This week's TOTW is Three Forks of Cheat from West Virginia's Hammon's Family. I learned it thinking it was an Edden Hammons tune, but apparently it's from his nephew Burl, who learned it from a different uncle named Peter. Go figure.
You can read more about that, and about the tune in general, on its Traditional Tune Archive page.
There's a few good versions of the tune that I know...
• Here's Bruce Moskly playing it, this is the version I mostly learned from.
• Here's on from Brittany Haas, which was my second learning source.
• Here's one from Beverly Smith and the inimitable Carl Jones with some great banjo playing in it.
• Here's a great version I've never heard before today from Judy Hyman & friends at a festival jam.
• And here's a video of how I play the tune myself (tabs for this are below).
Now if you'd like some notation for this...
• Here's the tab I wrote showing how I play the tune.
• And if you prefer reading dots, here's two settings from the Traditional Tune Archive.
• I'm sure Josh has a good paid tab for his version too, but I'll leave that to y'all if you want to search it out.
It can be hard to see the structure of the tune at first — all long and rambly as it is — but it's really pretty simple once you get your head around it. I think of it as a three part tune with a short B section that doesn't repeat. In my tab, I've noted several spots with an "X" above a stroke to denote that I may cluck there. I don't necessarily cluck on every X every time, but instead toss one in here or there where I think it'll sound nice. There's probably a rhyme and reason to where I put my clucks, but I couldn't tell you what it is. *shrug*
Anyway, this is a great tune that I'd like to hear a lot more of. Looking forward to some new versions of it! If you have any questions, I'll do what I can to help!
Edited by - PorterBranch on 04/18/2025 18:37:04
Michale Starkey from Dundee/Edimburgh has a nice tab for this tune.
But it is 2 pounds for a tab 8-)
https://banjolessonsedinburgh.com/product-category/banjo-tab/advanced/page/2/
quote:
Originally posted by carlbEdden Hammons
https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/three-forks-cheatBurl Hammons
https://www.slippery-hill.com/content/three-forks-cheat-0
Can't believe I forgot to link the actual sources! Dumb mistake in my end, but thanks for picking up that slack!
Edited by - PorterBranch on 04/18/2025 07:20:30
quote:
Originally posted by cmicMichale Starkey from Dundee/Edimburgh has a nice tab for this tune.
But it is 2 pounds for a tab 8-)
https://banjolessonsedinburgh.com/product-category/banjo-tab/advanced/page/2/
Man, that's some pretty banjo playing. Thanks for sharing! I'll have to go back and learn this version too.
A wonderful tune choice, Porter! Your good version uses lots of slides that capture a fiddle's expressiveness. Your links include some living legends in the old time music world.
My arrangement on cello banjo uses an equivalent tuning to double C. I was trying to get the lowest notes in the version on my laptop. It doesn't have the source musician, but resembles Bruce Molsky's recording, so on the tab it simply credits the "Hammons family." Another tab below is in an open C tuning, which prevents needing to go up to the 7th fret.
If I get ambitious this week I'll try arranging the Burl Hammons recording. In the meantime, here's a quote from the 120 pages of liner notes by Alan Jabbour you get if you order the Library of Congress CD "The Hammons Family, The Traditions of a West Virginia Family and Their Friends." On page 63 it reads, "The tune is one of many, not only in the Hammons family tradition but in Southern fiddle repertory in general, that celebrate waterways in their titles. They are a reminder of the importance of rivers and creeks in the life of the early frontier, where waterways were both the favored locations for settlement and the natural avenues for travel. The settlers of the Southern frontier saw the world as a network of waterways, and the tune titles reflect it, just as a later generation of tune titles includes an imaginative celebration of roads and trains."
Always play this on the fiddle, one of my favorite tunes, have to dust the banjo off to play this again...
Great version here from David Bragger, who I learned the tune from fiddle-wise...
quote:
Originally posted by JanetBA wonderful tune choice, Porter! Your good version uses lots of slides that capture a fiddle's expressiveness. Your links include some living legends in the old time music world.
Thanks!
My arrangement on cello banjo uses an equivalent tuning to double C. I was trying to get the lowest notes in the version on my laptop. It doesn't have the source musician, but resembles Bruce Molsky's recording, so on the tab it simply credits the "Hammons family." Another tab below is in an open C tuning, which prevents needing to go up to the 7th fret.
Beautifully played as always! I love those deep notes on the cello banjo, it fits the tune great.
If I get ambitious this week I'll try arranging the Burl Hammons recording. In the meantime, here's a quote from the 120 pages of liner notes by Alan Jabbour you get if you order the Library of Congress CD "The Hammons Family, The Traditions of a West Virginia Family and Their Friends." On page 63 it reads, "The tune is one of many, not only in the Hammons family tradition but in Southern fiddle repertory in general, that celebrate waterways in their titles. They are a reminder of the importance of rivers and creeks in the life of the early frontier, where waterways were both the favored locations for settlement and the natural avenues for travel. The settlers of the Southern frontier saw the world as a network of waterways, and the tune titles reflect it, just as a later generation of tune titles includes an imaginative celebration of roads and trains."
Good Lord, 120 pages of liner notes?! Seems excessive, but I bet it's a great read!
quote:
Originally posted by RGGreat version here from David Bragger, who I learned the tune from fiddle-wise...
Thanks for sharing! Everything that man touches is gold.
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