As Bulgarian tunes go, this one is pretty straightforward. It’s a 5-part tune; I’ve combined parts to put it in contra structure. The C melody is a happy alternative to the B.
Banjo Meets World
Tunes and tab for adventurous clawhammer banjo players
Tunes and tab for adventurous clawhammer banjo players
As Bulgarian tunes go, this one is pretty straightforward. It’s a 5-part tune; I’ve combined parts to put it in contra structure. The C melody is a happy alternative to the B.
What a wonderful shift of the strong beat between B2 and C part! Shouldn’t this be notated as one extra beat before the C part (with the g-a notes that are now at the beginning of C part) so the four b notes on the beats would be in full first 4/4 measure of C part?
Mirek from Prague, Czech Republic
Hi Mirek, thanks for your question. I think you’re hearing the C part differently than I intended. To me, the beat doesn’t change–the G at the beginning of the C part does happen on beat 1. The b notes in C are on the off-beats. If you count through the tune while listening to the MP3, you should hear an equal number of beats in each phrase, and the “1″ beat should land on the G of the C part.
Here’s a link to an MP3 of a full orchestra playing a very similar version of the tune:
http://www.balkanfolk.com/download-item-details.php?type_id=mp3&category_id=28&item_id=121
The orchestra emphasizes the off beats (meaning 2 and 4 beats), which is very typical for Bulgarian dances in 4/4. That’s probably why the melody in the C part makes those beats sound stronger.