"Rachel" was a tune I heard growing up in mid-Missouri. Taylor McBaine, who was like a musical grandfather to our crowd in Columbia, played an absolutely wonderful version, as did Jake Hockemeyer. The liner notes for the Leroy Cannaday "Old Dan Tucker Was a Fine Old Man" CD on Voyager mention that it is sometimes called "Missouri Quickstep." For you non-Missourians, "Rachel" is also known as "Texas Quickstep."

Whatever you call it, here is me playing my choice for "Tune of the Week." http://www.banjohangout.org/myhango...usicid=14370. It is from my "Two Hands" CD.

And, here are some other examples of "Rachel"... Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6VPMkCy0s4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZyZjeBeXc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wks6mA50560

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRiJ...ture=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuNT...ture=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WMR...ture=related




www.myspace.com/joenewberry

Posted - 09/19/2009 :  11:37:43          

All right! Rachel! Great tune, and one on my gotta learn list. Thanks for posting.

Erich -- There's always room for cello..

http://vrteach.org/banjo/
http://prairiegrapevine.org/
U of Illinois-Springfield Old Time Music

Posted - 09/19/2009 :  12:15:27      

Really nice job. Great tune. Liked all the youtube versions, too. Thanks for posting.

John D

Posted - 09/19/2009 :  15:16:27          

Great tune, Joe!
And just in time for me. I'm tabbing a pile of tunes for people and have been looking for good clean versions of Rachel and Taa Daaaa "Texas Quickstep"! I didn't know they were the same tune, having only played Rachel. I love twofers.

That's a batch of good versions too and I suspect I'll be playing along with Melvin Wine to get it solidified into my old head before tabbing.

It never occurs to me to look for videos, and I mostly end up searching through my cd stacks. I gotta get more into youtube.



http://www.rocketsciencebanjo.com
Rocket Science Banjo - Advanced Clawhammer Techniques for beginners and long time players alike. Plus videos and 25-40 EZ Clawhammer Tunes.
& check out "How To Mold A Mighty Pinky" at:
http://www.pricklypearmusic.net
banjo brad's great banjo site

Posted - 09/19/2009 :  19:08:07      

Wow! Don't think I've heard that before sans frets. Super!
There is a tab for Rachel in "clawdan's" Festival Tunes. Before I realized it was in there I wrote a tab (that I just updated a tiny bit), and that's on the web page given in my signature. There's also a link there to my *.mp3 of Rachel, but it is preceeded by a poor attempt at another Missouri tune (Bob Walter's Hornpipe).

LyleK
http://lylewk.home.comcast.net

Edited by - LyleK on 09/19/2009 19:10:21

Posted - 09/19/2009 :  22:20:30    

Lyle, that banjo you heard me play has frets, it is just tuned very low with nylon strings....JN

www.myspace.com/joenewberry

Posted - 09/20/2009 :  04:34:40      

quote:

---

Originally posted by Joe Newberry

Lyle, that banjo you heard me play has frets, it is just tuned very low with nylon strings....JN

---

Posted - 09/20/2009 :  07:41:59            

Hello,
If you go to this link on my website--you can listen to an MP3 of Rachel (except I spelled it Rachael--but its the same tune)
http://www.maryzcox.com/music3.html

I know many of you have many, many cds and tab books and may not remember that you actually already have this tune on my Walkin' that Banjo Home CD and there is a nice simple tab for it in the Walkin' That Banjo Home Tab Book.

Also--it is spelled different (my mistake)--but it is still the same tune--although my arrangement is a little different than Joe's.

www.maryzcox.com
If you suspect you need a new banjo--you do. Trust your musical instincts. If a banjo calls to you to buy it, don't fight destiny. It was meant to be. :)
http://banjoquest.blogspot.com

Field videos of banjoists, banjos, tunes, and banjos in locations you may or may not have seen or heard before :)

Posted - 09/20/2009 :  08:58:33        

Cool tune. Interesting variety of youtube versions. Joe, you play a mighty fine version. Is this tune related to Rabbit in the Pea Patch? (I'm probably just hearing things that aren't there.)

Posted - 09/20/2009 :  09:02:24          

I have always loved this tune...woulda named my kid Rachel had he been a she

Melvin Wine's version if by far my fav...though the vid of the two young ladies on the porch is nice...hope those two keep at it for the next 80 years of so

BTW...what makes a quickstep a quickstep?

