Billets Doux

robertsaunders

I have mp3's, chords, but I'd like to know what the straightforward melody is, without embellishments typically added by the great players.

Jack

Courtesy of the Ravez Collection. For those who wonder what the title means, it's a phrase that means "love letters"...see the cover art for an illustration. (To quote William Safire, "idioms is idioms".)

best,
Jack.

robertsaunders

Thanks Jack. This'll do. Cosimini chords it in the key of G. Would I be safe in assuming most play it in that, or should I transpose the chords to this original key of C, you think?

Klezmorim

robertsaunders wrote:

Thanks Jack. This'll do. Cosimini chords it in the key of G. Would I be safe in assuming most play it in that, or should I transpose the chords to this original key of C, you think?

Rob,

What key do you want to play it in? Sheet music is usually in "C" for the convenience of pianists and vocalists, sort of a lingua franca among musicians.

Of course, any real musician will learn to play any tune in any key.

Yeah.

Right.

I'll be sure to go that... real soon...

...someday.

robertsaunders

Klezmo, I like to know what key it's usually played in by GJ players. If Cosimini wrote the chords in G it may be a safe bet that most play it in that. Doesn't matter to me personally what key it's in; only what others play it in so I'm "on the same page".

Klezmorim

Understood... and I was only yanking your chain about the 'any tune/any key' part.

I'll share a personal challenge: For 30+ years I've played "Sweet Jawja Brown" in F, 'cuase, well... that's where ALL the Texas Swing players play it. *Then* I find out most GJ players ONLY do it in G!

Kr@pp! All my hot licks for that tune are gone... when I'm with GJ pickers!

Doh!!

Jack

Klezmorim wrote:

robertsaunders wrote:

Thanks Jack. This'll do. Cosimini chords it in the key of G. Would I be safe in assuming most play it in that, or should I transpose the chords to this original key of C, you think?

Rob,

What key do you want to play it in? Sheet music is usually in "C" for the convenience of pianists and vocalists, sort of a lingua franca among musicians.

Rob, it's usually in G (though it's really rare to hear it at a jam, unfortunately--you'll change that, right?)

Klezmorim, I'm not sure I follow what you're saying about things usually being in "C"; do you mean in the key of C, or just "concert pitch" as opposed to sheet music for horns and the like? I feel like I'm missing something...if most sheet music was published in C it would be a royal pain for musicians--imagine having to transpose all those Real Book tunes on the spot!

best,
Jack.

robertsaunders

Rob, it's usually in G (though it's really rare to hear it at a jam, unfortunately--you'll change that, right?)

Correct, Jack. I'll make it a priority to bust out a handwritten chart au crayon and make copies to hand out by your next jam.



À bientôt,

~Rob

Klezmorim

Jack wrote:

Klezmorim, I'm not sure I follow what you're saying about things usually being in "C"; do you mean in the key of C, or just "concert pitch" as opposed to sheet music for horns and the like? I feel like I'm missing something...if most sheet music was published in C it would be a royal pain for musicians--imagine having to transpose all those Real Book tunes on the spot!

best,
Jack.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify, Jack. You are quite correct that there is much sheet music written for the horns. In fact, that brings up a cautionary statement: Make sure you get the book you want in the key you want! Fakebooks, et al., come in C, Bb, maybe Eb. (I'm not sure if the Fakebook/Realbook series come in the Eb variety.) Guitarists generally want the C-versions.

What I usually find in older sheet music with lyrics, is that it is written in C, but perhaps my "sample size" has been too small.
(cf. http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/cgi-bin/sheetmusic.pl?RagAlabama&Rag&2)

BTW: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/music/smp/index.html has a LOT of old ragtime and other tunes from 1922 and earlier (now Public Domain) digitally reproduced from the originals... for FREE!

robertsaunders

Klez, I understood you to be talking about obtaining sourcebooks and fakebooks in concert key as opposed to horn and wind keys since most gypsy jazz players, i.e. guitarists, string players, accordionists, read music scored in concert key.

~Rob

François RAVEZ

Hi,

Not all tune are wriitten in C or Am in old music sheets (I have a good sample of them now).
If I remember correctly, the key used to write a tune is the one in which you need to add the minimal number of artificial alterations for writing it.
For instance in the case of Billets Doux the only note out of the C scale is an F#. So I believe that it is quite "naturally" that Billets Doux is written in C.
Now for another tune, depending where the possible alterations are placed, another key will be more convenient, so it only depends on the tune itself.

But it is certain that due to some commercial considerations, there are not much Abm music sheets published for guitar players.

Best

François RAVEZ