%%abc-version 2.1 %%abc-copyright (C) Copyright Ben Paley 2026 %%writefields X %%writefields N %%writefields D %%measurenb 0 %%partsbox 1 X:1 T:Avalon Quickstep L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2019 Ben Paley N:I had this tune from my father, Tom Paley, who had it from Narmour and Smith's 1930 recording. N:You can hear it on Vol 1 of County's "Mississippi String Bands" compilation. O:Mississipi, USA Q:1/2=88 D:Narmour and Smith, "Mississippi String Bands, Volume 1" Z:Ben Paley K:D P:A |: ABAG FAde | f2 d6 | ABAG FAdf | a8 | ABAG FAde | f2 d4 fa | gfed BAFA |1 d8 :|2 d6 fg | P:B |: a3 g fdfa | b4 a3 g | f2 d4 fa | gfed cAce | b2 a4 fg | a3 g fdfa | b4 a3 g | f2 d4 fa | gfed BAFA |1 d6 fg :|2 d8 |] X:2 T:The Black Joak L:1/8 M:6/8 N:This is an English jig. It's not the only tune by this name, and there are Joaks of other N:colours as well. I learnt this tune from Chris Wood and Gail Duff. N:The word "Joak" itself might have a connection to "jig", but it has another meaning too. You N:can hear it on my album "Homunculus Mellitus". O:England Q:3/8=90 R:Jig D:Ben Paley, "Homunculus Mellitus", 2019 Z:Ben Paley K:G P:A E |: D2G GFG | AcB AGF | G2B dcB | AcB AGF | G3 E3 |1 DEF G2E :|2 DEF G2A | P:B |: B2d dBd | edc d2c | B2d dBd | gfe d2c | BcB BAG | AcB AGF | G2B dcB | AcB AGF | G3 E3 |1 DEF G2A :|2 DEF G2|] X:3 T:Over the Road to Maysville L:1/8 M:C| N:John Hartford tells a story associating this tune with a tobacco market in a town called N:Maysville but I don't know which of the several towns with that name he means. N:I learnt it from Jock Tyldesley and Vera van Heeringen. The A\u266d-G in the 7th bar of the B N:part, written here as two eighth-notes (quavers), could be played as a quarter-note (crotchet) N:slide from A\u266d, or even A, downwards as far as sounds right to you. I haven't worked out N:how to notate that in ABC though. Q:1/2=83 Z:Ben Paley K:C P:A |: GGAG c2c2 | e2e2 e3d | c2c2 cdeg | edcd AG3 | GGAG c2cA | cdeg a4 | abag edcA | FGAc d4 | d3e d2GA | cAcd c4:| P:B |: cdeg a4 | abag e2c2| agab aged | cAcA e4 | e3g e4 | efed c2c2 | cdcA _AGF2 | FDFG ABcA | dcA2 A4- | -A4 A4 :| X:4 T:Sales Tax Toddle L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2005 Ben Paley N:This strange tune comes from the playing of the Nations Brothers in 1935. You can hear it on N:Vol 1 of County's "Mississippi String Bands" compilation, and of course it's on YouTube. N:ORDER OF EVENTS N:N.B. don't trust the MIDI. N:1 — Introduction. You'll only play this once. N:2 — A - as many times as you like N:3 — A1 - once N:4 — A - once N:5 — A2 - once N:6 — A - once N:7 — Interstitial nightmare N:8 — B - as many times as you like N:9 -- B1 and back to step 2 N:OR N:9 — B2 and stop. N:I know perfectly well that you can't read from this. I've chosen where to put the bar lines in N:order to simplify the transcription, and eliminate things like first and second time bars, so N:that the bars don't really represent the phrasing. Listen to the Nations Brothers recording! N:Hopefully this will save you a bit of time in understanding what's