songs to sing with friends

Subject: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST,Emmie
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 06:07 PM

I have sung solo for years, getting up occasionally to perform at my local folk club. I have a couple of friends who like singing and we have started meeting when we can to sing together in our living rooms. A lot of the songs I know don't work that well for a trio and I wondered if mudcat members could suggest some songs that work well for a group. I would appreciate any songs that have call and response, easy choruses, songs and songs that are relatively straight forward to harmonize with.

Look forward to hearing ideas.

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: Peace
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 06:09 PM

Darned near anything by PP+M, Kingston Trio, etc.

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 06:15 PM

I've never listened to the kingston trio but shall check them out on i-tunes just now. Who are PP+M? is that Peter, Paul and Mary?
I was kind of thinking of traditional british folk ( sorry, forgot to mention that) but maybe I'm limiting myself a bit. Thanks for the suggestions :-)

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: akenaton
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 08:35 PM

I'm afraid it would have to be a solo.....duet at a pinch :0(

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 10:12 PM

Emmie, do you see a blue box in the upper right corner of your screen with (among other things) the words 'DT Lyrics'?

Click on 'Browse' and you will find The Digital Tradition, a huge collection of songs. On some you can hear the tune as well as the music. I suggest you scan the list for songs you know. Then choose the best for your group.

And best of luck with your group.

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST,Russ
Date: 30 Jan 10 - 11:24 PM

Definitely not traditional british folk, but if you think you might want to expand your horizons, get familiar with the Carter Family.

Lots of songs with easy choruses, memorable and quickly learnable tunes, and Sarah and Maybell's harmonies are to die for.

Russ (Yank and permanent GUEST)

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 01:29 AM

Why 'definitely not traditional British folk'? Replete with chances for harmonies and co-operation. I should begin with the Copper Family — 'Thousands or More' would be a good one to start with - and work out from there. Then try both well-known tunes of 'Byker Hill'. Then 'Holmforth Anthem'. Traditional British folk offers infinite possibilities. Any shanty will give you plenty of call & response opportunities.

Enjoy!

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: Crane Driver
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 05:35 AM

I think 'Guest Russ' meant that the Carter family are definitely not traditional British folk, not that 'Guest Emmie' should definitely not be looking for traditional British folk. The possibilities for confusion here are endless ;-}

Assuming Emmie is in the UK, there are loads of gatherings during the summer where people get together, sing and swap songs. Most festivals have a 'fringe' where you can experience sharing songs within a group (rather than having songs sung to you, which is a totally different thing). Visit a few and pick up any songs that appeal to you - you can come back here for background info, words etc. of anything you like.

Sadly, life is too short, and the internet too limited, to list any more than a tiny fraction of the songs that fit your criteria, even if we do limit ourselves to traditional British folk.

Best wishes anyway.

Andrew

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: Marje
Date: 31 Jan 10 - 11:30 AM

Rather than look for individual songs, you might find more if you listen to recordings of other acapella groups. I know, I know, it's the lazy way to do it, but you don't have to copy them slavishingly. It would just give you a feel for what can be done. Some British traditional ones you could try are:
The Copper Family
The Watersons
Coope, Boyes and Simpson
Swan Arcade
Artisan
The Voice Squad (OK, they're Irish, but they give the songs an English treatment)
Devil's Interval
Craig, Morgan, Robson

This last trio run harmony workshops in various locations, mostly around the south of England, which would be well worth attending if you get the chance.

Shanties and sea-songs offer plenty of opportunities for call-and-response and harmonies, so any book or recording of those could be useful too.

What always impresses me when I listen to acapella groups is how totally different and distinct they sound from each other. So your trio won't sound like a copy, you'll have your own sound too.

Have fun!
Marje

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST,emmie
Date: 01 Feb 10 - 07:48 AM

Thanks for the info everyone. We're a group of women and I have more experience of folk singing than my two friends. We've tried doing a couple of watersons songs already. I like the idea of investigating the coppers more and I also should listen to my devils interval cd again to see if theres a good one for us. I was actually thinking of trying out "keep on the sunny side" by the carter family so will probably bring that one along for our next meeting. I really ought to learn some shanties as well...any reccomendations?

Got lots of new ideas to check out..artists I haven't heard before..so thankyou..shall be back on i-tunes tonight!!

Emmie

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: Marje
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 09:28 AM

For an all-female group, shanties won't always suit, as they tend to be very macho and more suited to male voices. "Leave Her, Johnny, Leave Her", or "Bold Riley" might be good ones to start with. But hey, I don't know, maybe you've all got big butch voices? :-)

Don't forget YouTube as a souce of songs. I haven't got a particular example of this, but you'll often find a variety of versions of good songs there if you search by song title or group.

Marje

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 03:03 PM

"shanties as well...any reccomendations?"

Shenandoah

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: Bettynh
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 05:29 PM

I love the range of songs sung by the Short Sisters

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 06:34 PM

Going to the Chapel of Love....not exactly a folk song, but doing this with a folk style group and it's terrific.

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 02 Feb 10 - 06:53 PM

P.S. ( I was the last guest)

Early gospel songs are terrific to sing with friends, as they were meant to be song, eg. I'll Fly Away. Will The Circle Be Unbroken is another singing song. And if you have the eagerness and opportunity to learn Sacred Harp songs, you can do a four part harmony.

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: Suegorgeous
Date: 03 Feb 10 - 02:20 PM

A couple I used to sing in harmony with another woman:
She moved through the fair (endless harmony possibilities)
My Johnny was a shoemaker

Other ideas:
Twa corbies
Bedlam boys
Low down in the broom

PM me if you can't find versions of them.

Sue

Subject: RE: songs to sing with friends
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Feb 10 - 06:31 PM

Thanks for the ideas. Keep em comin. I decided to go initially with song suggestions I knew as we're meeting up this Friday to sing for the celtic festival of Imbolc ( my friends idea) I'm going to sing Bold Riley with them as I really like that song. I found a great trio of female singers doing a version called the wailin jennys on i-tunes so that was a nice discovery.( watched them on youtube as well)

I like the idea of doing chapel of love and doing gospel songs also. Will be checking out all the songs so thanks everyone again :-)

Emmie