Annotation:Snow Bird

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X:1 T:Snow Bird N:From the playing of farmer and fiddler Sammie Dyer (1906-1983, Macon N:County, north-central Tenn.), recorded in 1973 in the field by Bruce Greene M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel Q:"Fast" D:https://www.slippery-hill.com/recording/snow-bird Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:D ((3ABc|d2) f2 fdfd|gdgd fdec|d2fd fdfd|e2 ef e2((3ABc| d2)d2 fdfd|[d2g2][df]-[dg]- [d2g2] fg|afaf e2c2|d6:| |:[A,D]-[B,D]-|[D2D2][D2D2][DD]-[DF][D2F2]| [G3B3][GB]-[G3B3]((3[A,D][B,D]C|[D2D2])[D2D2][DD]-[DF][D2F2]| [A,3E3][A,E]- [A,2E2]((3[A,D][B,D]C| [D2D2])[D2D2][DD]-[DF][D2F2]| [G3B3][GB]-[G3B3] ef|g2g2 e2c2|d4d2:|



SNOW BIRD. AKA - "Snowbird (3)." American, Reel (cut time). D Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. The source for the tune, Samuel "Sammie" Dyer (1906-1983), was from Macon County, Tennessee, northeast of Nashville, in the upper Cumberland Plateau on the border with southern Kentucky. Boyd Deering wrote in the Macon County Times a few years ago: "Sam Dyer was approaching eighty years in 1975 and had played Tennessee fiddle tunes all his life. He played old tunes like “Jim Shanks,” and Sam played them differently from dad and Harry Flippen and some of the other fiddle players in Macon County, Tennessee. Sam would complain about the Grand Ole Opry and it's commercial leanings. He longed for the old days and was quick to express this sentiment" [1]

Additional notes

Source for notated version: -

Printed sources : -

Recorded sources: -Bruce Green – “Fiddler’s Dozen.” Bruce Green – “Vintage Fiddle Tunes.”

See also listing at:
Hear Sam Dyer's 1973 field recording at Slippery Hill [1]



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  1. quoted by Donald J. Borchelt [2].