going on. N:Incidentally, the process of transcription was fascinating to me and revealed some interesting N:facts, such as that the "Interstitial nightmare" can be seen as consisting of a single repeated N:four-beat phrase. I don't feel that this representation well represents the phrasing of the N:tune, but there it is, so perhaps it's my analysis that's at fault! Or, perhaps better to say N:that your analysis might differ. In any case, you should pay more attention to your ears than N:your eyes in this case in particular. O:Mississippi, USA Q:1/4=172 D:The Nations Brothers, "Mississippi String Bands - Volume Two" Z:Ben Paley K:G P:Introduction | [G4B4] [G2B2][G2B2] | [G2B2] ef gedB || % P:Phrase A |: A2 ag | fdf2 f3f- | -fedB :| % P:Phrase A, first variation (A1) | A2 ag | fdef g3a | gedB || % P:Phrase A | A2 ag | fdf2 f3f- | -fedB | % P:Phrase A, second variation (A2) | A2 a2 | abaf g2ga | gedB || % P:Phrase A | A2 ag | fdf2 f3f- | -fedB | % P:Interstitial nightmare |: AFAc BGAF | G2 BA GedB :| %| P:Phrase B |: G2 B2 F2 A2 | G2 B3 A FA :| % P:Phrase B last time back into the A (B1) | G2 B2 F2 A2 | G2 ef gedB || % P:Phrase B when you're finishing the tune (B2) | G2 B2 F2 A2 | G2 ef gedB | G2 [G,2G2B2g2] |] X:5 T:Roulette T:Rufus Rastas L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2019 Ben Paley N:From the Mississippi Possum Hunters' 1935 recording. Hear it on County's "Mississippi String N:Bands" compilation, or on my album "Homunculus Mellitus". I changed the name of the tune N:because I found out that its original name could be considered offensive. O:Mississippi, USA Q:1/2=104 Z:Ben Paley K:D P:A FG |: A2 BA - AGFG | A2 B2 A4 | BABd BAGA | Bd3 B4 | cBcA BA3 | cBcA BA3 |\ M:3/2 AABA d2ef - fd e2 |\ M:C| [1 d6 FG :|[2 d6 e2 | P:B |: fedB - BAFA | B2 d2 B2 e2 | fedB - BAFA | B2 d2 B4 | cBcA BA3 | cBcA BA3 |\ M:3/2 AABA d2ef - fd e2 |\ M:C| [1 d6 e2 :|[2 d6 |] X:6 T:Polska efter Blank Anders T:Polska from the playing of Blank Anders L:1/16 M:3/4 C:Trad arr. © 2019 Ben Paley O:Dalarna, Sweden Q:1/4=87 R:Polska D:Kalle Almlöf, Björn Ståbi and Pers Hans, "Tre Spelmän" D:Ben Paley, "Homunculus Mellitus", 2019 Z:Ben Paley K:Gm V:M clef=treble name="Melody" snm="M" V:H clef=treble name="Harmony" snm="H" %%score M|H P:A [V:M] |: -gagf d4 B3d | cdcA B2cB A3^F | G3A BABc d3c | B2AG A6g2- | [V:H] |: -d=edc B4 G3B | ABA^F G2F=E D3C | B,3D G^FGA B3A | G2^F=E D6d2- | % [V:M] -gagf d4 B3d | cdcA B2cB A3^F | G3A BABc d3c |1 B2A^F G6g2- :|2 B2A^F G6 d^c | [V:H] -d=edc B4 G3B | ABA^F G2F=E D3C | B,3D G^FGA B3A |1 G2DC B,6d2- :|2 G2DC B,6 B,A,| % P:B [V:M] |: d4 g2^fg A'3f| gag=f d4 B3A | G3A BABc d3c | B2AG A6 d^c | [V:H] |: G,4 B2AB c3B | ABcA B4 G3D | B,3D G^FGA B3A | G2^F=E D6 D2- | % [V:M] d4 g2^fg a3f | gag=f d4 B3A | G3A BABc d3c |1 B2A^F G6 d^c :|2 B2A^F G8 |] [V:H] -D4 B2AB c3B | ABcA B4 G3D | B,3D G^FGA B3A |1 G2DC B,6 B,A, :|2 G2DC B,8 |] X:7 T:Polska efter Lars i Kontere T:Polska from the playing of Lars i Kontere L:1/8 M:3/4 C:Trad arr. © 2019 Ben Paley N:You can hear N:me playing this tune on my Bandcamp page. O:Värmland, Sweden