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-   -   Night on Bald Mountain (https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=269897)

wcap 10-22-2012 09:28 AM

Night on Bald Mountain
 
Recently I've gotten the urge to work up a guitar arrangement for Night on Bald Mountain (played with a flatpick, for really nice strong, clear bass notes!.... I've been getting into experimenting with some intricate flatpicking/strumming lately and stumbled onto a wonderful way to play parts of this piece that I think sounds fabulous on my Goodall in particular - now I just have to figure out how to play the other 80% of the piece!).

I have always thought this piece was beautiful and loved the excitement and drama of this piece (and I'm a sucker for anything in a minor key), but it bugs me that it apparently was inspired by a poem about witches and devil worship and creepy icky stuff like that (so, it turns out the creepy bit in Fantasia was not just Disney's original interpretation - it was actually an interpretation of the original inspiration for the piece).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_on_Bald_Mountain

Someone tell me that I'm being silly for letting the original inspiration of the piece bug me!

(This is all basically a rhetorical question/request - I'm really just thinking out loud here.)

charles Tauber 10-22-2012 09:52 AM

You're being silly.

wcap 10-22-2012 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles Tauber (Post 3216989)
You're being silly.

I agree!

I'm excited about working on this piece. I'm not sure when I'm going to get to it in earnest, but some of the melody sounds SO good on my Goodall in particular - its like the guitar was made for this. Bass notes played strongly with a pick are particularly awesome on this guitar, and there are some nice low melody lines in this piece.

I've been looking for a challenge that would be an intriguing piece of music that would really keep my interest and give me reason to use (and stretch to the limit) my developing skills with a flatpick. I think this would fit the bill wonderfully (perhaps with some hybrid picking in places).

Or, the whole idea might fall flat on its face for lack of time. We'll see!

(I've been working on it in DGDGAD tuning by the way - my favorite alternate tuning)

wcap 10-22-2012 12:36 PM

Speaking of creepy pieces of music, another piece I really want to learn at some point is Every Breath You Take (I'd play this fingerstyle). Aside from the creepy words, I've always thought it was a beautiful piece. And Lawrence Juber's fingerstyle arrangement of it is simply marvelous.

Glennwillow 10-22-2012 01:02 PM

Hi wcap,

I think working out an arrangement of "Night on Bald Mountain" would be a great project. I wouldn't be concerned about backgrounds of witches and goblins. It's just folklore to me... I don't have trouble with "The Teddy Bears' Picnic" and while it's not creepy, it's still made-up fantasy stuff.

I have had trouble with "Every Breath You Take," however. The notion of stalking is just too real... I am attracted to the guitar parts of that song, but every time I am tempted to mess with it, my wife reacts extremely negatively. So I leave that one alone...

- Glenn

RAD3 10-22-2012 02:39 PM

wcap, my hat is off to you if you can come up with a solo guitar version of "Night On Bald Mountain" :) Keep going!

As for the myths, etc. I wouldn't let them bother you. It's only a piece of music. I do remember that this child of the '50's had the pants scared off me when I saw the Disney version from "Fantasia" on TV. Truth to tell it still sorta gives me the hebe jebe's when I hear it now!

Ray

wcap 10-22-2012 10:32 PM

OK, I'm embarrassed now.....

As a first step toward working on learning this, I've looked up some recordings, and though I have indeed always liked Night on Bald Mountain, what I have realized is that I had it confused in my mind with different classical piece!

Now, I just have to figure out what this other piece is! I know some of the major themes of the piece, but now that I'm realizing it is not Night on Bald Mountain the name is eluding me - very frustrating! This other piece is actually the piece that really grabbed my attention recently on my guitar!

wcap 10-22-2012 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glennwillow (Post 3217187)
I have had trouble with "Every Breath You Take," however. The notion of stalking is just too real... I am attracted to the guitar parts of that song, but every time I am tempted to mess with it, my wife reacts extremely negatively. So I leave that one alone...

- Glenn

When I heard Laurence Juber perform a few years ago Every Breath You Take was, in my mind, the standout piece of the evening. His arrangement is so nice, and he plays it so well.