Don't forget to play all of the quasihemidemisemiquavers!!
Drop thumbs, not bombs

Joe

Posted - 09/20/2009 :  09:12:33    

Quickstep: Originally a military march done in quick steps (108 steps/minute); now usually in duple (2/4) or quadruple (4/4) meter and played as a reel

This, and other handy-to-have definitions can be found at http://www.biteyourownelbow.com/fidstyle.htm

www.myspace.com/joenewberry

Posted - 09/20/2009 :  10:23:30  

Nice playing, Joe. Sounds really good tuned low.

Alan

Alan
www.alanfriendmusic.com
------------------------
CD "Had a Dog" available at www.cdbaby.com/cd/alanfriend

Posted - 09/20/2009 :  11:13:30        

All the versions I've listened to this morning are great, but I think my favorite is Melvin Wine's!

What a wealth of audio and video material can be found on YOUTUBE, and unlike Old Woodchuck, I now head to YOUTUBE for quite a bit of musical information. Once you get the habit, Tony and others will find themselves gravitating there quite often.

I decided to learn Rachel last summer when I had the good fortune to stumble upon Kate Brett (Hoover Uprights) playing the tune at a banjo contest. I have her version on the Hoover Upright CD, and no surprise that Melvin Wine's is quite similar as Kate did study with Melvin Wine a number of years back.

So now my favorite D tunes for September are:

Rachel
Woodchopper's Reel
Big Liza Jane
Clog

And...if I am not paying close attention to any of the tunes as I play, the A and B parts are sort of interchangeable - and a whole lot of fun.

Thanks Joe, for doing this Tune of the Week.

The slots are open, folks - where are you lurking? Don't you think TOTW is a great thread? If you can help, please email inquiry@siliconheights.com - not hard to do a tune, really.

********************************************************************'
Adam Hurt is coming to Albuquerque to perform a solo gig
on October 8th. Also will be holding fiddle and banjo classes.
Balloon Fiesta Week - you might want to plan a trip and join
the fun and lovely weather.
Email me for more information: inquiry@siliconheights.com
*********************************************************************

Posted - 09/21/2009 :  11:01:18            

Bobby Taylor does a great job with this tune:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobbytaylortunes

The entire album is well worth buying.

Posted - 09/22/2009 :  04:53:01    

quote:

---

Originally posted by J-Walk

Bobby Taylor does a great job with this tune:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobbytaylortunes

The entire album is well worth buying.

---

Posted - 09/22/2009 :  06:30:50            

Thanks Joe. I was wondering who played the banjo. And Jeff Miller is the Miller in Jones, Miller & Nelson -- who also have a couple of worthwhile CDs.

Posted - 09/22/2009 :  07:30:49  

Thanks, Joe. I love your version. I heard it first at Augusta last Summer. I heard Rachel played at a jam in Augusta and learned a version by Mary Z. Cox. It was easy to learn and goes well when playing in jams.

Posted - 09/22/2009 :  08:10:13          

Great stuff, Joe, both your playing and the write-up in general.

I've got a disc of Texas stringbands that has this on it, I think listed as Texas Quickstep. It's been on my "to learn" list... this will work as a nudge I'm sure.

I had heard people mention Taylor McBaine before (maybe it was Cathy Barton? dunno...). Are there recordings of him around somewhere?



Mark

Posted - 09/22/2009 :  08:24:57        

I found a tab for this in the John Burke book.

The A part in the tab is the high part, and the B, the low - sort of backward from what I've been hearing, so maybe someone can discuss which is the "right" way - or "truly right way" - high or low first?

Really is no right way, now is there?

********************************************************************'
Adam Hurt is coming to Albuquerque to perform a solo gig
on October 8th. Also will be holding fiddle and banjo classes.
Balloon Fiesta Week - you might want to plan a trip and join
the fun and lovely weather.
Email me for more information: inquiry@siliconheights.com
*********************************************************************

Posted - 09/25/2009 :  05:19:48      

quote:

---

Originally posted by BANJOJUDY
The A part in the tab is the high part, and the B, the low - sort of backward from what I've been hearing, so maybe someone can discuss which is the "right" way - or "truly right way" - high or low first?

---