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Marty Jam 2009
Here is the tune list from Marty Jam 2009. I had a headache that day, so unfortunately stopped recording names at 8:00pm. Still, it gives the general idea of what was played. The tunes are in order of how they were played in the jam.
- Yankee Doodle
- Grandfather’s Clock
- Devil’s Flute
- O’connor’s Quickstep
- York Fusileers
- Harum Scarum
- The Races
- Harriet
- Black Watch
- Downfall of Paris
- Huntington
- World Turned Upside Down
- Some Distance from Prussia
- Prussia Variation
- Old Saybrook
- Paddy on the Handcar
- Garry Owen
- First of September
- Johny Cope
- Brandywine
- Hell on the Wabash
- Bakers Buck
- Northwest Passage
- Jaybird
- Fireman’s Quickstep
- Tatterjack
- Drums and Guns
- Sherman’s March
- Old Dan Tucker
- Jaybird
- Fireman’s Quickstep (grrr)
- Caledonia
- Downshire
- Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
- Three Little Drummers
- Oyster River
- Nancy Hanks
- York Fusileers
- Some Distance From Prussia
- Prussia Variation
- Bummers Reel
- Green Cockade
- British Grenadiers No. 2
- British Grenadiers
- Sailors Hornpipe
- Korn Likker
- Black Watch
- Stillman’s Reel
- Power of Whiskey
- Devil’s Dream
- First of September
- Harum Scarum
- The Races
- Devils Flute
- O’Connors Quickstep
- Happy Fifer
- Yankee Doodle
- Yankee Doodle (Bruce and Emmett version(!))
- Lakes of Sligo
- Arkansas Traveler
- Crown Point
- Drums and Guns
- Empty Pockets
- The Day We Paid the Rent
- Rally Round the Flag
- Grandfathers Clock
- Paddy on the Handcar
- Pig Town Fling
- Sisters Jig
- Hell on the Wabash
- Beggar Man
- Black Watch
- Some Distance From Prussia
- Prussia Variation
- Catholic Boys
- Bakers Buck
- Fishers Hornpipe
- Rickets Hornpipe
- Sailors Hornpipe
- Green Cockade
- Stillmans Reel
- Devils of New Jersey
- First of September
- York Fusileers
- Turkish March
- Wreckers Daughter (!)
- Battle Hymn
- Granny Will Your Dog Bite?
- Crown Point
- Harriet
- Yankee Doodle
- Welcome Here Again / 1812 (what a mess)
- Fireman’s Reel
- 79th’s Farewell to Gibraltar
- Drunken Sailor
- Garry Owen
- Little Tea
- America The Beautiful (got interrupted)
- Weird version of Bonnie Blue Flag
- America the Beautiful
- Grand Old Flag
- Three Little Drummers
- Martin’s Rattler
- Grandfathers Clock
- Harrum Scarum
- The Races
- Devils Flute
- O’Connor’s Quickstep
- Jaybird
- Firemans Quickstep
- Caledonia
- Oyster River Hornpipe
- Stillmans Reel
- Seven Stars
- Fairfield Muster
- Drums and Guns
- Billy Bud
- Billy Bones
- Dohm’s Express
- Muster
- Peter Street
- Big John McNeil
- Clem
- Fishers Hornpipe
- Montezuma
- Mason’s Apron
- Irish Washerwoman
- Muffled Drum
Posted in Other.
– January 21, 2009
Marty Jam 2008
This past Saturday, I attended the Marty Jam, along with over 200 other people, judging from the numbers called in the raffle. I was number 003, so I got there pretty early . . .
Something I’ve started to do is keep track of the songs played during the jam session. It’s interesting to see what is repeated, what is popular, and what is not played. For instance, this year, Downfall was only played once, from what I heard (I left 45 minutes early). And songs like York Fusiliers were repeated within 5 tunes at one point.
Here is the list of songs from Marty Jam 2008. I’ll post this years info as soon as I get it online. My plan is to collect all the most popular songs, along with some of the unheard of tunes, into a pocket sized tune book. This way we can go through a jam without so much repetition and bring back a lot of the old classics. The tune book may only be for my personal use, or it may be published for everyone. It depends on the interest in the fife and drum community.
