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Stephen Rapp - Posted - 10/30/2020: 06:26:03
Another gem from Samuel Bayard’s Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife. I don’t actually own that collection, but my understanding is that this was a fife tune. There is no authoritative answer as to why it’s called Old Piss. One rumor is that the title was referring to a General Pisselli. In this video we are tuned slightly below normal pitch. Everything is tuned at A=415 rather than A440.
I learned Old Piss from playing with Cleveland Ohio fiddler Paul Kirk Jr. It’s in Double D tuning for banjo. It’s a relatively simple tune though does use drop thumbing. It's a catchy melody that has been a welcome addition to jams I've played at. Here we play at a quite relaxed speed which I think with the background sound of cricket chirps is nice. For the tabs I left out the pick up notes at the end of the 2nd A part just because it was easier to write out. You can figure out as you go through the B part what those pick up notes are.
Hope you enjoy it.
hweinberg - Posted - 10/30/2020: 07:36:47
I did enjoy it. Thanks!
Hay-on-Wye - Posted - 10/31/2020: 09:29:14
Questionable title, certainly catches the attention. Old Piss? Great tune nicely played.
atleson - Posted - 10/31/2020: 09:35:12
Good tune. I remember that some years ago this was a big hit atAugusta, but I never heard it again until now.
Jim
Stephen Rapp - Posted - 10/31/2020: 09:50:54
quote:
Originally posted by Hay-on-Wye
Found this clawhammer fretless version on YouTube
youtu.be/SmNABE9_Ymo
Good catch. His versions sounds quite different. Richard Hood is a fantastic TFTL style player. I think his uncle is the great Will Keyes who plays in a two finger style, but in a manner that sounds more like 3 finger playing.
janolov - Posted - 10/31/2020: 10:38:12
quote:
Originally posted by Stephen Rapp
quote:
Originally posted by Hay-on-Wye
Found this clawhammer fretless version on YouTube
youtu.be/SmNABE9_Ymo
Good catch. His versions sounds quite different. Richard Hood is a fantastic TFTL style player. I think his uncle is the great Will Keyes who plays in a two finger style, but in a manner that sounds more like 3 finger playing.
Richard Hood's mother was a sister to Will Keys.
He is playing two-finger index lead, and his performances on fretless banjo is a master pieces. The difference between a good two-finger player and a three-finger player is small, and I think a lot of the OT three-finger players just tried to imitate or mimic the sound of two-finger banjo.
JanetB - Posted - 10/31/2020: 15:27:05
You and your fiddling bandmate, Paul Kirk, Jr., come up with the best tunes, Stephen. We can't get enough of the Samuel Bayard collection, IMO. Old Piss is number 158 in his book of fiddle and fife tunes. There are three notated versions there and I took mine from the first one. It's by fifer Marion M. Yoder of Greene Co., PA, who is thought to have learned it from his father and whose grandfather was also a fifer. I found no information on who General Pisselli might have been, but the tune was indeed known as a march and played by fifers, so I'd be happy if they'd change the title to Old Piselli.
Jack Baker - Posted - 10/31/2020: 16:31:20
Hi Janet,
I tend to agree Janet, Old Pisselli might be more approachable for most. It's a very nice tune...Jack
Edited by - Jack Baker on 10/31/2020 16:33:22
Stephen Rapp - Posted - 10/31/2020: 16:40:01
Lovely melodic rendition Janet!
ChuckJo - Posted - 11/01/2020: 17:30:24
Nice job Steven Rapp! I like your version. Here's a video of my accompaniment to my pal Jay Gimelli on fiddle from 2017, just to add to the discussion.
okbluegrassbanjopicker - Posted - 11/01/2020: 19:53:36
OP, I’d highly recommend you change part of the title of the thread. Please understand that I am not deliberately trying to degrade you. It’s a shame the tune is named as such!
Such a title is indeed questionable, and actually hurts its possible popularity.
You may disagree, but it does not strike me as something I’d suggest for the name of a tune.
Suppose that a child starts roaming this site and chances across this topic and gets the wrong impression about the members and the site as a whole. The last thing anyone wants to have happen, is to be accused of posting offensive language or material.
I may not be Eric or Sherry, but it is simple, plain common sense to me, to refrain from mentioning the second part of the title in any way.
Edited by - okbluegrassbanjopicker on 11/01/2020 20:00:45
cmic - Posted - 11/02/2020: 01:08:20
Hum.
I think a child will immediatly realize that the site is only about banjo, and not about filthy things. And, yes, it is a strange title, but..
Stephen Rapp - Posted - 11/02/2020: 07:21:23
quote:
Originally posted by ChuckJo
Nice job Steven Rapp! I like your version. Here's a video of my accompaniment to my pal Jay Gimelli on fiddle from 2017, just to add to the discussion.
Likewise Chuck! Our version is not a note for note rendition. I think Paul said he "fiddlized" it as bit. Since it's a fife tune adapting it to fiddle sounds better with some slight modification as well as drone notes and such. You guys sound great.
atleson - Posted - 11/02/2020: 07:38:47
just saw the video you sent Steve. Sounds fine, but who is sitting in the tree?
Stephen Rapp - Posted - 11/02/2020: 08:26:06
quote:
Originally posted by atleson
just saw the video you sent Steve. Sounds fine, but who is sitting in the tree?
Sitting in the tree? I realize we are more socially distanced than we would normally play, but we didn't take it quite that far. LOL
