I knew that it was a popular civil war era tune, and that the a part of it appears in the swing tune american patrol along with redwing. Turkey in the straw folklife today library of congress blogs. The fiddle may be accompanied by banjo or other instruments but are nevertheless called fiddle tunes. A 19th century minstrel tune related to natchez under the hill and old zip coon, the melody goes further back, to scotland and ireland and tunes such as the rose tree, the bonny black eagle, and glasgow hornpipe. Transcriptions and audio files of over 550 traditional fiddle tunes from old recordings, festivals, jams and workshops. Folk tune finder is a search engine for folk tunes in abc notation. Its a set of 4 books with coordinated arrangements for fiddle, clawhammer banjo, flatpick guitar, and mandolin. Turkey in the straw is potentially derived from the ballad my grandmother lived on yonder little green which is said to come from the tune the rose tree. Turkey in the straw music transcription library of congress. Fiddle rose garden 23054, yosagun, kyoto, japan 6292262 rated 4.
The site focuses on dance and fiddle tunes from several regions around the north atlantic. Still, i use a lot of left hand techniques to liven up the melodic nature of the piece. Common session tunes from bluegrass, oldtime, english. If you have found it useful and would like to support its development, please click one of the buttons below you can either donate via paypal or with any of the major credit debit cards.
Brown maintains the tune served as a rhythmically enlivened transitional melody between the rose tree and the song old zip coon curiously published in 1834, five years before the knauffs printing of natchezthe two tunes were probably older than their publications, which closely follows natchez harmonically and melodically save. The abc website has taken many, many hours of work. The rose tree and turkey in the straw old time, celtic, traditional english. Those listed with are original tunes ive composed click here to see the sheet music for many of my original tunes. Celtic fiddle tune the rose tree brisbane cbd youtube. In the late 1820s and early 1830s, turkey in the straw was performed in minstrel shows by blackface actors and musicians, notably george washington dixon. A tune by this name has been recorded together with the dashing white sergeant lots of times, the rakes of mallow a few times, tripping on the mountain a few times, maggie in the woods a few times and old grey cat a few times. Turkey in the straw music transcription library of. With downloadable sheet music scores, chords, tabs for mandolin, mp3 audio and midi music tracks. The rose tree the shetland fiddler the snouts and ears of america. Fiddle tunes welcome to the adirondackappalachian composer. Rose in the mountain sals got mud between her toes santa claus. The identification of turkey in the straw with the rose tree was independently made by alan jabbour, who says of the two tunes the only conspicuous difference in the melodic contours is that the rose tree drops to the tonic in the third phrase of the second strain, while the american tunes thrust up to the octave for rendering much the same melodic material.
Cj sharp met 72year old john mason in stowonthewold workhouse. The tune was named for the fiddler, one port from huntingdon county, pa. Then go straight into the full 4part version of the high road to linton in a. The thing is, the name turkey in the straw originated in the early 1800s from minstrel shows. Every reference i can find has this tune in d major but the mp3 and sheet music above are in a major every reference i can find has this tune in d major but the mp3 and sheet music above are in a major. Westphalia waltz fiddle tune omfa fiddlers jamboree honor, mi. Turkey in the straw is a very well known american fiddle tune instrumental.
You can get calvins official sheet music from his website. Turkey in the straw was initially a popular tune for fiddle players. The editor says that a general resemblance exists between this tune and sabbath summons in mccurry, pg. Mason had played fiddle for the sherborne morris set and possibly others and, as well as providing sharp with a number of tunes, he volunteered the address of william hathaway in cheltenham, the location of sherborne morriss george simpson near didcot and gave other leads towards participants in the longborough, bledington. I saw some people on youtube playing the rose tree in d and decided to imitate. The note says it dates from the mid 18th century and is known wherever english is spo. Lee weddin tune lonesome fiddle blues long cold winter long time to get there lost girl. Imagine playing the celtic fiddle tune the rose tree in brisbane city centre, queensland. Tune of the month, fiddling sheet music, midis, mp3s, videos. Each tune is presented in several different backup arrangements slow and fast guitar backup, guitar and banjo, guitar and fiddle, so that you may choose the one that best fits your needs. Its not often a fiddle tune becomes controversial, but thats happening. For a more detailed search, take a look at the kinds of information page. Turkey in the straws lyrics can be rightly considered to be nonsense verses.
A rose tree from the 18th century british ballad opera, the poor soldier, sung by david and ginger hildebrand. Free sheet music and tablature for fiddle tunes arranged for mandolin. The tunes are mostly ones commonly played in music sessions from the irish, bluegrass, oldtime, english, canadian, scottish and european traditions. The girl i left behind me fiddle tune a day day 182 honestly, before i played this song, i didnt know much about the girl i left behind me.