Q:1/4=150 R:Polska D:Bengt Lindroth, Bo i Ransätt, Erik Gustavsson and Rune Åsell, "Spelmanslåtar från D:Värmland", 1975 D:Ben Paley, "Homunculus Mellitus", 2019 Z:Ben Paley K:A P:A |: Ac e2 B2 | Bd ee fg | a2 fd fa | g2 e4 | Ac e2 B2 | Bd ee fg | a2 fd cA | BG A4 :| P:B |: ed cc ce | dc Be fg | a2 fd fa | g2 e4 | ed cc ce | dc Be fg | a2 fd cA | BG A4 :| X:8 T:Halling efter Per Löf T:Halling from the playing of Per Löf L:1/8 M:2/4 C:Trad arr. © 2010 Ben Paley O:Värmland, Sweden Q:1/2=86 R:Halling D:Bo i Rannsätt and Bengt Lindroth, "Värmlandslåtar", 1979 Z:Ben Paley K:D Dorian P:A -[DA]agb a3a- | -ageg T[Af]3e | [Af]2ag [Ae]2ef | [Dd]fed T^c2[EA]2 | [DA]agb a3a- | -ageg T[Af]3e | [Af]2ag [Ae]2ef | [Dd]fe^c [Dd]3 [DA]- :| P:B |: -[DA]2d^c d2[Ae]2- | -[Ae]2fe Tf2e^c Add^c d2eg | fed^c [D^c][Dd][DA]F | D2d^c d2[Ae]2- | -[Ae]2fe Tf2e^c | Add^c d2eg |1 fed^c [Dd]3[DA]- :|2 fed^c [Dd]4 |] X:9 T:Polska efter Pål Karl Persson T:Polska from the playing of Pål Karl Persson L:1/8 M:3/4 C:Trad arr. © 2019 Ben Paley N:Don't believe the rhythm of the MIDI, it's terrible. N:This appears on the album "Längs Gamla Stigar och Färdeväger" by Simon Simonssons Kvartet N:from 1989 — it's a fantastic version with interesting modern instrumentation and imaginative N:tonality and, at last, I found it on YouTube. Here's a link to me playing it, some years ago, N:with my friend Tab — it's the second of N:these two tunes — but I've linked to the Simon Simonsson version below. N:The first beat of some bars is short, the second long — but this can vary bar by bar. It's N:the essence of a certain sort of polska, and the phenomenon is more or less impossible to N:describe except by demonstration. In the first bar of the A part, for instance, the first three N:notes can be played so as each to take up a more-or-less equal amount of time, as though they N:were quarter note triplets. Personally, I analyze them in the way I've written them — as N:uneven beat lengths — but I suspect listening will prove more useful than reading in this N:case. N:On top of that there are the ambiguous Fs — I play the Fs at the beginning of the second and N:fourth bars of the B part as F-sharps, Simon Simonssons Kvartett plays them pretty solidly as N:F-naturals. I think the underlying situation is that they both represent a half-sharp, which N:melody players choose to represent as either a sharp or natural under the influence of fretted N:instruments. I daresay PhD theses have been written about the influence of frets on traditional N:tonalities. Just do your best. N:All in all, Swedish music can appear at first as a sea of notes and fragmentary harmony which N:strongly hints at some elusive form, but the more you listen to it the more it starts to make N:sense. N:Good luck, have fun, and remember it doesn't matter! O:Dalarna, Sweden R:Polska D:Simon Simonssons Kvartet, "Längs Gamla Stigar och Färdeväger", 1989 Z:Ben Paley K:Am P:A |: A2 dB c>c | d2 ^fe/2d/2 e>c | A2 dB c>c | d2 ^fe/2d/2 e2 | e>g a2 a>g | =fe/2d/2 e4 :| P:B |: A2 ag a>e | ^f2 fe/d/2 e>c | A2 ag a>e | ^f2 fe/d/2 e>A | d>c A