Rock Island String Kollective of Vashon Island, Washington, is a string orchestra for all ages & skill levels that meets at our local coffee hang-out, most Tuesdays 3:15-4:15 at MInglement, the Vashon Coffee Roastery. Bring your Violin, Viola, Cello, Guitar, Ukulele, Mandolin, Banjo or Harp and learn Irish music, Klezmer, Cajun, and American Traditional Music in a supportive group setting. Newcomers welcome. $5/session or $40 per quarter. For more information, contact Kim Thal.
Next Thursday, 1/31, at 7:00 will be our
first EVENING RISK for the year. We invite any and all of you to
attend! We will jam until about 8:30 at Minglement in the Library.
Every last thursday we have an evening session inspired by string players who cannot make it to RISK's normal afternoon time: players of all ages are welcome. Please enter through the FRONT, MIDDLE door on the porch.
All players (or their supportive and loving parents) should print out all sheet music for this session, and place it in a black three ring binder to bring to RISK each week. Clicking on each song name will take you to the post about that song.
List of things to bring tomorrow:
black 3 ring binder with music
pencil for taking notes
your instrument of choice
$1, $5 or $10 for t-shirts, whatever you can afford
$40 for winter session dues (by the second session)
We're really excited to see where all the new developments this season take us! Let's get together and make some noise!
Shane and Kim
My last new song post for the RISK Winter Season comes with a truly awesome video - melody instruments get to learn this one by ear. I just finished listening to it four times in a row, I will say no more, just watch this:
Probably the most widely known Klezmer tune these days all over the world - often played at celebrations, the song starts slow, then steadily increases in tempo, causing the circling dancers to accellerate till their feet are flying!
"Hava Nagila," meaning "Let Us Rejoice," is perhaps the best known
Jewish folk song and is a staple for bands playing at Jewish festivals.
The melody was taken from a Ukrainian folk song. The lyrics were
probably written by Abraham Zvi Idelsohn in 1918 to celebrate the
British victory in Palestine during World War I as well as the Balfour
Declaration of 1917.
The Lyrics in English:
Let's rejoice
Let's rejoice
Let's rejoice and be happy
Let's sing
Let's sing
Let's sing and be happy
Awake, brothers, awake
Awake, brothers, with a happy heart
Awake, brothers, awake brothers
With a happy heart
This is a companion song to the one we learned earlier this year, Hangu from Podoloy. Sheet music and chords are below. Click the youtube link to start at 1:40, where Freylachs begins, or hit play in the screen below to hear both tunes together!
Click here for the youtube live concert, Doug Kershaw and his band playing don't mess with my toot toot: http://youtu.be/pQjGc2NdrAQ
No sheet music for this one, we'll learn it by ear!
By Denise La Salle
Tabbed By Larry Mofle
Chorus: G
Don’t mess with my toot toot
G
Don’t mess with my toot toot
D
You can have the other woman
G
But don’t mess with my toot toot
Verse 1:G
When I was born in my birth suit
G
The doctor made up his mind
D
He said: “You're gonna be special
G
You're gonna be fine
So you can look as much
But if you much as touch
You’re gonna have yourself a case
I’m gonna break your face
Chorus
Solo
Chorus
Repeat 1st verse
Chorus
Jumbolaya's another Cajun tune, written by Hank Williams, and may be based on an older Cajun tune, like the way much music truly is based on what came before, especially in the folk tradition.
Here's R Cajun and the Zydeco Brothers playing it: sheetmusic, chords and lyrics await your viewing pleasure below :) http://youtu.be/ehvPAGE8pw4
Jambalaya
written and recorded by Hank Williams
G D7
Goodbye Joe me gotta go me oh my oh
G
Me gotta go pole the pirogue down the bayou
D7
My Yvonne the sweetest one me oh my oh
G
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou
D7
Jambalaya and a crawfish pie and filet gumbo
G
Cause tonight I'm gonna see my ma cher amio
D7
Pick guitar fill fruit jar and be gay-o
G
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou
D7
Thibodaux Fontaineaux the place is buzzing
G
Kinfolk come to see Yvonne by the dozen
D7
Dress in style and go hog wild me oh my oh
G
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou
D7
Settle down far from town get me a pirogue
G
And I'll catch all the fish in the bayou
D7
Swap my mon to buy Yvonne what she need-oh
G
Son of a gun we'll have big fun on the bayou
repeat #2
From The Sound of Music musical, this song has become a jazz and gypsy swing standard. Here's sheetmusic and chords, and below a video of the Turtle Island String Quartet performing live. Cello solo at 2:45, you've been warned.
The song Sis Draper was written by Guy Clark and Shawn Camp, and has been played by a number of well known bands including Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Verses and Chorus' alternate with the first and second line of Arkansas Traveller. Here's sheetmusic for fiddles and TAB for mandolin, see below for how the fiddle tune fits into the lyrics and chords.
This season I'm going to do a bunch of posts at the beginning of the session with all the music for the season. The very last post will contain a list of all the songs we are working on this winter and links to them all, so keep an eye out for it!
Happy New Year, and may it be a RISK-Y one for us all!!
RISK will officially start up again TUESDAY, JAN. 15th, 3:30 to 4:45, at the Minglement Library with new songs and fresh energy! Tuition is $40 for the 10 weeks if paid by Jan. 23rd, or $5/ session (save $10 by paying a lump sum).
THREE COOL THINGS:
BIG NEWS!! Pete Welch is offering us a benefit gig similar to the shows he puts on for the Backbone Campaign! The show is called "Love Duets" and will happen on February 15th at the Red Bike! We are hoping RISK will perform 2 or 3 songs (Mairi's wedding being one, of course) to start out the evening.
More great news!
Some holiday elves so enjoyed the String Kollective's music last year,
they decided to give a gift to RISK, and make sure everyone can have a
RISK t-shirt of their own for concerts! Chip in whatever you can
afford, $10, $5 or even just a token $1, and the elves will cover the
rest of the cost! Place whatever you can afford in an envelope with your name on it, and give it to Shane at the first RISK session. Hurrah, now we'll have matching shirts for our upcoming performances! Thanks Elves!
Finally, EVENING RISK, will happen the last Thursday of the month. For January, we'll be playing on the 31st from 7:15 to 8:30.
Looking forward to Musical Mayhem and Merry Making soon!!