Bill Cheatum in the latest Mandolin Magazine

[AlanN]

Haven't had a chance to read this issue in detail yet, but Joe Carr's entry this quarter is this chestnut. He says something about it being backwards, and I immediately thought of the B part, where it is an ascent, but in a 'one step forward, 2 steps back' kind of way. Turns out he was thinking of how certain area pickers play the B part first, then the A part.

Any of you pickers out there do it B then A? I don't. And as an aside, the A part of Monroe's Hornpipe fits the B part of BC perfectly. Just sayin...

[tmsweeney]

I agree the B part of Bill Cheatum works for the B in Monroe's Hornpipe

me and a couple of pickers were playing BC on 3 mandos ( they put down the fiddle and guitar) emphasizing the C# in the first part - sounded pretty cool

but we generally start with the A part - usually roll it up with Big Mon and Salt creek

[AlanN]

The B part of BC goes I, IV, V, I; the A part of MH is pretty much the same.

[onassis]

Is it still the B part if you always play it first? I guess if you play it last, then it must be the B part, right?

Makes for an interesting question, "Do you start any fiddle tunes with the B part? If so, why?". One friend always starts Gold Rush with the B, says it seems to be a really hard habit to break. Never said why he got in the habit. Another likes to start Red Haired Boy with the B because he learned it that way from a Tony Rice recording. Personally, I can't think of any that I play that way.

[onassis]

Also, I'd have a hard time doing BC like that, I need the A to wind me up for the B.

[AlanN]

Butch Baldassari's tune Slocum Hollow, he starts off on the B part just to get it going, then does the A, B thing normally.

[JeffD]

There are more than a few old time tunes where the order of the parts is a regional decision. In fact I know a few players that don't even refer to A parts and B parts, but to high parts and low parts, and some tunes you play the high part first and some the low part first

[djweiss]

I've got a Seldom Scene bootleg where Billy in the Low Ground begins with the B part...Kind of like it.

-DJW