17 Canal Songs

Have you ever been on a boat? Better yet, have you sung on a boat?! I sure have from local shores to crystal blue waters in Mexico!

Unlike sea shanties, the collection of canal collections contains almost no work songs. These songs took their melodies from the popular music of the day. The subjects used in canal songs tell us a bit about how the canaller viewed himself and how he was viewed by others.

The Canaller's Songbook

1. The Good Ship Calabar (Ireland)

          C                                      G7              C

Come all ye dry land sail-i-ars and listen to my song

                                            Bb                   C
It's only forty verses and I won't detain ya long

                                                  Bb                      C
It's all about the adventures of this Sou' Lisburn barge

                                                               G7            C

As I sailed as a man before the mast on the good ship Calabar.

2. Boating on a Bullhead (YouTube Video)

3. Simon Slick (Lyrics and Midis)

4.From Buffalo to Troy (Song in Key of A)

5. A Trip on the Erie

6. A Life on the Raging Canal On Spotify

7. Oh! Dat Low Bridge

This song was written for an 1880's minstrel show called, The Grip. Music by David Braham and lyrics by Edward Harrigan.

      G                   Em                    D7

It's many miles to Buffalo (Oh that low bridge)

 G                                      D7        G

Balky mule he travels slow (Oh that low bridge)

             G                 Em                       A7                 D7
There's gravel on the towpath, there are hornets in the sand,

       C                   G                         D7         G
Oh, pity poor canallers that's so far away from land.

Chorus:

G                    Em             G                     Em

Look Out! That Low Bridge, Look Out! That low bridge.

      C                         D7
The captain, cook and all the crew,

      G            D7             G
oh duck your heads way down

       C                    D7
The fastest boat in all the fleet,

         G           D7        G
"Two Sisters," come to town.

8. Meeting of the Waters

This was the song sung in New York City on November 4, 1825, for the dedication of the opening of the Erie Canal. Chords and Lyrics.

             D               G        D  

Let the day be forever remembered with pride,

             A7                                    D     A7

That beheld the proud Hudson to Erie allied.

                                                        D                  A7

Oh, the last sand of time from his glass shall descend,

           D            G              A7            G

E'er a union so fruitful of glory shall end,

           D            G              A7

E'er a union so fruitful of glory shall end.

9. I'm Afloat (Written in 1842)

        F                                      C7

I'm afloat! I'm afloat! On the Erie Canal.
       Bb              F                                                 C7
Its wave is my home and my scow beats them all.
       F                                                 C7                          F
Off! Up, with your hats! Give three cheers, now three more.
       Dm              Bb              C7                     F
I'm afloat! I'm afloat! After four months on shore. 
       A7                   Dm                 G7                C7
The prim, painted packets right past us may souse. 
                  F                      C7                      F                        C7
They may rub. They may bump, but they can't stave out bows.
         G7                                     C7
With darkness around us, and bridges full low.
                                               G7             C7
O'er the raging canal rights onward we go.
            F                                                 C7               F
Come, boy. Whip the mare. Keep her head to the wind.
          Bb                  F                                          C7
And I warrant we'll soon leave the snails all behind.
       F                                               C7                           F                Dm             Bb
Up! Up! with your caps. Now give cheers three times three. I'm afloat! I'm afloat!

            C7      Dm                          G7                  C7                 F
The canaller is free.  I'm afloat! I'm afloat! And the cook's getting tea.

10. The Raging Canal By P Morris

11. The Aged Pilot Man mudcat.org

12. The Girl from Yewdall's Mill www.loc.gov/resource

13. Black Rock Pork (lyrics)

14. Paddy on the Canal (Midi & Lyrics)

15. The E-ri-e (Lyrics)

16. The Dark-eyed Canaller (YouTube)

17. Low Bridge, Everybody Down (Sheet Music)

        Em                         Am         B7

I’ve got a mule and her name is Sal

Em                              B7   

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

Em                                            Am          B7

She’s a good old worker and a good old pal

Em                           B7

Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal

Em      G                                         D7            

We’ve hauled some barges in our day

Em                                      B7

Filled with lumber coal and hay

       Em                   Am             B7

And we know every inch of the way

          Em            B7    Em

From Albany to Buffalo

D7    G                           D7

Low bridge, everybody down

G                                                D7    G

Low bridge ’cause we’re comin’ to a town

                                               C

And you’ll always know your neighbor

          G                          C

You’ll always know your pal

                G           C                  G    D7  G

If you’ve ever navigated on the Erie Canal

The last song is one of my favorites. Have fun with the chord progressions. Perhaps purchase the book if you're interested in playing the melody lines, The Canaller's Songbook.

Blessings,

-- LadyD

 "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

The Components of Music: Part Three

The Structure of Music

The structure of an object is its organization or the way in which it is put together. Every object has an outer shape or form. Every object also has inner parts which give that object its unique character.

Music also has an outer shape or plan. Each piece of music has many inner parts too, which fit together to create the whole composition. Music has both outer and inner structure or form.

Introduction To "Motif"

A motif is a short musical figure that recurs throughout a composition. It is used to unify the piece. A motif is usually the seed of the main theme of a composition. AS few as two notes can make up a motif if they are melodically or rhythmically characteristic of the theme. The motif can be found in music as simple as a folk song or as complex as a symphony. Beethoven developed a highly skilled use of the motif in many of his later symphonies.

