Bickford's Banjo Players Favorite

[Joel Hooks]

Ask and I shall receive (evidently).  So here it is!

Directly from 1918 it is the "Banjo Players Favorite", a collection of seventy familiar melodies progressively arranged by Zarh Myron Bickford in C notation.

Mostly "short pieces," I love this sort of thing for a relaxing evening of light reading.

There is something for everyone here and it is worth the cost you'll have to pay to get it-- only one "click!"

https://archive.org/details/BanjoFavoritesBickford

First person to post a video of "Spring Song" wins (a free digital copy of the book and the title of Champion Banjoist of the Ning Classic Site).

As it is in the public domain you can do what you want with it.  You can even try to sell it to suckers who don't know how to use google on Etsy and Ebay as a "digital download."  

[Jody Stecher]

This is great, Joel. Thank you. I am of those "suckers" who doesn't know what to make of the many download choices offered at the linked page. What is the difference please between pdf and "pdf with text". ??

[Jody Stecher]

Well, they seem to be the same. Printing now. Yup some of these are bona fide Fiddle Tunes.

Jody Stecher said:

This is great, Joel. Thank you. I am of those "suckers" who doesn't know what to make of the many download choices offered at the linked page. What is the difference please between pdf and "pdf with text". ??

[Joel Hooks]

I think you want just the regular PDF.  

The Internet Archive automatically creates different file formats so that anyone with any computer can access the information.

[Joel Hooks]

Success! 

[Trapdoor2]

Ok, I'll TAB out "Spring Song" and see what gives. Mendelssohn's gotta sound good on anything, right?

Where's Rob MacKillop when we need him?!?

[Joel Hooks]

Of topic rant.

I was reading the history of the mandolin in Bickford's method of that subject just now.  It seems very good.  What is interesting is that there was no question even at that time that the US only knew of the mandolin because of the "Spanish Students" misunderstanding of the early 1880s.

Why can the whole world understand this yet American Civil War reenactors can't?  Sometimes "old time" string bands too but less so.

Okay, rant over.

[Jody Stecher]

Yes,  the whole mandolin orchestra craze was, as you know, based on the misidentification of the instrument played by the "Spanish Students". On the other hand,  in order for it to have been misidentified as a mandolin (rather than as something else) there had to have been some general idea of what a mandolin was.  Beethoven composed for mandolin and so did Mozart. They did this in the 18th century. What was known in Europe was known in the USA. Was it known in the back of the beyond out in the wilderness? Probably not. But Civil War soldiers on both sides came from many regions, classes, and backgrounds. Was the 18th century and 19th century mandolin construction identical to the  modern mandolin? No.

Also/ meanwhile/ elsewhere, Immigrants from Italy brought mandolins.

 Yes, most Italian-made mandolins came over here in the 20th century. Yes, the use of the mandolin in historical reenactment bands is anachronistic for 19th century rural Appalachia. But its use in 20th century Appalachia while not as common as fiddle and banjo , was widespread.  the guitar also was likely  a 20th century addition to old-time ensemble  music, although it has been in America for a very long time, via many routes. . Historical reenactment bands get a lot of things wrong. Wrong strings, wrong shape and size of instruments. Sorry boys, but there were no mylar banjo heads during the Civil War and no dreadnought guitars.  And much of the style of music played by old-time bands these days did not come into being until the third decade of the 20th century at the earliest. Most people playing this music these days do so because, like me, they find the music is still viable and relevant. It's not about historical re-creation. Same for classic banjo music. It's still relevant. Can it be played on a new banjo made in China? you bet. 

Joel Hooks said:

Of topic rant.

I was reading the history of the mandolin in Bickford's method of that subject just now.  It seems very good.  What is interesting is that there was no question even at that time that the US only knew of the mandolin because of the "Spanish Students" misunderstanding of the early 1880s.

Why can the whole world understand this yet American Civil War reenactors can't?  Sometimes "old time" string bands too but less so.

Okay, rant over.

[Jody Stecher]

I may have been mistaken on one point. It seems that Italian immigrants brought mandolins to the usa in the 19th century and that it came form other places besides Italy. Here is a bit about it from here:

http://www.mandolincafe.com/archives/briefhistory.html

I'm dubious about ukuleles in american parlors of the 1850s but here's the 2 paragraphs:

The Mandolin Comes To North America

The mandolin entered the mainstream of popular American culture during the first epoch of substantial immigration from eastern and southern Europe, a period of prosperity and vulgarity, when things exotic and foreign dominated popular taste.

It was in vogue in the 1850s, when it shared the parlor with zithers, mandolas, ukuleles, and other novelties designed to amuse the increasingly leisured middle class. A marked increase in Italian immigration in the 1880s sparked a fad for the bowl-backed Neopolitan instrument that spread across the land. The mandolin was even among the first recorded instruments on Edison cylinders. In 1897, Montgomery Ward's catalog marveled at the 'phenomenal growth in our Mandolin trade'.

