha
Allen |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 07/23/2008 : 6:47:01 PM
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allen, i see what you mean, such as in "wild geese". "the maid in the calico dress" is a bit different - he strums and then breaks into a lead line when he stops singing. i see he's on iTunes;any album you recommend in particular?
go raibh maith agat,
keith |
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RWD
`Olu`olu
USA
850 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 07:59:31 AM
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| Not sure if you would consider this pedaling too but check out Cyril Pahinui singing and playing Hi'ilawe, live on the Masters of Slack Key Guitar CD. |
Bob |
Edited by - RWD on 07/24/2008 08:02:59 AM |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 09:25:58 AM
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bob,
thanks for the example - he does it beautifully, doesn't he? i wouldn't call him pedaling at all. it gets pretty complex in the ha`ina... there might be two tracks, though.
aloha,
keith
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Edited by - marzullo on 07/24/2008 09:27:43 AM |
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Allen M Cary
Lokahi
USA
158 Posts |
Posted - 07/24/2008 : 11:56:17 AM
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Keith,
I have mostly seen him live at Highland events (while wearing the appropriate woolen hula skirt, often in weather more appropriate to the grass variety). I don't have an album in mind but I remember being particularly impressed with his version to "The Water is Wide."
Allen |
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Kapila Kane
Ha`aha`a
USA
1051 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 04:29:15 AM
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Please clarify "pedaling"...
To play a basic backup pattern, and then increase my ability to add fills between vocal phrases is a skill I hope to advance, while singing...
Most artists keep it simpler, both because backup should be simpler, and also, most humans can't chew gum and strum and sing at the same time. But tasteful fills and a good "bed" to hold the song together seems essential...especially when playing alone.
Perhaps I'm not understanding the term correctly. |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 2:06:52 PM
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hi gordon,
i think one of the best examples of keola not pedaling is in his version of "i ka po ma ke ao", but easier to find is "the beauty of mauna kea". he starts with a turnaround, and then sets a motif of a strum followed by two arpeggiations. he maintains this motif while singing. it's not complex, but it's not just a fill-in pick pattern, so i wouldn't call it pedaling. instead, it's a musical structure he's written to go with the music.
aloha,
keith
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hapakid
Luna Ho`omalu
USA
1533 Posts |
Posted - 08/04/2008 : 7:09:17 PM
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"Pedaling"? Welcome to my world. It's only taken me 40 years to learn to pedal and sing at the same time!
Jesse Tinsley |
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Peter Medeiros
`Olu`olu
546 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 07:36:48 AM
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Obviously it has nothing to do with a bike, although I have tried to do it that way countless times. Correct me if you think I’m wrong or if you think I am off on an unrelated tangent, but the term “pedaling” does raise some questions for me also. It has more to do with how the musical term “pedal” is being applied to the entire accompaniment. I think that the use of the term “pedaling” maybe applying the term pedal in a much broader sense than some may be accustomed too. Although some may consider it correct in one sense, there are going to be others who do not agree and see it as an inappropriate application of the term.
I am very familiar with the term pedal, also known as drone, organ point, pedal tone or pedal point. Regardless of these terms, in slack key, it is one of two ways the bass strings are used in accompaniment, the other being the alternating bass. I wasn’t even introduced to it, it was more like “here you do this, hit da bass string and play da others”.
With an alternating bass there is a series of bass notes providing a foundation over which the musical line is built, with pedal tone, a single bass note is sustained (drone), and the musical line is built over this note. The pedal maybe used as a technique throughout the entire piece. You will hear this in Leonard Kwan’s “Opihi Moemoe” where the first note played is a pedal note and then it is followed by a series of triplets, or as you noted Keola’s “Snows of Mauna Kea”, where he plays a single pedal note and arppegiates through a chord sequence. Is this what you mean by pedaling?
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Edited by - Peter Medeiros on 08/05/2008 07:37:14 AM |
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marzullo
`Olu`olu
USA
923 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 08:53:37 AM
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hi peter,
i think the bicycling metaphor is the right one, perhaps...
another beautiful example of the use of a bass drone is in leondard's "ke`ala's mele". but, that's not how i interpreted john keawe's use of the term "pedaling". in his early song "mama's music box", in taro patch, he creates tension by working up the neck, and then hangs on a G chord, picking D B G D B G D, before sliding up E C and then into a standard descending taro patch turn around. i think that filling-the-void picking pattern is what john meant by pedaling - you're moving the fingers while holding a chord, but waiting to do something musically interesting.
keola's point to us was that most singers do exactly that - they hold a chord and use a simple pick pattern, which creates some musical background, but anything interesting that is going on is only with the voice. keola brought this up when we were working on an arrangement of "Leahi" - he had us set up a muffled percussive style strum which set a very cool motif (i forget the exact image that keola used, but it lent a feeling like a bunch of guys singing this while drinking and unwinding after a hard physical day at work).
aloha,
keith
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Peter Medeiros
`Olu`olu
546 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2008 : 10:03:45 AM
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| Okay, basically in this kind of accompaniment you would just pluck the bass and as it rings you can play and sing over it. Describing it is the problem. I think they are using “pedaling” in a broad sense and applying it to the musical line (structure) that it is built after the pedal note has been played. So to “pedal” applies to foundation as “pedaling” applies to the structure built on the foundation. I don’t think there is a need to get into this any further because than the discussion becomes pedantic and really takes away the spirit of creativity. But you know what? In Hawaiian style, you don’t even think about this, because there were no words for these concepts. You just play. |
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