ecosophia | Musical Help Requested!

One of the plot engines in my about-to-be-released novel The Weird of Hali: Chorazin is a folk song, "The Sleeper in the Hill," that includes certain clues that the characters have to follow to make sense of the mystery hidden beneath Elk Hill in far western New York State. I had no trouble hearing the words and the melody of the song, but my musical chops fall short when it comes to finding the chords. It's a modal melody, and I'm pretty sure it begins and ends with an A minor chord, but beyond that I have no idea. Help from my musically literate readers would be greatly appreciated. Here are the dots:
The Sleeper in the Hill

Thanks to anyone who can help!

Current Mood: hopeful

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From: (Anonymous)

The "obvious" chords are:

a | a | a | G
a | a | a | G
a | a | a | G
a | a | G | a

where a = A minor and G = G major.

But let me know if you had something more "sophisticated" in mind.

All the best,
Anonymous searching for my 'tamanous' :-)

From: (Anonymous)

P.S. Nice song, btw.

From:

wyrdebeard

A really simple chord progression would be:

Am C Am G
Am C Am G
Am C Am G
Am C G Am

This tune is really familiar — I think there’s a traditional tune that’s nearly the same, but I’m going to have to ponder it for a bit to remember what it is.

From:

wyrdebeard

There’s a strong family resemblance to Farewell to Whiskey (aka Johnny, Me Lad). That might be what I was thinking of.

From: (Anonymous)

i thought i could do it, and i probably could have prior to my injury... i could do it, even now, but it would take me a few hours, because i would have to learn to play the melody before i could work out what the chords are, and i'd be willing to bet that other musicians that don't have brain injuries could do it a lot more quickly. 🤕 👍

if you haven't had any other takers in a couple of days, let me know and i'll take a stab at it. you're right, the first and last chords are A-minor, and it should be relatively straightforward to figure out the rest of them.
----- salamandir

From:

tunesmyth

If it's a folk melody, then by most definitions it's been floating around for at least a hundred years or so, and there will inevitably be some variations; thus even if there are any differences between what I and other readers may provide you with, we are all probably correct. :-)

Here is one chord progression which seems likely. It's almost embarrassingly simple, mind you, but folk melodies often are.

Am / Am / Am / G /
Am / Am / Am / G /
Am / Am / Am / G /
Am / Am / G / Am

Of course some of the regional variations sometimes get more colorful. Here's one example.

Am / C / Am / Em /
Am / Am / Am / D /
Am / Am / C / G /
Am / C / G / Am

Hope that helps!

From: (Anonymous)

My boyfriend Hal Weeks (music teacher, folk music specialist) says that you are correct that it's modal, and that it is A minor Dorian. You can play the whole thing with A minor and G. -- Joy Vernon

From:

zarvoc

Hi John,

This song is in the A dorian mode! If it's being played without modulating to any other key, then the underlying chords of A dorian are as follows:

A - minor
B - minor
C - major
D - major
E -minor
F# - diminished
G - major

As to what chord goes with exactly what measure, I'm a bit lost not having my guitar on me, but theoretically you can sleuth this out by figuring out what the the stable notes in each measure are, then looking at which chords contain these notes. My best guess is:

A minor - E minor - A minor - G major /
A minor - E minor - A minor - D major /
A minor - E minor - A minor - G major /
A minor - E minor - B minor - A minor

From:

slclaire

Here are the chords I worked out on my dulcimer for it. (In case you're curious, I used D-a-d tuning and a capo on the 4th fret. I'm still working on the best fingering, but I like the way it sounds with the chords I chose.)

First line: Am over "long", Em over "road", G over "rie"
Second line: Am over "home", Em over "cry", D over "fill"
Third line: Am over "poor", Em over "go", D over "tion"
Fourth line: Am over "called", Em over "sleep", D over "un", Bm over "the", Em over "hill".

It's a haunting song, fitting the words.

From:

slclaire

I meant to write Am for the last chord of line 4. Should have done a better job of proofreading before I hit the post button.

From: (Anonymous)

1st chord is A minor
E minor on the word 'Erie'
A minor in m6 on the word 'home'
D chord in m9 on the word 'fill'
A minor in m10 on the word 'poor'
E minor on m13 on the syllable 'na'
A minor in m14 on the word 'called'
G chord on the second to last measure
A minor on the last measure

That's the simplest way to do it. You could put a C chord on m8 on the word 'cry' if you want.

From: (Anonymous)

Am, first 3 measures, then on "hill" measure, C. G at "Erie" Am on "Home",
G on "fill" Am on "poor" C on "down" G on "-nation" I'd put Am on "called", C on "sleeper" and G on "under" resolving on Am. Within this framework, you can do some nifty bass runs, and possibly a few other chord variations, but this is basic. Cheers! --Sidney

From:

ecosophia

Thank you all! I think we've definitely got a good example of the folk process here -- I've seen plenty of mountain dulcimer tunes that have at least this much variation in the chords.

I've copied all these down, and will proceed to try them out on my dulcimer as time permits.

