TOTW for 11/11/2022
https://tunearch.org/wiki/Annotation:Little_Princess_Footsteps_(The)
Little Princess Footsteps is a tune in C - one of the more overlooked keys for clawhammerers. I was introduced to this one by my teacher, Adam Hurt, who picked it for me to work on as part of our study of C tunes. He argues that although C and D tunings are isomorphic on the banjo, they're played in different tunings on the fiddle, leading to a distinctly different feel to many C melodies. It quickly became a favorite of my daughter's when I play it on the banjo, and I didn't see it in the list of TOTWs.
The tune archive attributes Little Princess Footsteps to a Mississippi fiddler named Alvis Massengale. There's a recording of him playing it on the Field Recorder's Collective:
https://fieldrecorder.bandcamp.com/track/little-princess-footsteps
Slippery Hill also has it, from the Newton County Hillbillies, with whom Massengale was associated - I presume it's him at the fiddle there too but the recording sounds different, so perhaps we have 2 versions from the same fiddler:
https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/little-princesss-footsteps
Apologies for posting a bit late, I'm solo parenting for a day or two while my wife attends a conference. I'll try to get a good recording of the version of this tune I put together with Adam's help in the next couple of days, but I have an old version I recorded at night in the dark on the porch over the summer, brazenly smeared out on a Prust tackhead that was in tune with itself and nothing else.
Edited by - mjt0229 on 11/11/2022 19:44:22
Here's a pretty nifty version with 2 fiddlers:
youtube.com/watch?v=sIbyvsPZ7fI
quote:
Originally posted by mjt0229TOTW for 11/11/2022
Little Princess Footsteps is a tune in C - one of the more overlooked keys for clawhammerers. I was introduced to this one by my teacher, Adam Hurt, who picked it for me to work on as part of our study of C tunes. He argues that although C and D tunings are isomorphic on the banjo, they're played in different tunings on the fiddle, leading to a distinctly different feel to many C melodies. It quickly became a favorite of my daughter's when I play it on the banjo, and I didn't see it in the list of TOTWs.
It's good to see a C tune showing up in the TOTW, and this is a great one, a fine choice, Mark. I enjoyed your tackhead rendition, you have nailed the syncopation in the B part, the high part, just perfectly. I learned this tune three or four years ago, it was one of the later tunes some friends of mine and I added to our burgeoning C tune list, which we started working on maybe a decade ago. We got up to about seventy tunes, but we have knocked a few off that we decided weren't worth the bother. Not this one though, we just played it a few days ago.
I have attached a practice recording I made of this three years ago, when we first added it to our list. I am three finger picking my 1928 Vega Tubaphone with a semi-fretless conversion neck, in double C tuning (gCGCD).
I did have to look up isomorphic in the dictionary. It means "corresponding or similar in form and relations." I figured it would mean that. 
Edited by - Don Borchelt on 11/12/2022 06:06:50
quote:
Originally posted by Don BorcheltI have attached a practice recording I made of this three years ago, when we first added it to our list. I am three finger picking my 1928 Vega Tubaphone with a semi-fretless conversion neck, in double C tuning (gCGCD).
I did have to look up isomorphic in the dictionary. It means "corresponding or similar in form and relations." I figured it would mean that.
Nicely played. I like those 2 and 3 finger styles, one of these days I'll need to learn to do it.
My nerdiness is showing a bit, I guess, I am a computer scientist in real life and we use some ideas lifted directly from an abstract branch of mathematics (category theory).
Thanks for sharing an Adam Hurt lesson tune, Mark. Nice mellow tone you got, with all those intricate notes, too.
It turns out Little Princess Footsteps was my 27th Skype lesson. Adam gave me additional homework, which was to arrange the A part an octave up. The A part, in my mind, begins with the little princess's footsteps quietly heard in the low range, perhaps sneaking down the stairs, and gets more bold when the notes go up an octave. Perhaps she's sneaking back up the stairs, successful in whatever she was after.
Would you believe I don't think I ever finished this or at least can't find a record of the completed assignment? So I started from scratch and made my own tab here and after a few challenging sessions since Friday remember why graduating from his curriculum was a relief!
Don, your fancy style gives the tune a cheerful feel. Little Princess Footsteps makes me think of a mariachi band, especially in that syncopated rhythm you mention.
quote:
Originally posted by mjt0229...My nerdiness is showing a bit, I guess, I am a computer scientist in real life and we use some ideas lifted directly from an abstract branch of mathematics (category theory).
Thank you, Mark, for the compliment. As time goes on, I suspect that your ability to comfortably wander around among abstractions will serve you well when you turn to your banjo.
quote:
Originally posted by JanetB
..Would you believe I don't think I ever finished this or at least can't find a record of the completed assignment? So I started from scratch and made my own tab here and after a few challenging sessions since Friday remember why graduating from his curriculum was a relief!
I am reminded again, Janet, of one of my favorite quotes, something fiddler Lester Mccumbers said to Erynn Marshall. "I don't like to play it like he did. I try to play it the way I play it."
That was a fine job of picking.
Wonderful playing Janet and a great tune to play for sure....Jack
Originally posted by JanetBThanks for sharing an Adam Hurt lesson tune, Mark. Nice mellow tone you got, with all those intricate notes, too.
I
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