So yeah, here they are, for real:
- Yankee Doodle
- Paddy on the Handcar
- First of September
- York Fusileers
- Grandfather’s Clock
- Garry Owen
- Hell on the Wabash
- Whup Jambouree
- Brandywine
- Sherman’s March
- Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
- Three Little Drummers
- Road to Boston
- World Turned Upside Down
- Tatterjack
- Drums and Guns
- Devil’s Flute
- O’Connor’s Quickstep
- Jaybird and Fireman’s
- Huntington
- Swallowtail Jig
- Green Cockade
- Some Distance from Prussia
- Crown Point
- Harum Scarum
- The Races
- Girl I Left Behind
- Seven Stars
- Power of Whiskey
- Irish Reel
- Minstrel Boy
- Rally ‘Round the Flag
- Old Saybrook
- Sailor’s Hornpipe
- Sister’s Jig
- Northwest Passage
- Katy Hill
- Lakes of Sligo
- Washington’s Artillary March
- Billy Bud
- Battle Hymn
- Pumpkin Creek
- Soldier’s of France
- Wrecker’s Daughter
- Empty Pockets
- Sherman’s March
- Paddy on the Handcar
- Pig Town Fling
- Downshire
- Nancy Hanks
- Harriet
- Little Tea
- Barren Rocks of Aden
- Bummers Reel
- First of September
- Arkansas Traveler
- Dublin Boy
- Stillman’s Reel
- Devil’s of New Jersey
- Korn Likker
- Mountain Dew
- Oyster River Hornpipe
- Zig Zag Clog Dance
- Soldier’s Joy
- Montezuma
- Yorktown
- Crown Point
- Road to Boston
- City Guards
- Tatterjack
- Drums and Guns
- Barren Rocks of Aden
- Frog of Mine
- Devil’s Dream
- Paddy on the Handcar
- Pigtown Fling
- Jaybird and Fireman’s
- First of September
- Grandfather’s Clock
- Mathew’s Hornpipe
- Baker’s Buck
- 100 Pipers
- Three Hundred Years
- Dixie
- 50 Cents
- Squirrel Hunters
- Kenderbecks
- Montezuma
- Biddy Oats
- Happy Fifer
- Minstrel Boy
- Song Before Garry Owen on 200 Years of Fife and Drum in America
- Devil’s Flute
- O’Connors
- 50 Cents
- Soldiers of France
- Billy Bud
- Billy Bones
- Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine
- 3 Little Drummers
- Peter Street
- Big John McNeil
- Power of Whiskey
- Irish Reel
- Fairfield Muster
- World Turned Upside Down
- Granny Will Your Dog Bite?
- President Garfield’s
- Fireman’s Reel
- Just Before the Battle, Mother
- O’Connor’s
- Black Pearl
- Rob Roy MacIntosh
- President Garfield’s
- Stillman’s Reel
- Trenton
- Devil’s of New Jersey
- Nancy Hanks
- Hell on the Wabash
- Empty Pockets
- WEIRD SONG DGBGDGBED
- Power of Whiskey
- Fifty Cents
- Korn Likker
- Willie Weaver
- Petronella
- Constitution Hornpipe
- Jefferson and Liberty
- Devil’s Flute
- O’Connor’s Quickstep
- Whup Jambouree
- Balqhidder Lasses
- Muster
- Cuckoo Quickstep
- Norman Toy
- Swallowtail
- Irish Washerwoman
- Squirrel Hunter
- Constitution Hornpipe
- Dohm’s Express
- Muster
- Hey Johnny Cope
- Some Distance From Prussia
- Prussia Variation
- Happy Fifer
- *Devils Dream
- Little Tea
- Turnpike Bend
- Teddy O’Neill
- Smith’s Hornpipe
- Washington’s Artillary March
- Unknown Tune
- Tatterjack
- *Drums and Guns
- Sherman’s March
- Working on the Railroad
- *Just Before the Battle Mother
- Pumpkin Creek
- *Marching Through Georgia
- Columbia, Gem of the Ocean
- Essence of Tampa
- Harriet
- British #2
- WEIRD SONG EFGABEDBG
- Baker’s Buck
- Lord Lovett’s Lament
- Pig Town Fling
- Hanover Hornpipe
- Montezuma
- Harum Scarum
- The Races
- WEIRD SONG AAABAGFA
- Lamplighter’s Hornpipe
- Corn Cob Clog
- First of September
- WEIRD SONG FGABAFABAFAFE
- Vinton’s Hornpipe
- Beggar Man
- Devil’s Flute
- O’Connor’s Quickstep
- York Fusileers
- Sailors Hornpipe
- Stillman’s Reel
- Black Watch
- Fisher’s Hornpipe
- Ricket’s Hornpipe
- Kristen’s Hornpipe
- Oyster River
- Whup Jambouree
- Martin’s Rattler
- Dohm’s Express
- Muster
- March in Cymon
- Nancy Hanks
- Harvest Home Hornpipe
- Staten Island Hornpipe
- Irish Reel
- City Guards
- Adam’s and York
- Downshire
- Battle Hymn
- Wrecker’s Daughter
- *Fall of Enron
- Lakes of Sligo
- Eel Pot Tavern
- Huntington
- Paddy on the Handcar
- Pig Town Fling
- Drums and Guns
- Grandfathers Clock
- Bummer’s Reel
- *Downfall of Paris
- Clapboard Hill
- Fairfield Muster
- Mountain Dew
- Soldiers Joy
- Baker’s Buck
- Northwest Passage
- Willie Weaver
- Polly Wolly Doodle
- *Caledonia
- Seven Stars
- *Peter Street
- *Big John McNeal
- York Fusileers
- *Crown Point
- Swallowtail
- Smiths Hornpipe
- Minstrel Boy
- Rally ‘Round the Flag
- Village Quickstep
- Dan Tucker
- Germantown Hook
- Lord Lovetts Lament
- Teddy O’Neill
- WEIRD SONG FBBCDEFFF
- Eel Pot Tavern
- Village Idiot
- Random Songs nobody knows
- Black Pearl
- WEIRD SONG DBGBDGFG
- Itchy Fingers
- Atholl Highlanders
- Fall of Enron
- Downshie
Wow, a lot of tunes! Some of them I couldn’t figure out the names, so I marked them WEIRD SONG, with the first few notes listed. Maybe some of you could figure them out. You win a cookie if you correctly guess the name. Just post a comment!