From: (Anonymous)

Where lower case is minor,
the chord durations follow the note letter, half note is 2, quarter note is 4, etc.
a dot, '.', following the duration adds half-again more, so that a2. is a minor for 3 beats
a colon followed by a number modifies the chord, so that e4:7 is a 7th chord

e4:7 | a2. | a2. | a2. | G2 e4:7 |
a2. | a2. | a2 C4 | G2 e4 |
a2. | a2. | a2 C4 | G2 e4 |
a2. | a2. | G2 e4 | a4. |

I've notated all this using LilyPond, but don't know how to get it into this reply (either as a pdf file or the image of this pdf file).

--William Allen

From: (Anonymous)

I have questionable musical ability and I'm frustratingly still a novice at the thing, but I'm going to see if I can tab this song out for my banjo.

David BTL

From:

jjensenii

I have nothing meaningful to contribute, since I've never been very musically-inclined and abandoned my piano lessons as soon as my parents gave up trying to force them on me.

That said, while reading the lyrics, a tune--almost certainly not the one intended--quickly and strongly popped into my head. The peculiar thing is that I recognized it as something I'd think of being played by an organ grinder at a horror-story carnival. So I searched the web for "hurdy-gurdy" (technically a different instrument, but it has been called that).

This was the first video result.

The first part of that is uncannily like the tune I had in my head. Obviously, it doesn't actually fit the lyrics of your song exactly, but it could with some minor changes.

Anyway, I hope one day to get to hear the real tune when it's finished.

From: (Anonymous)

Hi JMG
I had a crack at this and then ran it past my guitar teacher. With the F# the key is G (or Em) so ending with the A is unusual. The melody starts with a G.
Here's what we came up with:
Am Em G D
Am G Em D
Am G Em D
Am Em G D
The Em and G are basically interchangeable so I mixed it up to provide some variety.
Let us now what you decide to go with!
Matthew

From:

troyjonesiii

For anyone curious as to what it sounds like, here are a few very simple MIDIs I threw together in MuseScore. I don't know anything about music theory, but I do know how to use free software haha. All I added was a simple bass part that plays the bottom notes of the suggested chords (sorry, I don't know what the technical term for that is).

This is with the "embarrassingly simple" aaaG (etc) progression several folks suggested:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1XoUEIVqeQEU_1CyueScTEPYVGSJJyLwi

This is the nearly-as-simple aCaG progression which was also proposed by several people:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1xuWDKO8CQ0vRFPp5-3OBZxrDuSl-1ry_

This is the "colorful regional variation" suggested by tunesmyth:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1DX_-awg15xdKWwsLDXh673BlAneO3szu

They all sound good, but I kinda prefer the second one.

Edited (additional thoughts plus colorful regional variation) Date: 2019-02-14 06:31 pm (UTC)

From:

ecosophia

Thank you! You're right that they all sound good, and they're all well within the normal range of folk music variation, so I've now made all of them versions to be found in the folk traditions of the world of The Weird of Hali. I also like the aCaG version just a bit better than the others -- personal taste, basically -- so that's the version that appears on the old Sixties-era Folkways recording Silver John Plays Songs of the Mountains, along with such classic mountain tunes as "Barbry Allen" and "The Desrick on Yandro." ;-)

From:

kimberlysteele

Hi JMG,

I just saw this today (the 14th) and I have to say I agree with everyone. It should be relatively simple, mostly A minor, G, and C. I made a lead sheet for it and sung a couple of realizations of it. The MP3s and a PDF lead sheet are here:

http://kimberlysteelemusic.com/share/jmg/

You can download the ZIP file which has two MP3s of me singing it on guitar and PDF already in it. Let me know if there is any trouble getting at the files. Also, I messed up one of the notes and did not realize it until later -- going to go eat my lunch now so I have a better attention span!

Also, my apologies as I have not read the book or series yet.

From:

ecosophia

Thank you for this! The performances are very nicely done indeed -- not that this is any kind of surprise, mind you. (And the variation in the final note of the second line is again the kind of thing that happens in folk music all the time.)

Nobody's read the book yet -- it'll be out in six days -- and I know that fantasy fiction with tentacles isn't everyone's cup of tea, so don't worry about that. I'm pleased that you took the time to help with the chords and record two versions.

From:

kimberlysteele

You're welcome! It was no big deal at all -- I learn new tunes and record for a living. I needed to figure out how to use Garageband on my iPhone so your tune was a good push. Also, I have a teen boy vocal/guitar student who might be willing to sing it. He's got a beautiful voice. Is the character who sings it a young man?

From:

ecosophia

In the story, the song is heard twice. The first time, it's played on a CD reissue of the old Folkways record I mentioned, and the singer is a middle-aged male folk singer from the southern Appalachians, accompanying himself on a twelve-string guitar. (It's played in a cheap CD player in a car rattling down a poorly maintained freeway along the Hudson river, so the sound quality's a little shaky!)

The second time, it's sung by a woman of maybe sixty, a member of one of America's old multiracial ethnic groups -- if you know anything about the Melungeons, you know the general type -- born and raised in far western New York State, a day's drive east of Buffalo; she's accompanied by a harmonica player.

