Advanced Set
The advanced pool is roughly 12 songs — demanding leads, multi-part harmony, instrumental features, longer-form storytelling, and one or two genuine showpieces. These are the songs that define Mayne Singers' identity — the ones that make people say that crew can really sing.
These come in across Phase 4 of the roadmap, months 9–12. The band shouldn't tackle these until the beginner and intermediate sets are mature — the harmony work and arrangement complexity reward an already-tight ensemble.
Type codes: H = halyard, C = capstan, F = forecastle/ballad, P = pub singalong.
Stan Rogers — the signature-sound triplet
These three Stan Rogers pieces, along with Fogarty's Cove in the intermediate set, are where Mayne Singers develops the signature sound. All four reward extended rehearsal; the harmony work is the point.
Fogarty's Cove (F, D major)
(Listed in the Intermediate Set chapter under Phase 3 introductions, but flagged here too — it's the harmonic gateway to the advanced material.) Stan Rogers' warm, rolling Maritime song. Three-part harmony on the chorus.
The Idiot (F, A major)
Stan Rogers' Western-Canadian working song — a Maritime man who left the dying fishery for an Alberta oil camp. Demanding phrasing; rewards a strong lead. The song is about being told you're an idiot for leaving home, and answering "I'd be one not to."
This is a LEAD piece — one strong voice, the band underneath but never on top. Don't try to harmonise the verses; the chorus is where the band lifts.
Particularly resonant for Mayne Singers as a Pacific-coast band singing an Atlantic-to-prairie song — the inverse migration that completes the geography. Worth the band's pride if you can do it justice.
Make and Break Harbour (F, G major)
Stan Rogers' elegy for the dying Atlantic Canadian inshore fishery. Subtle, hard to do well, devastating when done right. One of Stan's masterpieces; quietly one of his most affecting songs.
Restraint is the whole performance. Never the loudest song in the set; sits in the second half after the louder material has settled. Build the harmonic arc deliberately: verse 1-2 quiet lead, chorus 1 lead + harmony, then build through the song to a full three-part final chorus.
White Squall (F, D with capo)
The SHOWPIECE. Stan Rogers' Great Lakes tragedy — a young man swept overboard during a white squall on Lake Erie. Huge emotional payoff. Stan was reportedly proudest of this song.
Earn it. Don't perform this until the band has the chops to honour it. The dynamic arc is critical: verse 1 quiet, chorus 1 medium, verses 2-3 quiet again, choruses build, final chorus roof. The audience should be SILENT through the verses and let the choruses wash over them. After the final chorus, hold the silence before any next song. Let the room breathe.
The a cappella flex pieces
General Taylor (C, D major, traditional)
THE three-part-harmony shanty. Slow, deep capstan with one of the great call-and-response choruses ("Walk him along, Johnny, carry him along"). Sit in the second half of a serious set, full a cappella.
Lowlands Away (F, D minor, traditional)
Haunting, slow, a cappella. A sailor dreams his drowned love appears in the night. Modal Dm. Spine-tingling done right.
Don't perform if the band isn't ready — a sloppy Lowlands Away is worse than no Lowlands Away. Pitch off a quiet starting note; one singer holds the root. The "lowlands, lowlands away" refrain is the harmonic moment.
The showpiece trio — rowdy crowd-detonators
Excursion Around the Bay (P, D major)
Johnny Burke's fast, wordy comic Newfoundland patter song. Great Big Sea's Up (1995) recording is the modern reference. A crowd-detonator when it's tight.
Mari-Mac (P, G major)
The tongue-twister sprint. Pure showpiece. The audience comes for the spectacle of one singer not collapsing. Save it for moments when the room is high and you want to detonate it.
The chorus is a tongue-twister — every singer has to memorise it cold. Start the song slightly slower than performance tempo; build into full speed by the third chorus.
→ Mari-Mac
Randy Dandy-O (H, D major)
Uptempo halyard with tricky timing. Tightens the whole crew's rhythm. The "way-hay, ROLL and GO" line needs every voice landing the capital words together. If the band can do that, the whole song works.