Jody Stecher said:

Yes,  the whole mandolin orchestra craze was, as you know, based on the misidentification of the instrument played by the "Spanish Students". On the other hand,  in order for it to have been misidentified as a mandolin (rather than as something else) there had to have been some general idea of what a mandolin was.  Beethoven composed for mandolin and so did Mozart. They did this in the 18th century. What was known in Europe was known in the USA. Was it known in the back of the beyond out in the wilderness? Probably not. But Civil War soldiers on both sides came from many regions, classes, and backgrounds. Was the 18th century and 19th century mandolin construction identical to the  modern mandolin? No.

Also/ meanwhile/ elsewhere, Immigrants from Italy brought mandolins.

 Yes, most Italian-made mandolins came over here in the 20th century. Yes, the use of the mandolin in historical reenactment bands is anachronistic for 19th century rural Appalachia. But its use in 20th century Appalachia while not as common as fiddle and banjo , was widespread.  the guitar also was likely  a 20th century addition to old-time ensemble  music, although it has been in America for a very long time, via many routes. . Historical reenactment bands get a lot of things wrong. Wrong strings, wrong shape and size of instruments. Sorry boys, but there were no mylar banjo heads during the Civil War and no dreadnought guitars.  And much of the style of music played by old-time bands these days did not come into being until the third decade of the 20th century at the earliest. Most people playing this music these days do so because, like me, they find the music is still viable and relevant. It's not about historical re-creation. Same for classic banjo music. It's still relevant. Can it be played on a new banjo made in China? you bet. 

Joel Hooks said:

Of topic rant.

I was reading the history of the mandolin in Bickford's method of that subject just now.  It seems very good.  What is interesting is that there was no question even at that time that the US only knew of the mandolin because of the "Spanish Students" misunderstanding of the early 1880s.

Why can the whole world understand this yet American Civil War reenactors can't?  Sometimes "old time" string bands too but less so.

Okay, rant over.

[Trapdoor2]

LOL, here's "Spring Song" in TAB and a MIDI file. Crazily, I've been messing around with it...and it isn't as difficult as it looks. Of course, I can't really keep the voices separate...but given a couple of evenings with it, I imagine I could embarrass myself nicely.

It is marked "Allegretto grazioso" but what is in my head is very "Adagio". Of course, my playing is even slower! The bpm meter on the MIDI is set at 65...and I took some liberties with measure 15...(ritardando).

I hope this is amusing for someone!

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Joel, thanks for that link, I enjoyed looking through Bickfords but one thing came to mind, It appeared to me that much of the early American banjo music seemed to be based on traditional/folk tunes or music in that style. Are there any American equivalents of Morley and Grimshaw et al?...Steve.

[Jody Stecher]

Those melodies and that style of melody was the popular music of earlier times.  The book is a collection of  favorite familiar melodies. that's what it says right on the cover. 

Of course there are American composers of banjo music. Perhaps you can ask the question a different way. You can't have thought that Parke Hunter, Paul Eno, Weidt, Glynn, Lansing et al were British or anything but American.  You must mean something else. If you are asking why the specific content of Bickford book did not contain the work of Americans who composed for the banjo, it may have been to avoid paying royalties.  Much of what is in this book appeared earlier in other books in A tuning.   I'll bet Joel knows something about early American copyright law. I think a good percentage of the answer lies in the title and stated purpose of the book. This is a collection of favorite, familiar melodies appearing in C notation, and appearing handily all in one place.

Steve Harrison said:

Hi Joel, thanks for that link, I enjoyed looking through Bickfords but one thing came to mind, It appeared to me that much of the early American banjo music seemed to be based on traditional/folk tunes or music in that style. Are there any American equivalents of Morley and Grimshaw et al?...Steve.

[Joel Hooks]

Jody-- the quoted site insinuating that the mandolin was common in US in the 1850s is incorrect and total wishful thinking.  What I liked about Bickford's history is that he links it to names of actual people that started the craze.  Because or the prevalence of ACW reenacting this subject has been scrutinized.  Yet the "1850s" date persists despite the lack of any evidence at all to substantiate it.

The same thing happens to the Richter model harmonica.  The popularity of the 10 hole Richter harmonica in the US can be linked to J. K. Emmett and his character "Fritz"-- he is worth googleing as he was quite popular and his songs "Emmett's Lullaby" and "Sweet Violets" were very popular.  Despite this the old "civil war soldiers played harmonicas in camp" and even better "newly freed slaves picked up discarded harmonicas and played the blues" myths keep getting told (and written) time and time again.

The best explanation that I have found for this logic is from the "Talk" tab on the wiki article about the bodhran-- I'll quote it, then back on subject.

"The bodhran is a modern invention, ie. from the 1950's and involving Seán Ó Riada. When played well it is a fine instrument and has found it's place in Irish traditional music in the same way that, for instance, the guitar has.

Some people seem to feel insecure with this history and wish to invent ancient roots to the bodhran (eg. the war drum myth). This tendency for romantic invention comes up in many other places (just see all the urban myths and beliefs about Morris dancing). I play the melodeon (a type of button accordion) which has a well known history over the last 150 years approx. It doesn't go back into the mists of time and I don't need to imagine a history to justify my playing of one. Many bodhran players understand and are happy with the truth, many prefer whimsical imagination instead. "