Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

  1. #1

    Question Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

    Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"? It's not the same as "Three Forks of Cheat." I need to know what key it's generally played in. Does anyone know? I like it in D. That's an easy and well-sounding key for it, but any tips would be appreciated as to which key you play it in.

    Here is a YouTube of the tune that is played in local jams, but this recording is in F and we sure do not play it in F. Also, we only play the basic tune, not all the variations here.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDZFQEDMwiA

  2. #2
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Maryland
    Posts
    4,881

    Default Re: Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

    Any song can be played in any key, too many pickers think that just because some big name star does a song in a certain key that is also where they have to play it...If you are learning by reading music notation then that is a different story but once you learn it you can "transpose" it to any key that you feel more comfortable with, a big advantage in playing by ear in my opinion...

    Willie

  3. #3
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Surrey, BC (Vancouver)
    Posts
    430

    Default Re: Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

    Sounds like you're trying to settle an argument amongst jam/band mates. You're already playing it in a group. You Like it in D. Do others you play with disagree?

  4. #4

    Default Re: Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

    Willie and Andy, Yes, it's so true that any tune can be played in any key. I'm not trying to settle anything with a band -- just wanting to know the key that is most commonly played in jams locally. And also if there are people here at the mando-cafe that have a favorite key for "The Cheat."

  5. #5
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

    Strange when I click the link in the first post, I get a piano video entitled, "In my cottage near a wood Variations [Piano tutorial by Synthesia]". Was this correct? Yes, that piano version is in F.

    Ah, I see. Here is the info from the Fiddler's Companion site:
    CHEAT, THE. AKA and see "Cheat or Swing," "The Coquette [3]," "In My Cottage Near the/a Wood." American, Country Dance Tune (4/4 time). USA, New England. D Major. Standard tuning. AABB (Silberberg): AABCBC (Linscott): ABCD (Ford). The tune was commonly played for played for the dance "Ninepin Quadrille" or "The Cheat" in New England. Bayard (1981) traced this tune and pronounced it 'international', having found variants with diverse names from the European continent as well as the British Isles and America. He believes the original antecedent for the tune to be from France, and that there were two main versions: an earlier one (1700's) and a later one (early 1800's to modern times), but both very popular in their time. "The Cheat" belongs to the later group, and was well known as a song and dance air in France as "Dedans mon Petit Reduit" and "La Bonne Aventure O Gue" (see Bayard, 1981; pgs. 250‑251 for sources), and in Britain and America under the titles listed in the beginning (see Bayard for references). Silberberg notes that “the title refers to a river in West Virginia,” however, given the apparent Northeast origins for the tune as played in America, this would not seem to be the case. Sources for notated versions: from the manuscript of Elizabeth Foster Reed (1796‑1823), a book of ballads and dance tunes; unpublished, but in the hands of her descendants [Linscott]; Phil and Vivian Williams (Seattle) [Silberberg]. Ford (Traditional Music in America), 1940; pg. 61. Linscott (Folk Songs of Old New England), 1939; pg. 101. Silberberg (93 Fiddle Tunes I Didn’t Learn at Tractor Tavern), 2004; pg. 8. Alcazar Dance Series ALC 202, Sandy Bradley ‑ "Potluck & Dance Tonite!" (1979).
    It does sound like a New England contradance tune. Probably as far from "Three Forks of Cheat" as you can get. According to that site you are playing it in the common key of D.

    Attached is the notation version as supplied by Fiddler's Companion originally from Ira Ford's 1940 book Traditional Music in America.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails cheatorswing.pdf  
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  6. #6
    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    Westchester, NY
    Posts
    30,753

    Default Re: Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

    Actually, here is a more bluegrassy version, also in D. Sounds more to me like a tune I play called "Doctor, Doctor."



    Here's another version which I started later in the video (in medley with another):



    Here is "Doctor, Doctor":
    Jim

    My Stream on Soundcloud
    Facebook
    19th Century Tunes
    Playing lately:
    1924 Gibson A4 - 2018 Campanella A-5 - 2007 Brentrup A4C - 1915 Frank Merwin Ashley violin - Huss & Dalton DS - 1923 Gibson A2 black snakehead - '83 Flatiron A5-2 - 1939 Gibson L-00 - 1936 Epiphone Deluxe - 1928 Gibson L-5 - ca. 1890s Fairbanks Senator Banjo - ca. 1923 Vega Style M tenor banjo - ca. 1920 Weymann Style 25 Mandolin-Banjo - National RM-1

  7. #7

    Default Re: Does anyone know the tune "The Cheat"?

    Dear Jim Garber -- All I can say is WOW!!!!!! You have found so much, and three wonderful audios, too. So glad to have all this information about The Cheat. I will the link here it to my jam friend who plays it. And Yes, it's very different from Three Forks of Cheat: This tune has something that sounds like two and a half parts

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBDxoBtIvDQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YZl1dK_7tg

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdjoWxI-ziI

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •