%%abc-version 2.1 %%abc-copyright (C) Copyright Ben Paley 2026 %%writefields X %%writefields N %%writefields D %%measurenb 0 %%partsbox 1 X:1 T:Rolling River L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:I had this version from the 1978 album "Ship in the Clouds" by Andy Cahan, Laura Fishleder and N:Lisa Ornstein. Their source was a Library of Congress recording, which the Traditional Tune N:Archive says is a version of "Tennessee Wagoner" played by African-American musicians John Lusk N:(1889-1969, fiddle), Murph Gribble (banjo) and Albert York (guitar) and recorded for the N:Library of Congress in September 1946 at Campaign, Tennessee by Margot Mayo, Stuart Jamieson N:and Freyda Simon. N:"Lusk's grandfather had been trained as a slave fiddler in New Orleans, and John had a N:reputation as an outstanding square dance fiddler in a multi-county region. The first strain is N:repeated ad lib by Lusk before proceeding to the 2nd strain, and sounds more like a 'vamped' N:variation on five notes than a developed melody". O:Tennessee, USA P:ABA Q:1/2=108 D:Andy Cahan, Laura Fishleder and Lisa Ornstein, "Ship in the Clouds", 1978 Z:Ben Paley K:G P:A |: G2BG AGAB | GAGF EDEF | GGAG BBAE | GAGD EDEF | G2BG AGAA | GAGF EDEF | GGAG BBAE | GAGD E4 :|] P:B [| g2 g2 d2 d2 | e2 a2 abaf | g2 g2 g2 e2 | dBAG E4 | g2 g2 f2 f2 | e2 a2 abaf | g2 ga g2 e2 | dBAG EDEF |] X:2 T:Southern Aristocracy T:Coloured Aristocracy L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:As a general rule I see no problem with renaming tunes and rewriting lyrics to avoid causing N:offence. I've done it myself, and I daresay I'll do it again. In this case I'm a little N:uncertain: perhaps renaming this tune amounts to whitewashing? The word "coloured" was probably N:the most generally neutral and polite term used to refer to African-Americans at the time the N:tune was named, and the term "coloured aristocracy" itself could have entirely positive as well N:as negative connotations, depending on context. I don't see a clear right or wrong here, so N:I've decided simply to mention the issue whenever it seems appropriate. N:As for the music, I got this version from my dad, Tom Paley. It's essentially the version that N:appears on the New Lost City Ramblers' eponymous first album, released in 1958 — the first N:tune they ever played together, I think before they even had a name as a band! There's always a N:question about whether to play an E major or an E minor against the third and fourth bars. I N:like both: the NLCR play the major, and that certainly creates a more unusual sound. But why N:choose? O:USA Q:1/2=100 D:New Lost City Ramblers, "New Lost City Ramblers", 1958 Z:Ben Paley K:G P:A |: G2GG E D3 | G8 | B2BB A G3 | B8 | edef g3e | dedc BAG2 |[1 A2AB ^cABc | d8 :|[2 BAB(d d)BA2 | G8 | P:B |: g2ga ged2 | e8 | eged BAG2 | B8 | edef g3e | dedc BAG2 |[1 A2AB ^cABc | d8 :|[2 BAB(d d)BA2 | G8 |] X:3 T:Unser Oide Kath T:Bavarian Waltz L:1/16 M:5/4 C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:I learnt this tune from my father when I was a child. It also appears in the film Bagdad Cafe N:(not Fried Green Tomatoes as I thought, thanks to those who have pointed that out!) N:There are other ways to write this out, depending on how you analyze the rhythm, but this does N:the job, and it has the virtue of being simple. N:Thanks to William