The rose tree traditional page 3 3 i learned this tune here in new england, when i first moved here almost forty yearsd ago, to go to school. Simply rightclick the link, then choose save link as. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. The title comes from a song set to the tune called a rose tree in full bearing, first appearing in print under that title in english composer william shields opera the poor soldier 1782, lyrics by john okeeffe. Millinerkoken collection of american fiddle tunes larry. Shield did not compose the melody, but rather adapted an existing, older tune, which may have been irish and which may have been given to shield by okeeffe although this is speculative at this time. The apple tree for the fiddle, try transposing this tune down to g. The girl i left behind me fiddle tune a day vi wickam.
Turkey in the straw is by now close to universal as an american fiddle tune, being played not only in the upper south but in every region of the country. Fiddle tablature and sheet music on this page, members may directly download the tablature and notation to your computer. Between 1966 and 1968 notated music retrieved from the library of congress, s. The tune is one of hundreds composed by canadian fiddler calvin vollrath. Click on the tune name for the sheet music pdf file, the piano keys piano keys. The identification of turkey in the straw with the rose tree was. Travis inman old time fiddler traditional fiddle and. Oldtime, bluegrass, jigs, hornpipes, rags, waltzes, and a few surprises. The milliner koken collection of american fiddle tunes note. Topics relating to fiddles, fiddling, fiddlers and fiddle music.
The rose tree is is a traditional english tune said by folklorists to be the precursor of turkey in the straw, but it doesnt really sound like it to me other than a superficial resemblance. Whether the varieties of american fi ddling style preserve irish. I am looking to take my fiddle playing to the next level, would love tips on improvising and intonation. I am studying music at uni but we just do not get the support we need for our instruments and i cant afford a teacher at present. Tabs for each volume are also available for banjo and fiddlemandolin here.
This song was popular in colonial america, but was originally based on an irish tune. Bampton traditional morris dancers perform the rose tree in the garden of little place, bampton, oxfordshire towards the end of a damp spring bank holiday in 2011. This collection includes more than 1600 scores with sheet music and tabs for guitar plus midi files of the tunes. I added slightly more ornamentation to this fiddle rendition of the rose. Tabs for each volume are also available for banjo and fiddle mandolin here. The first part of the songs tune may be derived from the ballad my grandmother lived on yonder little green which was a derivative of the irish ballad the old rose tree. However, it now is mostly considered to be a childrens song. The first part of the song is a contrafactum of the ballad my grandmother lived on yonder little green, aka my grandma lived on yonder little green, aka my grandmas advice, published in 1857 by horace waters, 333 broadway, new york, which itself is a contrafactum of the irish ballad the old rose tree.
Heres a list of the tunes i can play on the fiddle some better than others. Tunes in fiddler magazine audio and video files beginning with the winter 201415 issue, many of the tunes printed in fiddler magazine are being made available here as mp3 or video files. Bluegrass college fakebook free sheet music and tab for banjo, bass, dobro, fiddle, guitar and mandolin for a good selection of bluegrass standards. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. The only conspicuous difference in the melodic contours. Rose tree fiddle tune, key d american bluegrass, old time. The rose tree is a traditional english reel 44 time, although scotland and ireland also lay claim to this tune. Old time fiddle tunes derived from european folk dance tunes such as jig, reel, breakdown, schottische, waltz, two step and polka. This is an online fiddle lesson for the bluegrass song turkey in the straw. Natchez under the hill fiddle tune a day day 328 vi. Turkey in the straw is a wellknown american folk song dating from the early 19th century. Turkey in the straw used to be a dance song for people of all ages. This version is from a missouri fiddle workshop taught by charlie walden in january 2015. Rockin fiddle rose of alabama roxanna waltz rubber dolly run johnny run russian rag rutlands reel rye straw sail away ladies sally ann sally goodin sally in the garden sally johnson salt creek salty salty dog rag san antonio rose sandy boys sandy river belle santa anas retreat santa claus saturday night rag say old man can you play the.
Its an innocent playful melody that has been around for centuries. The title comes from a song set to the tune called a rose tree in full bearing. Transcriptions and audio files of over 550 fiddle tunes from old recordings, festivals, jams and workshops, notated by john lamancusa. Katy hill land of lincoln lee weddin tune make a little boat missouri road road to columbus sally goodinoctave part santa claus scotland shelby rock spider bit the baby stony lonesome sugar tree stomp zions march blaine sprouse cherokee maggie. Below are all the current tune volumes which come with the lifetime membership mp3 backup downloads and tablature. Topics relating to fiddles, fiddling, fiddlers and fiddle music press j to jump to the feed. Click on the tune name for the sheet music pdf file, the piano keys to hear a synthesized midi file, or for a recording. Every reference i can find has this tune in d major but the mp3 and sheet music above. The note says it dates from the mid 18th century and is known wherever english is spoken. Hildebrands a rose tree from the ballad opera, a poor.