6/8 Style Request

[DaveD]

I am looking for a 6/8 style to play along with some old gospel hymns on my Genos.  I have tried some 4/4 styles which just do not fit.  A style suggestion from the Genos onboard styles or a download would be appreciated.
Thanks,
DaveD

[overover]

Hi DaveD,

In 2021 you had already asked for 6/8 styles for gospel songs. Have you already tried the styles that were given to you at the time (including the styles changed by "Wim NL" to "real 6/8")?
>>> https://www.psrtutorial.com/forum/index.php/topic,59692.msg460823.html#msg460823


Best regards,
Chris

[DaveD]

Hi Chris, thanks for your reply. I am seeking proper 6/8 styles. The styles you suggested which fit many songs, are not 6/8 styles and as I already mentioned are not suitable for ALL songs. Hope that clarifies my position.
Regards,
DaveD

[Fred Smith]

Hi Chris, thanks for your reply. I am seeking proper 6/8 styles. The styles you suggested which fit many songs, are not 6/8 styles and as I already mentioned are not suitable for ALL songs. Hope that clarifies my position.
Regards,
DaveD

What about the real 6/8 styles by Wim? Did those not work?

Cheers,
Fred

[mikf]

Dave
What do you mean by 'proper 6/8 styles'?
Either a style is 6/8 or isn't. Maybe you just mean it didn't work for the songs you wanted to play, but don't be fooled by the style coming up as 4/4. That always happens on Yamaha 6/8 styles, and doesn't mean it is not 6/8 or even 12/8.
In essence 4/4, 2/4, 12/8  and 6/8 are very closely related, 6/8 is really just 2/4 with triplets on each beat, and 2/4 is really just 4/4 but half the bar length. 12/8 is in fact the well known doo wop beat and is frequently written as 4/4 in sheet music.
This 'technically incorrect' stuff about 4/4 and 6/8 on Yamaha styles is largely misguided. You could perfectly well write music without any time signature or bar lines - and it would play just the same - but be harder to read and write.
The use of time signatures is mainly about setting out bars in a readable way, and sending some information about the feel of the beat to the player, and following conventions known to the player. But when you play a style you don't need this because its already there for you, the feel and beat are clear from the style. It does produce some problems if you try to do clever things with half bar fills etc, but mostly it doesn't matter a whit.
Maybe you should try posting one of the songs you are having problems with and let someone suggest a style.
Mike

[DaveD]

Thanks for the further replies.  Fred, where are the real 6/8 styles by Wim?
DaveD

[mikf]

Dave
They were posted to you on your original thread on this subject. Wim posted a zip file link. But Chris included the link to the thread in his post above. Just click on it and it will take you to the original thread and links.
Having said that I repeat what I say about so called real 6/8 styles. The Yamaha styles are real 6/8 even if you see 4/4 in the data. Wim has a thing about this which mostly doesn't actually matter. Although it seems simple, time signatures are IMHO one of the most commonly misunderstood things in music. 
However, finding a 6/8 style you like for the song is a different matter. Thats a matter of searching and your taste rather than what it says in the data.
Mike

[DaveD]

Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time for a further reply.  I appreciate the information on the various style definitions as used by Yamaha which I was not aware of. I have of course downloaded the styles from Wim a few years ago but I'm still struggling with a few pieces to get the style to "fit". Perhaps it's all really down to my inexperience.
DaveD

[mikf]

Like I said, if that's the case post a song, and let a couple of people suggest something.
Mike

[AllanM]

Just to go off piste a little, one song I have been struggling with is Only A Holy God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDbWbn-kpKk

It is in 6/8 time (possibly 12/8?), just can't find a style to suit. Any suggestions?

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/cityalight/only-a-holy-god-chords-1896541

Thanks in advance! 

[mikf]

This song is tricky to exactly reproduce using an arranger because there are alternating bars of 6/8 and 3/8 all the way thru. Easy for a live band, but not for a style. Even a little more tricky because there are long portions of the recording with very little strong rhythmic feel. Almost free time.
But, not impossible to come up with something that gets close enough to get by. I would probably experiment to begin with using a light 3/4 style, maybe something like country waltz, speeded up to the correct tempo.
Mike

[mikf]

Allan
I fiddled around with this a bit and I think you can play a reasonable version using Country Waltz, set tempo at about 150 - 155 bpm. Will it exactly reproduce the live band version you posted, of course not, but then it never does on an arranger, unless you are prepared to work a lot on the style or produce a multi track accompaniment midi. But I would feel comfortable playing my own version of this song with the 3/4 style. Especially with a number of people belting out the lyric.
BTW I found what I thought was better version live on the net by a group called CityAlight, their beat was a bit more pronounced so easier to pick up.
Mike 

[Wim NL]

Hi Allan,

What a beautiful song is this.
Try the style AcousticBallad or the change style AcousticBallad' by me.

download here https://app.box.com/s/ve83x5ikjiz8io6xhq3rzf3120wook1e

May be this style is not on your keyboard.
In church we sing a lot of songs in 6/8 where I used the complete Tyros series.
Now I have a Genos.
So I did transform all the 6/8 style with a 4/4 time signature in 6/8 time signature.
So I did get my score right as it should be, and my fils are always 1 bar 6/8 and not 2
as the 6/8 styles in 4/4.
The 6/8 are in the second half of the fill in.
When I used the style AcousticBallad often the 6/8 beat dit get out of sync when make a Fill.
With AcousticBallad' this always works good.

Have a nice weekend
Wim

[AllanM]

Thanks for the link, Wim. I'll give them a try.
Yes, I love this song
We did it a couple of weeks ago in church. My daughter played piano (far better pianist than me!), my wife sang the melody and I played acoustic guitar. No, we're not the Von Trapps! 

And thanks Mike, I'll try the CountryWaltz as you mentioned. The CityAlight live version is also very excellent.

[travlin-easy]

This song really doesn't lend itself to a particular style, but try playing it using one of the FreePlay styles and a piano on the right hand lead. Works for me!

Gary