Reuben Reel (Novelty One Step)..1914..Maxwell Goldman

[Steve Harrison]

This tune begins in the style of a hoedown and is ideally suited to the banjo. It then gets interesting, from bars 40 to 63, the melody repeats upwards in increments of a semi tone, changing key each time. Bars 54-63 are my interpretation as I didn't like what was on the piano score. The trio was in F on the piano score but C worked better with my changes. The score and MP3 will be added to the library later.

Steve.

[Jody Stecher]

I'm a bit corn-fused here (staying with the rural theme).   The trio in your transcription is in F, not C.   Maybe you mean the 4th part?  Is the trio in this music not always part 3?

Also at the risk of stating the obvious, (but maybe not obvious to younger members of this forum) I'll point out that the melody of the part 3 (the one in F that keeps going up in pitch) is the theme of an old popular song Reuben and Rachel (Reuben Reuben I've Been Thinking.)

Reuben Reuben I've been thinking
What a fine world this would be
If the men were all transported
Far beyond the Northern Sea

One of the first songs I remember hearing at age 3 or so was a parody of this song: 

Si and I went to the circus
Si got hit with a rolling pin
Si got even with the gosh-darned circus
Bought two tickets and didn't go in.

The song would have been so old and  familiar in 1914 when the Reuben Reel was published that I guess Maxwell Goldman thought that escalating the keys one after the other would spiff it up some.

A mystery: why are there green splotches on the Mama Cow?

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Jody, on the original piano score, the 4th part is marked as the trio.  I'd never heard of the song Reuben and Rachel so thanks or the info...Steve.

I'm a bit corn-fused here (staying with the rural theme).   The trio in your transcription is in F, not C.   Maybe you mean the 4th part?  Is the trio in this music not always part 3?

Also at the risk of stating the obvious, (but maybe not obvious to younger members of this forum) I'll point out that the melody of the part 3 (the one in F that keeps going up in pitch) is the theme of an old popular song Reuben and Rachel (Reuben Reuben I've Been Thinking.)

Reuben Reuben I've been thinking
What a fine world this would be
If the men were all transported
Far beyond the Northern Sea

One of the first songs I remember hearing at age 3 or so was a parody of this song: 

Si and I went to the circus
Si got hit with a rolling pin
Si got even with the gosh-darned circus
Bought two tickets and didn't go in.

The song would have been so old and  familiar in 1914 when the Reuben Reel was published that I guess Maxwell Goldman thought that escalating the keys one after the other would spiff it up some.

A mystery: why are there green splotches on the Mama Cow?

[Trapdoor2]

1. The 4th strain is marked "Trio" in the original sheet music. I think this makes the "Reuben, Reuben" strain an interlude rather than a part.

2. I like how the original sheet gives options for the interlude. It suggests playing key-stepped variations either up or down.

3. If you can have green eggs and ham, perhaps green Holsteins are next? Actually, many "black" inks and dyes are simply very dark greens. We were shown this in grade-school science class where a black candy was melted and diluted...slowly revealing that it was just a very dark green. Tattoo inks can do the same thing. As the black lines fade, they turn green or blue or whatever base was used to make black.

4. Shout out for the "Castle Walk". Vernon and Irene Castle almost independently created the foxtrot craze. When Irene cut her hair short in 1914, every woman in America wanted a "Bob" haircut. Her clothing styles led to the flapper craze in the 20s.

[Jody Stecher]

So long as the ham isn't green.......

Trapdoor2 said:

1. The 4th strain is marked "Trio" in the original sheet music. I think this makes the "Reuben, Reuben" strain an interlude rather than a part.

2. I like how the original sheet gives options for the interlude. It suggests playing key-stepped variations either up or down.

3. If you can have green eggs and ham, perhaps green Holsteins are next? Actually, many "black" inks and dyes are simply very dark greens. We were shown this in grade-school science class where a black candy was melted and diluted...slowly revealing that it was just a very dark green. Tattoo inks can do the same thing. As the black lines fade, they turn green or blue or whatever base was used to make black.

4. Shout out for the "Castle Walk". Vernon and Irene Castle almost independently created the foxtrot craze. When Irene cut her hair short in 1914, every woman in America wanted a "Bob" haircut. Her clothing styles led to the flapper craze in the 20s.