The harmony showpieces
The Bonnie Ship the Diamond (C, G major)
A rollicking Aberdeen whaler's farewell. Wordy and fast once locked in. Strong driving 4/4 with a long-line chorus that wants the whole band's voice.
Rolling Home (C, D major)
A grand homeward-bound capstan shanty. Full three- or four-part harmony on the chorus. Mayne Singers' harmony closer for a big night.
For local pride, the band can substitute "dear old England" with "dear old Mayne" or "dear old Canada" in the chorus — this is traditional practice (variants include "dear old Yankee," "dear old Boston," etc.).
Sonny's Dream (F, G major)
Ron Hynes' beloved Newfoundland song. Gentle, gorgeous, demands real vocal blend. Two-part harmony — tighter intimacy than three.
The intermediate-to-advanced bridges
These three appear in the Phase 4 plan but sit at the easier end of advanced; they bridge from the intermediate pool:
Spanish Ladies (C, D major, traditional English Royal Navy)
"Farewell and adieu to you Spanish ladies." Classic feel; melodic demand higher than the average shanty. Pre-1800 origin, public domain. Appears in Moby-Dick (1851).
Ordinary Day (P, D major, Great Big Sea)
Great Big Sea's 1997 Canadian pop-folk anthem. Joyful, uplifting closer. The audience sings every word back at you. This song will get sung back to you by every BC audience.
The Black Velvet Band (F, G major, Irish traditional)
The Irish transportation ballad. Story-driven verses, big singalong chorus. Story song, big chorus, transportation-to-the-colonies narrative.
Fiddler's Green (F, G major, John Conolly 1966)
The fisherman's-afterlife song. John Conolly's 1966 composition (often mistaken for traditional). Beautiful gentle melody, big singalong chorus, soft three-part harmony on the chorus.
A 45-minute advanced set (the second-set programme)
The intended second set in a Phase 4 two-set show:
- Spanish Ladies — classic, settle the room.
- Whiskey in the Jar — (intermediate, but works here) familiar Irish recognition.
- Sonny's Dream — two-voice intimacy; the room quiets.
- General Taylor — three-part shanty flex.
- Mari-Mac — detonate the room with the tongue-twister.
- Make and Break Harbour — pull right back; quiet Stan Rogers elegy.
- The Night Pat Murphy Died — (intermediate) lift the room back up with comic energy.
- White Squall — THE showpiece; full emotional weight.
- Northwest Passage — (intermediate) a cappella build.
- The Parting Glass — (intermediate) soft a cappella close.
Encore: Barrett's Privateers — (intermediate, but the encore by tradition) the whole room singing.
What makes a song "advanced"
Quick criteria. A song belongs in the advanced set when at least one of the following is true:
- The harmony is three or four genuine parts — not octave doubling, but full SATB-style or barbershop-style stacking.
- The melody crosses the male break without an obvious place to drop an octave.
- The song is a cappella for the whole verse and chorus, not just the verse.
- The form is non-standard — irregular bar counts, modulation, time-signature shifts.
- The instrumental break is a real solo — mandolin, whistle, or concertina has to play a melody the audience expects from the reference.
- The lyrics span six or more verses with no chorus respite — the shantyman carries the entire arc alone for minutes.
- The dynamic arc is critical — if every verse and chorus sounds the same, the song fails (White Squall, Mary Ellen Carter, Make and Break Harbour).
Where the crew typically struggles
- The Idiot — the band over-plays. Keep the verses sparse.
- Make and Break Harbour — the dynamic arc doesn't build. Plan it explicitly.
- White Squall — the final chorus doesn't land with full weight because the band peaked too early. Hold back through the verses.
- General Taylor — harmony parts drift on the long held notes. Stagger breaths so the chord doesn't dip.
- Lowlands Away — pitch drift — very slow songs are especially vulnerable. Tuning fork before, root-holder during.
- Mari-Mac — the lead loses the chorus lyrics. They must be memorised cold.
- Excursion Around the Bay — the band rushes by verse 3. Lock the tempo with mandolin chop.
- Sonny's Dream — the second harmony voice over-sings. Keep it intimate; this isn't a big chorus.
- Rolling Home — the three-part harmony on the chorus collapses if the room is loud. Project; don't whisper-harmonise.