This should be moved to the 'music talk' section, I think.
Anyhow being from Appalachia, and being the grandson of a fiddler/banjo player, this is hands-down my favourite version of Amazing Grace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmFKZmcGAW0
In case anyone is unfamiliar with hymnody, hymns are sets of words only. Hymns have no melodies.
A Hymn, to be sung, needs to be married to a tune. In traditional hymnals the hymn title is given, and also is given a tune. Tune titles are traditionally rendered in all caps.
So we've become accustomed to the hymn Amazing Grace being sung to the tune NEW BRITAIN but it can rightfully be sung to any tune whatever which has the same metrical setup. (It's why traditional hymnals have a metrical index in the back, so you can figure out which hymns can be sung to which tunes.)
The point is that I as a bagpiper can't play Amazing Grace, because bagpipes can't sing. What I can play is NEW BRITAIN.
Tim there on the video is singing Amazing Grace to the tune FIDUCIA which appears in The Southern Harmony 1835. It was, as I understand, a popular tune for Amazing Grace in the 19th century, and you can hear why.
Last edited by OC Richard; 27th July 16 at 10:07 AM.
Proud Mountaineer from the Highlands of West Virginia; son of the Revolution and Civil War; first Europeans on the Guyandotte
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