In today's session, we learn how to play an English folk song entitled Rose.
Floral Musings
Roses have a long legacy as a song subject: The Yellow Rose of Texas, The Rose, The Last Rose of Summer,etc. Our piece today, Rose, is yet another song about this thorny flower. The rose is frequently a metaphor for your heart or object of desire, and not so much about the prickly bloom.
Our Rose is an English folk song about a flower blooming or, more accurately, delaying bloom. Rose exists in many versions—change is in the nature of a folk song—and both the lyrics and melody have been fluid throughout its history.
The Elizabethan English of the lyrics date Rose to the late Renaissance, the time of Shakespeare and the King James Bible. Here's the first verse:
Rose, rose, rose, rose,
Shall I ever see thee red?
Aye, indeed, that thou wilt,
If thou but stay
Later versions replace "red" with "wed" and thus steer the lyrics towards marriage!
Study Tips
Melody
Like Sanoe and Aloha Oe, Rose uses 5th position notes on the first string. Here's a reminder if you forgot the new notes:
Fifth Position | Notes on the first string
Rose's two phrase melody is determined and straight to the beat. At a faster clip, I dare say the melody is swashbuckling. Imagine swinging your ale to the metric accents. Aim for a slow allegro tempo of about 120 BPM.
Chords
Rose's chord transitions are relatively easy so it's all about making them sound smooth, sonorous and beautiful.
Strum
The Reggae strum, used earlier in this course on Sinner Man, also works well on Rose. Here's how to do it:
Strum downwards four times per measure.
Mute beats 1 and 3. Chords on beats 2 and 4 should be clear.
There are many ways to mute the strings but the easiest method is the left-hand mute, sometimes called chucking. We recommend muting on beats 1 and 3 by releasing the chord and gently laying the left-hand fingers across the strings on the fingerboard. Basically you touch the strings but don't press. The resulting sound, when strummed, should be a muffled "chuck"with no clear pitch.
If you prefer a more folkloric rendering of the chords, use the Down 2X Strum: a simple down strum on beats 1 and 3 (no muting).
Practice
Finally, get the sound of Rose in your ears by listening to the audio track. Once you've worked out the mechanics of the piece, practice with the audio track.
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Floral Musings
Study Tips
Melody
Strum
Practice