West for letting me know the German name of this tune, or at least the N:Bavarian name, I don't think it's standard German. Now that I know what to look for I discover N:it's all over YouTube in various versions, some with lyrics. O:Bavaria, Germany Z:Ben Paley K:D P:A |: A3G FGA2 - A2d2 c2e2 d2f2 | A3G FGA2 - A2d2 c2e2 d4 :| P:B |: B2gg g2A2 fff2 e2c2 d2f2 | B2gg g2A2 fff2 e2c2 d4 :| X:4 T:The Orphan L:1/8 M:6/8 C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:I learnt this tune, like so much, from the great anglo concertina player Mandy Murray in N:Brighton. It's not hard to find great versions of it on the internet. There's a lot of N:variation in how it finishes: here, I've included an alternative last line which represents N:another way of thinking about the tune. Maybe you could think of it as a variation, even, just N:don't play them both the same time through the tune or you'll end up with too many bars! I've N:notated the whole tune without repeats in order to include more variation, as it's that kind of N:tune, but it's still essentially AABB. O:Ireland Q:3/8=99 Z:Ben Paley K:Em P:A [| EFE EDB, | GFG A2A | BcB ABA | GEF EDB, | A,2E EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E2B, | B,2E EDB, | GFG AGA | BdB ABA | GEF EDB, | A,3 EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E3 |] P:B [| e3 dBA | GAB d2d | e2e dBA | BAG EGE | DAG EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED EGB | e3 dBA | GAB d2d | e/f/ge dBA | BAG EGE | DAG EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E3 |] P:Alternative last line BAG EDB, |A,3 EDB, | GFG A2A | BdB ABA | GED E3 |] X:5 T:The Maid In The Meadow L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:It's just a great tune! I particularly love the subtle and understated version on Yvonne N:Casey's 2004 album, "Yvonne Casey". O:Ireland Q:1/2=101 D:Yvonne Casey, "Yvonne Casey", 2004 Z:Ben Paley K:D Mixolydian P:A [| d2ed cAGc | Add^c dfag | f2ed cAAG | E2cE EDFA | d2ed cAGc | Add^c d3e | fded dcAG | E2cE EDD2 |] P:B [| fdd^c d2fd | e2ag efg2 | fdd^c d2(3Bcd | eaag ed2e | fdd^c d2fd | eaag efge | fge^c dA(3Bcd | e2ag effe |] X:6 T:The Cameronian L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:The 1997 album "The Fiddle Music of Donegal, Volume 2" is a wonder throughout, but Ronan N:Galvin's version of the Cameronian really stuck out to me. It's a very unusual version to say N:the least! You could think of the first part as being in F natural Lydian rather than G N:Mixolydian, but I chose to write it here as G major all the way through for ease of notation. N:And yes, it's crooked. Irish tunes can be crooked too. N:Ronan Galvin finishes on the F\u266f at the beginning of the last bar, whereas I finish on the N:C\u266e which is the first note of the tune: I only recently noticed that difference, and N:there's the Folk Process in action! O:Ireland Q:1/2=85 D:Ronan Galvin, "The Fiddle Music of Donegal, Volume 2", 1997 Z:Ben Paley K:G P:A AB [| !segno!c=F(3FFF cFdF | c=FFd cFAc | BG(3GGG BGdG | BGGe dcBd | c=F(3FFF cFdF | c=FFd cFAc | B2GB DGBG | DGBd cBAG |] P:B [| FGAg fdcA | FGAg fdcA | G2ga bgfg | dfga bgaf | defg fdcA | FGAg fdcA | G2ga bgfg | dfga bgaf | defg fadf | egce gbag | !fine!fdcB !D.S.!