Thursday 25 January 2018

Major Light, Minor Shadows: Changing a Song from Comedy to Tragedy, Part Two

I did my transposition from comedy (major) to tragedy (minor), as discussed in my January post.

Here is my original "Walk on By."

My playing is yikes!, I know. 

Below is my transposition from the original G major key to the G natural minor key. The transposition to a natural minor lowers the third, sixth and seventh degrees one half-tone.

That is, where once there was  E, B and F# is now Eb, Bb, and F.

The A section

G A B   A B   A B   G C C B  B    B   A G A  G A G A F# C C B becomes

G A Bb A Bb A Bb G C C Bb Bb Bb A G A  G A G A F   C  C Bb

And the B section

E  E   D E    D B   B   B   A A A A G B   D E   E  E    F# D B   B   B   A A A B  A D  becomes

Eb Eb D Eb D Bb Bb Bb A A A A G Bb D Eb Eb Eb F   D Bb Bb Bb A A A Bb A D

The accordion playing me does not do left hand chords well.  On accordions, chords are built into single buttons.

Writing everything down helps me.


D  D  C                                              G  D   D
B  A  G                                              E   B  A
G  F# E for Major Key A section      C  G  F# for Major Key B section    leads to

D    D  C                                              G    D     D
Bb  A  G                                              Eb   Bb   A
G    F  Eb  for Minor Key A section   C     G     F    for Minor Key B section

Below is my playing of the tragic version of "Walk on By"

Edmonton: Unbound book launch

Edmonton: Unbound is a new book published by my writer's group, the Edmonton Writers Group. Our launch was on Sunday, January 8, at Edmonton Public Library's Enterprise Square branch, the temporary home of the main downtown branch while the downtown library is under renovation.

All the stories are set in Edmonton. Not surprisingly, The Talus Dome inspired two of the stories.

As was the case for EWG's previous book, Between the Shelves, all proceeds go to Edmonton Public Library.

The book is for sale at Amazon. Getting in touch with Edmonton Writers Group (or with me, for that matter) can also get you a copy.


Brad OH Inc has posted interviews with the authors. I am among one of those authors. My contribution to the anthology is called "The Lot."