I’ve been directing the Pop Ensemble at CWRU for the first time this last semester and have been super impressed by our class. We’ve got 17 undergrad of all levels in the ensemble – many non-majors – and they’re doing a great job learning tunes they like from a broad set of genres. Students choose/advocate for songs and learn their own parts by ear or whatever strategy they prefer both in and out of class, often teaching one another and taking ownership of the songs they suggest. We’ve got a show at Happy Dog this coming Tuesday. It’s one of my favorite spots in town for live music and I know they’re just gonna kill it.
As far as rep, they’ve chosen songs by:
Mac DeMarco – “Freaking Out the Neighborhood”
Fiona Apple – “Criminal”
Ava McCoy – “Comfort”
A.R. Rahman – “Ennodu Nee Irundhaal”
Louis Cole – “Things”
The Beatles – “Tomorrow Never Knows”
Japanese Breakfast – “Kokomo, IN”
The Cranberries – “Dreams”
and more…
Charts:
A few tunes, “Ennodu Nee Irundhaal” and “Comfort” turned out to be a bit more complex than others and resisted a more casual learning/teaching strategy, so I ended up making lead sheets for both. I thought I’d post these here in case others are trying to learn them and a Google search might send them here lol.
“Ennodu Nee Irundhaal” is a beautiful A.R. Rahman composition from the 2015 film I. It’s big, dramatic, and more complex than folks had originally surmised – bit off quite a bit with this one.
This chart has most of the melody and harmony represented as well as a fair amount of background vocals, key/flute cues, etc. This tune is super cool and WAY more complex than any of us in the ensemble initially considered. I’m glad to have gotten a chart together so we can try and do it justice.
(click on image for full PDF score)
Ava McCoy’s “Comfort” from her Closer to the Bugs (2023) is amazing. The melody is transcribed here (didn’t add the lyrics – ran out of time, lol) but not the background vocals. The sometimes unexpected harmony is close to being represented correctly here. I have chord charts for the funky guitar voicings that seem to fit, so, if you land here via a Google search or something and need those, just email me for chord diagrams and other score parts. I’ve created a simplified drum part representing only kick and snare. It’s not “correct,” but if performed as written will get you toward a performance of the tune. There’s a lot of aux percussion/hand claps to can experiment with, too.
Note: what I’ve called a Bbmaj7#11 has no 3rd in the voicing, and what I’ve called Ab9#11 has no 3rd or 7th.
(click on image for full PDF score)
In any case, I’m super proud of this group of students for having big ears, lots of skill and initiative, and patience with me, ha. Come out on December 5 if you’re in Cleveland and check out Auntie Monarchs and The Hotdog Wednesdays, it’s gonna be a party.
AJ Kluth 