But the words are creepy (and yes, a lot more creepy really than a song about witches and such). The Wikipedia page for the song (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Breath_You_Take) talks about Sting's thoughts regarding the song:

"The lyrics are the words of a character of dubious nature, who is watching "every breath you take; every move you make".
I woke up in the middle of the night with that line in my head, sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour. The tune itself is generic, an aggregate of hundreds of others, but the words are interesting. It sounds like a comforting love song. I didn't realize at the time how sinister it is. I think I was thinking of Big Brother, surveillance and control.
—Sting
Sting later said he was disconcerted by how many people think the song is more positive than it is. He insists it's about the obsession with a lost lover, the jealousy and surveillance that follows. "One couple told me 'Oh we love that song; it was the main song played at our wedding!' I thought, 'Well, good luck.'" When asked why he appears angry in the music video Sting told BBC Radio 2, "I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle, little love song."

cotten 10-22-2012 10:44 PM

You're such a troll! :lol:

Let's see now. Minor. Strong bass line. Night on Bald Mountain-like...

Got it! You're obviously thinking of the Sugar Crisp cereal TV commercial jingle from the 60s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aXLy...eature=related

Naaa, probably not.

cotten

Roselynne 10-22-2012 11:28 PM

Danse Macabre, maybe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LupmmElMoI

Or, Funeral March for a Marionette (the Alfred Hitchcock theme)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eIk5DWUx_E

Or, In the Hall of the Mountain King?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg

Love 'em all; Night on Bald Mountain too.

And yes, Every Breath You Take is horrific, lyrics-wise. I've always wished the music wasn't so good.

cotten 10-22-2012 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roselynne (Post 3217727)
Or, In the Hall of the Mountain King?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg

That was my guess. That's why I suggested the Sugar Crisp jingle. Same motif.

cotten


Bonus: Young Boudraux down in Terrebonne Parish was asked by his music teacher to spell "motif" and use it in a sentence. "M-O-..." he began, obviously nervous. "M-O-T... M-O-T-I-F!" "Excellent!" exclaimed his teacher. "Now use it in a sentence. "Motif: De crockydile gots motif dan de gator," Boudreax said triumphantly.

lennylux 10-23-2012 12:07 AM

Nothing to add, but the title of this thread made me laugh..... carry on.

Roselynne 10-23-2012 12:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotten (Post 3217737)
That was my guess. That's why I suggested the Sugar Crisp jingle. Same motif.

cotten


Bonus: Young Boudraux down in Terrebonne Parish was asked by his music teacher to spell "motif" and use it in a sentence. "M-O-..." he began, obviously nervous. "M-O-T... M-O-T-I-F!" "Excellent!" exclaimed his teacher. "Now use it in a sentence. "Motif: De crockydile gots motif dan de gator," Boudreax said triumphantly.

Oh. My. Stars.

I soooo remember that jingle, and that commercial! (From, errrr, historical reconstructions, that is. Saturday morning documentaries. Yup.) Never made the connection.

zabdart 10-23-2012 06:46 AM

Mussorgsky on guitar? Boy -- you're ambitious!

wcap 10-23-2012 09:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roselynne (Post 3217727)
Danse Macabre, maybe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LupmmElMoI

Or, Funeral March for a Marionette (the Alfred Hitchcock theme)?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eIk5DWUx_E

Or, In the Hall of the Mountain King?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRpzxKsSEZg

Love 'em all; Night on Bald Mountain too.

And yes, Every Breath You Take is horrific, lyrics-wise. I've always wished the music wasn't so good.


Thank you! It's actually Danse Macabre that I was thinking of! I think it has great potential on guitar - especially on a guitar where the bass notes are full and rich and clear and ring out really nicely.

I guess my silly post starting this thread wasn't for nothing!

I've always thought it was good to set high goals for one's self in one's music. This will either be lots of fun, or frustrating!

We'll see how it goes.... check back with me later. Maybe in a year or so! ;)


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