Tune Johnson Boys
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N.B. MIDI is a terrible way to learn a fiddle tune!
This was originally a song of the Civil War celebrating the bravery of the Johnson Boys. Since then numerous parody versions have been written, some more popular than the original. But I like the melody enough to perform it as an instrumental.
The first A and B parts are a simple version of the melody with some double stops shown: for the most part, these are open strings adjacent to the melody note; occasionally (as in the end of the first full bar of part A, or the first bar of part B) they are a fourth finger drone on one string with the melody on the string above.
The second version is more complex melodically, so double stops have been omitted, though you may wish to play them anyway!
Trad arr. © 2005 Ben Paley
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%%abc-copyright (C) Copyright Ben Paley 2024
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X:1
T:Johnson Boys
L:1/8
M:C|
C:Trad arr. © 2005 Ben Paley
N:This was originally a song of the Civil War celebrating the bravery of the Johnson Boys. Since
N:then numerous parody versions have been written, some more popular than the original. But I
N:like the melody enough to perform it as an instrumental.
N:The first A and B parts are a simple version of the melody with some double stops shown: for
N:the most part, these are open strings adjacent to the melody note; occasionally (as in the end
N:of the first full bar of part A, or the first bar of part B) they are a fourth finger drone on
N:one string with the melody on the string above.
N:The second version is more complex melodically, so double stops have been omitted, though you
N:may wish to play them anyway!
O:USA
Q:1/2=95
Z:Ben Paley <ben.paley@benpaley.com>
K:A
P:A
AB | [ce]2 [ee]2 [ee]3 [ef] | [ee]2 [ce]2 [Be]2 [Ae][Be] | [ce]2 [ee]2 [ee]3 [ef] | [ee]2 [ce]2 [Be]3 [Be] |
[ce]2 [ee]2 [ee]3 [ef] | [ee]2 [ce]2 [Be]2 [Ae]2 | [Be][ce]-[ce][Be] [Ae][ce][Be][Ae] | [FA]2 [FA]2 [EA]3 [FA] ||
P:B
|: [AA]2 [AA]2 [AA][Ac] [AB]2 | [AA]2 [AA]2 [AB][Ac]-[Ac][AB] | [AA]2 [AA]2 [AA][Ac][AB][AA] | [1 [FA]2 [FA]2 [EA]3 [FA] :| [2 [FA]2 [FA]2 [EA]2 [Ae][Be] |
P:A
ce-ef ecAc | eAcA (B2{cB}) AB | ce-ef ecAc | eAcA B2 AB |
ce-ef ecAc | eAcA (B2{cB})A2 | Bc-cB AcBA | {E}F2{E}F2 E3F ||
P:B
A2 AF AcBA | FAAA Bc-cB | A2 AF AcBA | {E}F2 {E}F2 E3 F |
A2 AB cABA | FAAA Bc-cB | AFEF AcBA | {E}F2 {E}F2 E2 |]