Graphs, and this years information will come soon, along with a little rant on jam sessions in general, perhaps.
Posted in Other.
– January 19, 2009
American Patriot
Here is another medley from Fifes on the Green for your enjoyment. When I wrote this piece, I had been tired of playing the same jam session tunes over and over. Digging out Company of Fifers and Drummers Book Two, I chose a few of the overplayed tunes. Somewhere along the line, those tunes went out the door, and were replaced with others that I’ve never heard played in a jam . . .
American Patriot is the first tune. I have no information about it, unfortunately. If any of you decide to write a book in the future, it’s a really nice idea to document where the tune came from, so that the information is not lost.
Major Mackey’s Jig is the second tune. This one is not from the Company book, but from Ralph Sweet’s The Fifers’ Delight. According to The Session, it’s also a popular contra dance tune.
Next is a well known tune called Some Distance From Prussia. Again, not much information available on this tune. It’s played so often I had to make it more interesting, somehow, hence it’s inclusion in this medley. Do any of you have any information on this tune?
The medley ends with a tune called Dashing White Sergeant. This is a Scottish tune, and usually accompanies the dance of the same name. I found a video of this on youtube today where you can get an idea of what the dance is like. It’s hard to follow the melody, as it’s a bit different as the fife version, but you will hear similarities.
Download Sheet Music:
AmericanPatriot.pdf
MP3: AmericanPatriot.mp3
Ogg:
AmericanPatriot.ogg
Posted in Fifes on the Green, Music, Trios.
– January 6, 2009
Too Much Fife Playing
Published October 28, 1884, in The New York Times:
TROY, N.Y., Oct. 27.–Levi Clapper, aged 50 years, residing at
Tomhannock, played the fife for a political parade on Saturday night
and returning home was taken ill and died yesterday of heart disease. A
physician had advised him that it was dangerous for him to continue
playing the fife.
Fifing is so dangerous . . .
Posted in Other.
– December 28, 2008
Slow March #1
The second piece in my book, Fifes on the Green, was taken from the Drummer’s and Fifers’ Guide, by George B. Bruce and Daniel D. Emmett. Published in 1862, Bruce and Emmett’s guide contains many great tunes. You may have heard Montezuma, Hell on the Wabash, and Biddy Oats played on the muster field. These all come from the Drummers’ and Fifers’ Guide.
Probably the most popular song in the book is Dixie. Emmett composed this for a minstrel show, probably in the 1830s.
I was looking for a good march to put in my book, and came across a whole page of them in Bruce and Emmett’s. I liked March #1 mostly because of the contrast between the two keys of D and A. In my arrangement, I tried to mimic the triplets of the third strain in the bass line. I think it gives a bit of a bouncy feel to it.
Posted in Fifes on the Green, Music, Trios.
– November 15, 2008
Moonlight Quickstep
Over the past few years, it often seems that the music has stagnated in the fife and drum community. Occasionally, there will be a new song played at a jollification, but it is likely known by only a few players.
While it is great to compose new pieces for the fife, I believe there are many traditional tunes that have been neglected. They are often simple melodies, with strong drum beats, which I think bring out the instruments in the way they were originally designed to be played.
To start off with, I chose a piece from Col. H. C. Hart’s New and Improved Instructor For The Drum, called Moonlight Quickstep. This book was published in 1862, making it an ideal resource for the Civil War reenactor. While it focused a lot on drumming, there are some great tunes in this book.