|] X:7 T:Marsch efter Hans Dalfors från Ore T:March from the playing of Hans Dalfors from Ore L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:In the A part you'll notice that I'm anticipating the first note of bar 7, starting it in bar N:6. This is only a suggestion*, of course and, as written, it comes out as quite an extreme N:syncopation - extreme in the context, at least. You might like to de-emphasise this in your N:playing, or ignore it completely. N:In the third bar of the harmony, I've written both B to D and B to G. I think it sits very N:nicely like this, providing some movement against the repetition in the melody, but you might N:like to play one note both times: I offer them as alternatives. N:[*this is a joke, because the Swedish word for suggestion, "förslag", has a technical meaning N:in music to do with anticipating and retarding notes. Do you love puns that have to be N:explained? I do.] O:Dalarna, Sweden R:March D:Ola Bäckström and Per Gudmundsson, "Ola & Per", 2001 Z:Ben Paley K:D V:M clef=treble name="Melody" snm="M" V:H clef=treble name="Harmony" snm="H" %%score M|H % % P:A [V:M] A2 |: d2fe d2f2 | A3B A2GF | G2AB G2B2 | ABAG FDFA | [V:H] D2 |: F2AG F2A2 | D3E F2ED | B,2D2 B,2G2 | FGFE DA,DE | % [V:M] d2fe d2f2 | efed e2FG - | GAGF GAB=c |1 A6 A2 :|2 A6 GF | [V:H] F2AG F2A2 | cdcB c2A,B, - | B,=CB,A, B,DGA |1 F6 D2 :|2 F6 DB, | % % P:B [V:M] |: G2g2 g2=fe | d2e=f f2ed | cdef ^gabg | a6 GF | [V:H] |: G,2_B2 B2AG | =F2Ad d2cB | ABcd efeB | c6 DB, | % [V:M] G2g2 g2=fe | d2e=f f2ed | cdef gbac | d3f efec |1 d6 GF :|2 d6 |] [V:H] G,2_B2 B2AG | =F2Ad d2cB | ABcd cBAG | F3A GAGE |1 F6 DB, :|2 F6 |] X:8 T:Kruspolskan T:Something like "Tankard Polska", perhaps? L:1/8 M:3/4 C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:Styrbjörn Bergelt plays this tune on his 1979 album "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt" and there's a N:very different version by Hedingarna from 1991 on "Kaksi!". Q:1/4=105 R:Polska D:Styrbjörn Bergelt, "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt", 1979 D:Hedningarna, "Kaksi!", 1991 Z:Ben Paley K:Dm P:A |: A>F DD FF | GG =BB A2 | F>A cA FF | GG =BB A2 | A>c ee dd | cc AA FF | GE ED D2 :| P:B |: D>E FD E2 | ED/2E/2 FD D2 | D>E FD E2 | ED/2E/2 F2 D2 :| X:9 T:Sörmländsk Brudlåt T:Wedding tune from Södermanland L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2022 Ben Paley N:Another tune I first heard on Styrbjörn Bergelt's "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt" O:Södermanland, Sweden D:Styrbjörn Bergelt, "Tagelharpa och Videflöjt", 1979 Z:Ben Paley K:Dm P:A DF |: A3G FEDE | F4 G2FG | A2BA GDDF |[1 D6 DF :|[2 D6 AB | P:B | c2c2 B2AG | A3G F2F2 | G3A B2AG | A6 DF | A3G FEDE | F4 G2FG | A2BA GDDF | D6 |] X:10 T:Shuffle bowing patterns L:1/8 M:C| C:Trad arr. © 2005 Ben Paley N:What's important here is, of course, the direction of the bow rather than the actual notes. N:But, since you have to play some notes, you might as well play these, for practice. Perhaps N:you'd like to let an open A drone ring out while you're noting the D string. Or you might like N:to hit the A string just on down bows, for instance. Experiment with this, and with things like N:how much bow you use, and how much swing you give the rhythm. O:USA Z:Ben Paley K:D P:Nashville Shuffle |: v(EF)uFvF u(EF)vFuF | v(EF)uFvF u(EF)vFuF | v(EF)uFvF u(EF)vFuF | v(EF)uFvF u(EF)vFuF :| P:Georgia Shuffle |: (uEF)vF(uF EF)vF(uF | EF)vF(uF EF)vF(uF | EF)vF(uF EF)vF(uF | EF)vF(uF EF)vFuF :|