Learning Resources:
Trad to Tech

The accompanying video tutorial shows some ways to get started using the ThumbJam app. ThumbJam is a very sophisticated app with over 40 samples of real instruments. It also has a range of keys and scales which allow you to play in any musical style.

Folk music from Britain and beyond has familiar sounds such as the fiddle (violin) and accordion. For example, the English Concertina was patented by the scientist and inventor Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1829. If you would like to find out more about English Instrumental Folk Music, take a look at our Beginners' Guide which contains good descriptions and photos of the main instruments played. ThumbJam includes these instruments and gives people the opportunity to learn about how different instruments sound. They can recreate musical textures specific to the genre of folk as well as bringing in new sounds to experiment with their own folk music ‘fusion’. ThumbJam can provide a gateway to learning acoustic instruments, and is accessible for those with some of the greatest barriers to music making.

In this project, ThumbJam is programmed to be in the key of C which is the same key as the song “Oh Watch the stars”. These are the steps to take to set up the app. We use a couple of types of different speakers (see equipment list at end of resource).

Getting Started with ThumbJam:

1. Open ThumbJam.
2. Tap Sound in the top-left corner. Tap Change Instrument. Choose an instrument and tap Done.
3. Use the + and – buttons next to Span. Change the number of notes: small movements → more notes, large movements → fewer notes.
4. Try different instruments. Short sounds: hammered dulcimer, acoustic guitar, bass plucked. Long sounds: Irish flute, uillean pipes, cello.
5. Tap Sound → Change Scale → Major Pentatonic.
6. Tap the # button next to Sound and choose C.

Oh Watch the Stars

(in C; Roud #18281)

This song is an African American spiritual from St. Helena Island, South Carolina. It has a soothing melody, and the lyrics are a peaceful observation of the night sky.

Our lyrics have been simplified in the recording to make them easier to learn and sing. We arranged the song for ThumbJam solos; the tune lends itself well to improvisation.

You may be familiar with the Carrie Leonard ‘Improvise approach’. This is an approach where ThumbJam is programmed to be in the key of C major pentatonic (as in our video tutorial) and then you can improvise on any chosen instrument along with backing tracks in the same key/mode. ‘Oh, Watch the Stars’ is in the key of C so you can use the audio track for ‘Oh Watch the Stars’ as a backing track in the same way as the Improvise approach.