You can listen to this tune played on Connecticut Valley Field Music’s album. Played on unmuffled, skin head snare drums, and with the fife melody true to the original, it’s very close to what would have been heard back then.
I’ve created the sheet music for this tune in Lilypond, as with the previous tune. Things are getting easier, and I am learning new ways to tweak the output. The next thing to learn is how to adjust the position of the breathe marks. You can see one that is overlapping a beam. Bad news, from a music engraver’s point of view.
Here is the code again, for those interested:
\version "2.11.61"
\header {
title = \markup \center-column { "Moonlight Quickstep" }
composer = \markup \center-column { \tiny "Col. H. C. Hart" }
copyright = \markup { \tiny \char ##x00A9 \tiny "Fifers.us" }
}
melody = \relative c'' {
\clef treble
\key g \major
\time 2/4
\tempo 2 = 110
\repeat volta 2 {
\partial 8
g16 a
b8. d16 c b a g
b8 d e16 fis g e
d8. e16 d b g a
b8 a a \breathe g16 a
b8. d16 c b a g
b8 d e16 fis g e
d8. e16 d[ b g a]
\partial 4.
b8[ g g]
}
\repeat volta 2 {
\partial 8
d'8
g16 fis g a g8 d
e16 d e fis g8 e
d8. e16 d b g a
b8 a a \breathe d8
g16 fis g a g8 d
e16 d e fis g8 e
d8. e16 d[ b g a]
\partial 4.
b8[ g g]
}
}
\score {
\new Staff \melody
\layout {
clip-regions
= #(list
(cons
(make-rhythmic-location 0 1 1)
(make-rhythmic-location 2 2 4)))
}
\midi { }
}
The clip-regions code at the bottom is how I get the previews of the music done now. It comes out in whichever format that I prefer, in this case, a PNG file. This is a lot easier than having to use the graphics tool in Finale to export the area, then tweak it in the GIMP.
Will we hear this tune on the muster field this coming season? I sure hope so, but it’s up to you to learn it!
– November 6, 2008
Doctor Szpara’s Hornpipe
I was sitting here at the computer today, reading one of my counterpoint book and playing with Finale, when inspiration for a new tune hit me. It actually started with just the first two measures, but took off from there rather quickly. 15 minutes, to be exact.
The name of the tune is Doctor Szpara’s Hornpipe, after my friend Chris. He’s been writing a lot of fun music lately, all revolving around our group at musters, Shangri-La. So this is my attempt at that, I suppose.
A little note on performance. The two triplets in the last line without the slur are triple tongued, with a slight retard. I think this adds a little more tension to the music.
You may notice a slightly different layout with this music. I’ve been giving Lilypond, the free, open-source music notation software, a try. I’ve been using Finale for almost 6 years, and will continue to use that for composing. However, Lilypond is quickly proving to be faster at typesetting the music. I don’t have to mess around with articulations and such, as they are placed in correct alignment automatically. This saves a lot of time.
Here is the code for this tune, in Lilypond notation, if you’d like to try it out yourself. It’s not as hard as it looks!
melody = \relative c' {
\clef treble
\key g \major
\time 2/2
\tempo 2 = 96
\repeat volta 2 {
\partial 4
d4
g4 \breathe g8 b d4 b8 g
c( d) e fis g4 fis8 e
d g, b d gis, b d b
e( d) c b a c b a
g4 \breathe g8 b d4 b8 g
e( gis) a b c e d c
d g b, d e,[( c') a fis]
\partial 2.
\times 2/3 { g8( fis g) } b a g4 \breathe
\break
}
\repeat volta 2 {
\partial 4
d4
a'8( b) c b a d, fis a
b d g d b g a b
c e a c, b d g b,
a( b) c cis \times 2/3 { d( e d) } c a
g4 g8 b d4 b8 e,
a( gis) a b \times 2/3 { c e d } \times 2/3 { c b a }
b d e, c' fis,[ d' a c]
\partial 2.
\times 2/3 { b( a g) } a fis g4
}
}
\score {
\new Staff \melody
\layout { }
\midi { }
}
I hope you enjoy the new tune!
– October 28, 2008
If There Were No Women in the World
If There Were No Women in the World is a tune I arranged a few years ago. I learned it off of Skip Healy’s album, Purgatory Chasm.
In this version, it is arranged as a hornpipe. The key signature of 12/16 may look confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is easier. I’ll post about reading in odd time signatures soon.
Here it is, in
PDF format, and mp3 / ogg vorbis audio formats.
mp3:
nowoman.mp3
ogg:
nowoman.ogg
– October 21, 2008
