The Enchantress (Transcribed to C Notation)

[Mike Moss]

I've attached my transcription of Frederick J. Bacon's "The Enchantress" into C notation -- this is just the bare bones musical score as my editing software is very bad at adding fingerings, &c. so I'm afraid the use of the 5th string and the positions aren't indicated. Perhaps someone with a better programme than me could insert those, if they're interested, but at least the song is legible now!

The Enchantress - First Banjo (C Notation)

[Trapdoor2]

So...where did you find the original? I'm assuming it was in A notation...can we see it?

I'll be happy to TAB it out, but the fingerings will be "mine" and simply a SWAG for the most part.

[Mike Moss]

Hi Marc,

Ian sent me a copy:

It's a real beast of a tune though... plenty of finger tremolo! There are a couple of engraving errors in the original score (timing) which I have corrected in my version.

[Trapdoor2]

Cool!

Oh, I see what you mean...I misunderstood what you said about fingering, positions, etc. The original has all of that (and more!). I'll reproduce it verbatim...as much as possible with TablEdit.

Typical late A notation stuff. The suggestion in the upper left is to tune the banjo gCGBD so that you have to transpose mentally. NOT! ;-)

[Mike Moss]

Yes, surprising how A notation was still in use in the 1910s -- was it still the norm or was the trend on the way out by then?

A notation isn't that hard to read but it plays havoc with the reflexes in my brain... some of the notes are so instinctively associated with certain frets and positions in my mind/muscle memory that I need a lot of conscious effort not to attempt to play it as if it were written in C -- the worst offenders are the high E and G, which I would (usually) play on the 1st string 2nd fret and 5th string open, or the tempting low C which is actually an E! I guess that's how the old timers felt when they had to transition from A to C, but at least the pitches "looked" the same as on the guitar or piano in that case.

[Trapdoor2]

In my collection, the trend is towards C notation right after the turn of the century (1900). Exceptions abound...but I suspect some of the more hidebound publishers just stuck with the familiar. I have a small number of English publications wherein both are printed (the "A notation" stuff is usually marked "American Notation") and an even smaller subset where the reverse is applied (although the C notation versions are all marked "C notation" in those cases).

Some publishers were forward thinking. Jacobs tended to publish in C notation starting in the 1890s and Brooks and Denton's stuff (also 1890's) is uniformly in C. I also think the A.J. Weidt stuff is usually in C. The Boston mafia (Lansing, Babb, Grover, Shattuck, et al) were all crusty old A notationers.

[Trapdoor2]

Ok, I have the first 40 measures keyed in. No significant problems other than reading the original accidentals (esp. when they're crammed together). Have been amusing myself by trying to get the MIDI to output something close to what I hear in my head (Doug Back's version). The tempo marking doesn't work out. If I run 126 in the 4/4 introduction and then shift to 3/4 and 72bpm...it is a dirge waltz. I have to boost it up to 140+ (double time compared to the recommendation) to get it to sound properly "brilliante".

TablEdit does a reeeaaallllyyy crappy job with tremolo. Gaaak. =8-P