I am learning this fiddle tune, which I've labeled "Crooked West Virginia," on mandolin. I really love this tune, so I'd thought I'd turn you all on to it! There are a ba-zillion versions, and most are called "Pigeon on a Gate" and they are Irish reels. This one is truly a West Virgina tune, but does have the oft-heard Scottish influence that you hear in Appalachian tunes. I wrote my own tabs, while listening to my husband play it. He learned it in the 1970s from listening to a cassette tape of a friend playing it over the telephone!!! You can see my tabs in my photo album. people.tribe.net/kalicleo/...862de2f394
On the surface it seems very easy, and really it is not hard, but the timing is so bizarre that it takes some getting used to. It switches to a march for one measure, and the syncopated rhythm alternates, too.
If you can read my handwriting, maybe you'll learn it too if you haven't already! I used regular music notation paper, not tablature paper, so I've put the notation in the spaces, not on the lines.... each space representing a mandolin/fiddle string, each number the mandolin fret.
I've looked on line for something about this tune. There are two websites to share... one to find the ABC notation, and the other to convert it to sheet music and a midi:
1. www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FCfiles.html -- if it ain't there, it doesn't exist (fiddle tunes) ... Copy the ABC notation from the tune you want.
2. www.concertina.net/ -- click on the tune-o-tron link and paste the ABC in there to get music & a midi.
Unfortunately, even though they LIST Pigeon on a Gate Post, they do not provide the ABC...
On the surface it seems very easy, and really it is not hard, but the timing is so bizarre that it takes some getting used to. It switches to a march for one measure, and the syncopated rhythm alternates, too.
If you can read my handwriting, maybe you'll learn it too if you haven't already! I used regular music notation paper, not tablature paper, so I've put the notation in the spaces, not on the lines.... each space representing a mandolin/fiddle string, each number the mandolin fret.
I've looked on line for something about this tune. There are two websites to share... one to find the ABC notation, and the other to convert it to sheet music and a midi:
1. www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/FCfiles.html -- if it ain't there, it doesn't exist (fiddle tunes) ... Copy the ABC notation from the tune you want.
2. www.concertina.net/ -- click on the tune-o-tron link and paste the ABC in there to get music & a midi.
Unfortunately, even though they LIST Pigeon on a Gate Post, they do not provide the ABC...
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Philadelphia
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