Creating Melodic Variation

Augmentation - Doubling the duration of notes in a melody
Altered Tones - Changing some of the pitches of a melody
Extension - Adding notes to make a melody longer
Ornamentation - Adding new tones within a melody

Music Background

A phrase in music is comparable to a sentence in a speech. It is a natural division of the melodic line. A phrase usually includes 2, 4, or 8 measures. A phrase mark (or curved line) should not be confused with a tie or a slur mark. A tie only connects two notes of the same pitch. A slur mark is used when two notes are sung on one syllable.

The Forms of Music

All music has an outer shape or form. There are very short forms of music, such as a three-part (A B A) song or instrumental piece, or a simple round. There are also longer forms of music.

Instrumental Forms

• Theme and variations
• Rondo
• Suite
• Symphony
• Concerto

Vocal Forms

• Opera
• Oratorio

Music is often built by putting phrases together in very regular ways. For example, many folk songs have an even number of phrases, with an equal number of measures in each. One or two phrases may be repeated, resulting in phrase forms such as these.

A B A B    A A B A    A B A C

Theme and variation is a musical form that uses a musical idea (theme) and a number of modifications of the theme (variations). The theme is usually a simple tune, frequently a familiar melody. If the original melody is preserved in all the variations, they are called melodic variations. If only the original harmonic structure is kept, they are called harmonic variation.

Poetry, as well as music, may be written in either regular or irregular phrase form.

So, reinforce understanding of phrases through compositional strategy. Experiment with various ways to develop the two phrases into a melody. Write words to fit one or more melodies. The melodies created should show understanding of phrase form, cadence, and musical balance.

Does your song have a regular or irregular form?
Does your song seem balanced?
Does your song end with a full cadence?

Okay. Perhaps you have missed some earlier posts on Components of Music. You can catch up here, Part Two and Part One.

You may be interested in MACMILLAN MUSIC. It's a great resource for teachers.

Wishing you all the best!


-- LadyD
 "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King

The Components of Music: Part Two

Melody

A melody is a succession of pitches that move in time. Each tone in a melody has both pitch and duration. Most modules are built from pitch arrangements called scales. There are many kinds of scales. You are familiar with major scales and minor scales. Here's an earlier post to refresh your studies, Reviewing 4 Scales.

Because melody has both pitch and duration, it cannot be separated from rhythm. Melody, therefore, could be described as motion plus rhythm. Melody is a continuous movement, and is, therefore, the progress of a moving line passing through successive sounds. A composer manipulates this movement in much the same way as a painter draws a line or a sculptor molds a shape. A line of any kind, however, whether visual or tonal, has direction. It moves either upward or downward. The movement of the line is what gives the melody a recognizable profile. Most melodies are built from pitch organizations called scales. There are many kinds of scales.

Modes

D-E-F-G-A-B-C-D

The scale above is called the Dorian mode. If you want to experiment with different modes, then read Learn Improv with Modes.

"Scarborough Fair" is an old English song that is based on this scale, D  E  F  G  A  B  C  D. This scale is called the Dorian mode. There are many kinds of modes. each mode uses a different pattern of intervals.

Reviewing Scales

The meaning of the term "scale" is an ascending or descending arrangement of pitches from which melodies and harmonies are built (generally within the octave). Half step examples: C-C#, E-F, A-Ab, B-C. Whole step examples: C-D, E-F#, A-G, Bb-C). A scale may start on any tone. Play some of these scales, starting in different tones. Choose one of the scales and improvise a melody.

• Major Scale

          W   W   1/2    W W W 1/2

• Minor Scale

        W  1/2  W  W  1/2  W  W

• Dorian mode

         W  1/2  W  W  W  1/2  W

• Mixolydian mode

         W  W  1/2  W  W  1/2  W
       
A great resource you may be interested in is Fundamentals of Piano Theory - Level 1.

Pentatonic Scales

You can use pentatonic scales for improvisation and composition. Pentatonic scales are related to the music of some of the Indian cultures. This is an example of a Pentatonic scale: D E F# A B. Not all scales have seven tones. Many songs are built on a five-tone scale. Five-tone scales are called pentatonic scales. Much music from the Far East uses pentatonic scales.

If you want to understand pentatonic scales, visit Altered Pentatonic Scales and Patterns.

Composing with Pentatonic Scales

"Sakura" is a famous Japanese folk song. This song is a delicate musical picture of cherry blossom time in Japan. When arranging notes of the song from low to high, use B C E F A B C. Notice that there are two half steps in this scale, unlike the more familiar, pentatonic scale. (Half steps are between B and C, E and F.)

Tone Row

Tone rows are pitch organizations like scales except that they have no tonal center. Some music has no tonal center. 

Building a Tone Row

The tone row was first developed by an Austrian author-composer, Arnold Schoenberg. Now manycomposers use tone row as a basis for their music. Schoenberg developed the twelve-tone system, in which every composition is based upon an arbitrary arrangement of the twelve chromatic tones, called a tone-row. An example would be C, E, G, C#, A, B, F, Eb, D, F#, G#, A#.

Microtonal Music

Some composers make up their own scales. The American composer Harry Partch (1901-1974) used a scale which has forty-three pitches to each octave. His music based on intervals smaller than half steps is called microtonal music. Microtonal music sounds out of tune to people who listen only to music built from half and whole steps.

A great handbook resource I recommend to musicians is Jermaine Griggs, 300 Pg Piano By Ear Home Study Course. I refer to it often with my piano students wanting to compose songs with a few chords.

Have fun building on music theory and using the information to improvise with making songs at your fingertips! 

-- LadyD

 "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King