Washington March

[fmontale]

Does anyone have a tabledit or even a standard notation pdf of this beautiful fiddle tune as played in "Song from the mountain" ?

[acousticphd]

This is a lovely tune and one of my favorites. You wouldn't be likely to see it Tab'd out as played on that CD though, since the fiddles used DDAE (or DDAD?) tuning. But it plays pretty naturally in standard mando tuning,

I feel like I've seen the written music for this in a tune book somewhere - I'll think about it and try to hunt it down.

[David M.]

Yep, the fiddle on that tune is DDAD, but you can still pick it fine w/a standard tuned mandolin. GOOD tune.

[ToneDeaf]

Washington’s March

||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
||o-------—-0-2-3-0-|-2-0---2-0-------|---------0-2-0---|-2-0-4---5-------|
||o-0-2-4-5---------|-----5-----5-4-2-|-0-2-4-5---------|-----------------|
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-2---0------------||
|---------0-2-3-0-|-2-0---2-0-------|---------0-2-0---|---5---4-5-------o||
|—0-2-4-5---------|-----5-----5-4-2-|-0-2-4-5---------|-----------------o||
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

||--2---5---2---5---|-0---0-2-3-2-0---|-2---5---2---5---|-0---------------|
||o---5---5---5---5-|---5-----------5-|---5---5---5---5-|---5-4-0-5-------|
||o-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

|-2---5---2---5---|-0---0-2-3-2-0---|-5---3---232-----|-0----------------||
|---5---5---5---5-|---5-----------5-|-------------5---|---5-4-0-5-------o||
|—----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------o||
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |


I'll explain in the next post.

[ToneDeaf]

Well, the little lines showing the beats in each measure didn't work out too well. But the rhythm should still be pretty obvious.

I just tabbed it out right now using a clawhammer banjo arrangement I had tabbed some time ago. I didn't consult a mandolin or fiddle as I'm at work, so you get what you paid for.

The second part is note for note from the fiddle arrangement. I can't play it on the mando as written here, but maybe you can. I cheat a couple of different ways. I change the phrase using the same three notes in a different order if I'm not playing the melody at the same time as a fiddler. Or I play it an octave lower on the D string if I am. That first phrase becomes 7-0-4-0 on the D course an octave lower than the fiddle on its first string tuned to D. I'll also let the D or A strings ring along with the melody to fill out the sound a bit.

[ndlxs]

One thing I have always noticed is that Washington's March is very similar to a fiddle tune (in E!) that most people don't seem to know about called Drunken Wagoner. DW is in E; the second parts are the same; Washington's first part is a major version of the minor first part of DW. DW also has a third part.

DW is not widely recorded; it was collected by Art Rosenbaum from Dwight "Red" Lamb and arranged by fingerstyle guitar wizard Duck Baker.

There is a transcription from the Old-Time Fiddlers Repetory book here:

[ndlxs]

The link disappeared. Second try (http://www.mountainsentinel.com/tabs/fiddlebanjo/DrunkenWagoneer.pdf):