Simpedia

Beth S., Tennessee

This is how I explain Danny Boy: the mood of the song is somber and melancholic. In the lyrics; the singer is lamenting her separation from Danny. If I play each chord 4 times in a measure it will sound too busy and “jingly.” It will sound instead like she’s glad to get rid of him. When you play each chord twice in a measure it’s as if each of those chords is a long note. Count with the student to 4 but whisper 2 and 4 to show that you are just holding each chord but still getting your 4 beats.

I think you need to offer explanations to students as much as possible, even if the explanation is over their heads and leaves them glazy-eyed. To give them a “just trust the process” answer can, over time, start sounding like you don’t know and can break down your credibility in their eyes, in my opinion.

Anna J., Ontario

I would be interested in hearing what other teachers do with this too. When I’ve encountered this situation with students, I’ve tried to suggest that ultimately it’s a judgment call, that part of their job as an accompanist is going to be figuring out what ratio is going to work best in any given song. There isn’t really a right or wrong way (though with familiar songs there may be a typical or expected way to play it). What’s going to work or sound best depends in part on the nature of the song itself, but also the way in which the musician chooses to interpret or present it.

A similar issue can arise when you get to Scarborough Fair which has a 1:1 ratio even though the time signature is in 3. It can certainly be played with a 1:3 ratio, but it gives it a very different feel. Which one is “right” can be a matter of interpretation. At this stage we are giving direction to this process, but ultimately students will be presented with situations where they must choose how to play a given piece, and sometimes it’s a bit of trial and error until you find a sound that works for your interpretation of the song.

Mark M., New York

Measures are a notation structure. Ratios are a performance technique. They have some relationship but they are simply not at all the same thing, and their relationship is a very flexible one, with the choices we make having to do with what we think will make a song sound good.

Play him a recording of Tony Bennett singing “For Once in My Life,” then play him Stevie Wonder’s version. Same song. Same sheet music. Same measures. Two different feels. It’s an aesthetic choice, plain and simple.

Play Auld Lang Syne with a single 1:2 ratio in each measure. Chords “alone” in a measure fill the measure with a “together-right” while chords that share a measure now have to just get a single “together” each. The song sounds fine, and we can choose which we like better. But for now we want to keep things simple with basic ratios, so we wouldn’t provide the option of single “togethers” here since it’s a complication for the learning process.

Now play Danny Boy with two 1:2 ratios in a measure. Perfectly doable, but hear how it begins quickly to sound like an up-tempo vaudeville song. If someone liked that for Danny Boy, they’d be free to play it like that. Most people would want to hear it as a ballad, so a single 1:2 gives it that feel instead.

Beyond the technical aspect of two-togethers-per-measure for ALS being an exception that we don’t want to have to deal with yet, I really believe this is a stylistic and aesthetic issue, not a technical one.

Sandy L., Nebraska

I hope other teachers will also respond to this, and I hope I am not doing the wrong thing in Accompaniment, but here is how I handle your concern:

When we start the accompaniment book and talk about the ratio, I want my students to be able to pick up any accompaniment, not just the SM book, and figure out their own ratio. So, when we come to this discussion, I talk about how the accompaniment is providing the bottom and middle of the triangle–bass and harmony–but also provides rhythm. We can make a decision on our ratio based on the numbers found at the beginning of the song–actually we look only at the top number, as the bottom number is irrelevant to the discussion. Time signature discussions will come much, much later, so I don’t give it a name; I just point out the presence of the numbers and focus on the top.

So, if the top number is 3, our choices boil down to “what times what equals 3?” 1 x 3 = 3. Our ratio will be 1 to one of the 2 numbers that equal 3 in this problem. So, our 2 choices are 1:1 or 1:3. If the top number is 4, we talk about 1 x 4 = 4 and 2 x 2 = 4. So, now we could choose a 1:1 or a 1:4, but 1:2 is usually better. The thing we can do instead of 1:4, though is do our 1:2 twice per measure instead of just once.  I like to have students try out these different ratios all on one song, so that they can see this is a choice. When they try all of these on a 4/4 song, they clearly see why some are going to sound better with 1:2 twice per measure and others sound better with 1:2 once per measure.

On occasion, I might have a young child who is not yet multiplying. At that point, this teaching is directed straight to the parent/coach. The coach will be the one already there in practice to provide the melody–so he/she can also be the one to assist the child in finding a ratio. Now, I am able to send them off with a little Wee Sing book of songs with simple chords, and they are able to figure out the ratio for themselves. If they come across something in 6/8, they sometimes figure it right out, and other times it makes for good discussion at the next lesson, and we figure it out together, using the same principle listed above for 3/4 and 4/4. I hope that helps!

Terri P., Michigan

If he wants a technical answer, tell him that technically, he can play both of them with a 1:4 ratio or a 1:2 ratio, but that music is also subjective, and we get to decide how we want to do some things, in order to get the ‘feeling’ or mood across.

Hilary C., Western Australia

I explain the nature of the music – the first is an upbeat party thing, the second a love song, full of emotion and sadness – I explore the story around it and if necessary demonstrate that upbeat rhythm does not fit the mood of the 2nd song. It’s sad, not happy.

I use this as an opportunity to introduce /reinforce the idea that different music expresses different feelings all of which is part of our humanity and therefore expressible in our art. I have various painting/prints on the wall that depict this idea from a fine art perspective.

I don’t, at this stage, get caught up on the technicalities as I think it interferes with the expression of emotion Concentrating on the story is fundamental for me at this stage – the why, not the what.

Rochelle G.

I just taught Danny Boy for the first time last week myself.  What I  told my students was that they could play it either way, but that I thought it sounded better as a (1:2) ratio just once in each measure and that was how I was going to play it.  I said that the feel of some songs would dictate that. I demonstrated playing the 4 chords in each measure, and then the 2. We all agreed that the second way worked better for Danny Boy. I pointed out that a song like Auld Lang Syne that changes chords in the same measure needed to be played with the ratio twice and it sounds fine that way.