Annotation:Cincinnati (2)
X:1 T:Cincinnati [2] M:2/4 L:1/8 R:Quickstep March S:Bruce & Emmett's Drummers' & Fifers' Guide (1862) Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:A E | A/B/c/d/ e/A/~A | f/A/g/A/ a/A/~A | F/d/E/c/ D/B/C/A/ | B/d/c/B/ A/G/F/E/ | A/B/c/d/ e/A/~ A | f/A/g/A/ a/A/~A | F/d/E/c/ D/B/C/A/ | c/B/A/G/ A :: c/d/ | e/A/~A f/A/~A | a/g/a/e/ f/e/d/c/ | (f/^e/f/).c/ (d/c/d/).F/ | G/d/c/B/ A/G/F/E/ | A/B/c/d/ e/A/~A | f/A/g/A/ a/A/~A | F/d/E/c/ D/B/C/A/ | c/B/A/G/ A :||
CINCINNATI [2]. AKA and see "Good for the Tongue." American, Quickstep March. A Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. Blackface minstrel wikipedia:Dan_Emmett (1815-1904), often credited with composing "Dixie", was also involved in patriotic activity during the American Civil War, and helped to produce a manual for newly minted fifers and drummers of the Northern armies. In the preface, Emmett is billed as "Principal Fifer of the 6th Infantry, U.S. Army," which he may or may not have been, although he learned to fife and drum as an enlistee in the U.S. Army, stationed in Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. He was discharged in 1835, following which he performed in blackface for circuses before helping to found the seminal Virginia Minstrels in 1843. Emmett was born in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, in the middle of the state in what was then frontier country, and his tunes sometimes have associations with the state. The tune is sometimes attributed to him, but while the title may be his, the tune itself is of British origin and predates Emmett (see note for "annotation:Good for the Tongue" for more).
The melody was printed in Howe's School for the Fife) and Howe's Army Navy Fife Instructor under the title "Good for the Tongue."