Hi folks!  I would like to present another bit of 19th century banjo music made possible by a grant from the Marc Smith and Joel W. Hooks Archaic Music Foundation.

"Hamilton's Banjo Folio"  I will let this ad tell the story...

Sorry, I could not make the advert any higher res.  Basically it says that this is the one you've been waiting for.  It includes such hits of today as "Common Every Day Polka" and "Remembrance Gavotte!"

And who could forget the old favorite "Pullman Palace Car Conductors?"

Get it complete for the low, low cost of $0US (internet connection not included, handling charges may apply).

But wait, there's more!  That's right, act now and we will include 2nd banjo parts!

And as if that is not enough, we are throwing in the piano accompaniment absolutely free.

And if you click within the next few seconds we will double your order (you will have to click the "download PDF" link twice to take advantage of the offer)!

"Yes, I would like you to send me Hamilton's Banjo Folio.  By clicking the link below I certify that I am old enough to get this joke"  

https://archive.org/details/HamiltonsBanjoFolio

Seriously though, it is pretty cool and is in terrible shape.  I was able to get a pretty clean scan of it.  I hope to sit down with it soon and play through it.  It does have a great piece that Clarke Buehling plays regularly "Fire Alarm Galop"

Views: 264

Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

"Fire Bell Galop"... ;-)

I'm working on "Queen of The West Quickstep" as soon as I get finished with "The Whistler And His Dog" (hopefully this evening).

Naturally I went right to The Common Every Day Polka.  But what I found was puzzling. the banjo tuning is given as low to high B flat, F, A, C and the head of the fifth string note is missing. I reckon it is F.  The piano accompaniment is written in the key B flat. But the 2 banjo parts are written in A major. I guess this is a sort of "scordatura". One reads as if in normal tuning, which according to the instructions in the back is A tuning. But the music comes out a half step higher in B flat. Two questions arise. 1) WHY? and why are there other pieces in this collection written like this? Was it easier for Hamilton to play piano in B flat than in A?  2) if A tuning is the norm, why is the previous tune (Hamilton's Minor Jig) played in C tuning?. 

B flat was what the cool kids were tuning to.  E. M. Hall, Horace Weston, etc.  You will notice that the banjo depicted in the instruction section is of the "New York" or Jimmy Clarke pattern and those were typically referred to as "Large" banjos.

The cool kids were playing in front of brass bands and orchestras, so they were tuning to the band.

The fifth string note is missing because the book was printed cheaply.  Some pages were pressed hard enough to emboss (I know this is what modern press operators do, but it was considered sloppy then), while other pages (like this one) were pressed so light as to not print complete.  Also, the pages have turned a chocolate brown and I had to play with the settings to get a good scan.  The tilted pages were printed that way.

As to why this particular piece is in b flat?  You got me…

Quite a number of the pieces (in this book) have piano parts in Bb (and the odd banjo tuning). I usually assume that if one wished to play solo, one tuned as one desired. This is an 1890 publication so much of the banjo population was already playing in C whilst reading in A.

As I understand it, Bb is a 'comfortable' key to play on the piano...and lends itself well to the brass section of the orchestra. Otherwise, perhaps since this is a Chicago publication, they may have wanted to differentiate themselves from the New Englanders...and flat keys go with their flat midwestern accent. ;-)

Reply to Discussion

RSS

© 2024   Created by thereallyniceman.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service