That said, I'd be happy to see other people play and sing it, including your student. What's more, I plan on making it available for performance and recording free of charge, if anyone ever wants to do that; my sole stipulation is that "from the novel The Weird of Hali: Chorazin by John Michael Greer" should be mentioned if it's performed, and included in print somewhere if it's recorded.

From:

kimberlysteele

Very cool. Nice to know that Folkways CDs manage to survive well into the Lovecraftian monster future, woo hoo! I have neither a middle aged male vocal student (had one and he's too busy for lessons at the moment) nor a 12 string, but I'll try to record Sleeper In the Hill with my student at some point and then hand over the recording to you both as a full recording and as separate parts, guitar and isolated vocals. You can do whatever you want with the ones I've already made, which unfortunately cannot be separated by instruments as it was just single takes with my phone; they're your property now.

From:

ecosophia

Thank you! I don't need to separate anything, as it happens; I'll post one of the MP3s -- credited to you, of course -- with the announcement of the book publication.

From: (Anonymous)

Tried this out and came up with the following arrangement. All chords for the whole measure.

1: Am Am G Em
5: Am C6 Cmaj7 E7/D
9: Am Am G6/B Em
13: Am Am G#dim7 Am

From:

ecosophia

Since the response to this has been so positive and helpful, I'm going to post the full lyrics to the song. Enjoy (I hope)!

It’s a long lonely road to the hill by Lake Erie,
Back home my old mama is cryin’ her fill,
Her poor wayward son’s goin’ down to damnation,
He’s called by the sleeper inside of the hill.

Look away to the west where the thunder is breedin’,
Look away to the east where the wind has gone still,
Look away to the south where the road leads me onward,
I’m called by the sleeper inside of the hill.

The Lord alone knows why the call comes in dreamin’
When April comes warm and October blows chill,
And there’s always a soul who must answer the callin’
And go to the sleeper inside of the hill.

Oh, Mama, forgive me, there ain’t no way homeward,
The road that I ride, it’ll end where it will,
And a dark door of stone’s gonna open before me
When I go to the sleeper inside of the hill.

It’s a long lonely road to the hill by Lake Erie,
Back home my old mama is cryin’ her fill,
Her poor wayward son’s goin’ down to damnation:
He’s called by the sleeper inside of the hill.

Edited Date: 2019-02-15 03:55 am (UTC)

From:

ecosophia

That's one version, the one from the (fictional) Silver John CD. Here's the other, as collected from Betty Hale of Chorazin, NY:

It’s a long lonely road to the hill in the valley,
Back home my old mama is cryin’ her fill,
Her poor wayward son’s got to answer the callin’,
To go to the sleeper inside of the hill.

Look away to the west where the thunder is breedin’,
Look away to the east where the wind has gone still,
Look away to the north where the fire’s on the hilltop,
I’m called by the sleeper inside of the hill.

Oh, nobody knows why the call comes in dreamin’
When May flowers warm and November blows chill,
And there’s always a soul who must answer the callin’
And go to the sleeper inside of the hill.

Oh, Mama, forgive me, there ain’t no way homeward,
The road that I ride, it’ll end where it will,
A door old as time’s gonna open before me
It goes to the sleeper inside of the hill.

It’s a long lonely road to the hill in the valley,
Back home my old mother is cryin’ her fill,
Her poor wayward son’s got to answer the callin’,
To go to the sleeper inside of the hill.

(I'm wondering where I got "who's under the hill" in the version I posted. Folk process, I guess...)

From: (Anonymous)

I can't help a little nit-pick! The shore of Lake Erie is (at it's farthest corner with NY) perhaps an hour Southwest of Buffalo. A day's drive East will take you to Massachusetts.
Sorry. Used to live thereabouts. Ol' Bab.

From:

ecosophia

Indeed it is. The version sung by Betty Hale is the more accurate one; the closest lake to Chorazin is Lake Ontario. Such are the vagaries of the folk process!

And yes, it's about a day and a half drive from Dunwich, MA (in the north central part of the state) to Chorazin, NY (about ten miles east of Attica). I used the same old highway atlas for this book that I used laying out the journeys in Star's Reach!

From:

peter_van_erp

My piano skills are just about up to this, so we can have a sing along around the piano on June 22, (if we're inside) or I'm sure someone will have a guitar or two if we're outside.
Which is a round about way of inviting anyone who reads this to the 2nd annual Ecosophia potluck

From:

ecosophia

Delighted to hear it. I may just try to write out one of the other pieces of music from The Weird of Hali -- the version of "Cassilda's Song" from The King in Yellow that's referenced in The Weird of Hali: Kingsport. It'll take some work to get that arranged, unless there's a reader who knows Erik Satie's music a good deal better than I do, but I'll see what I can do.

From: (Anonymous)

Turns out it sounds great on a saxophone too, so I'll be bringing that.

From:

ecosophia

I'll look forward to hearing it!

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tunesmyth - Simple chords
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