Annotation:Speed of the Plow

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X:1 T:Speed of the Plow N:From the playing of John Morgan Salyer (1882-1952, Salyersville, Magoffin County, eastern Ky.) N:recorded at home 1941/42 by his sons on a disc player M:C| L:1/8 R:Reel N:Play AA'BBBB or ad lib 'B' repeats. Q:"Quick" N:AEae tuning (fiddle) D:Berea Sound Archives https://soundarchives.berea.edu/items/show/4216 Z:Transcribed by Andrew Kuntz K:A Ac|e2 ef (e/f/e) cA|ceef e<ff2|e2 ef (e/f/e) cA|1BcBG A2Ac:|2 BcBG A2A2|| |:EFEC A,2c2|BAcA cAFA|EFEC A,2c2|BGBG A2A2:|]



SPEED OF THE PLOW. American, Reel (cut time). USA, Kentucky. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). ABB. No musical relation to the British Isles “Speed the Plow (1)” or other tunes by that title, however, the name "Speed the Plow" seems to have been in oral circulation as a fiddle-tune title, slightly altered and applied by Salyer to this archaic-sounding tune. Jeff Titon (2001) says the tune bears some resemblance to Salyer’s own “Gilda Roy.”

John Salyer



Additional notes

Source for notated version: - John M. Salyer (1882-1952, Salyersville, Magoffin County, east Ky.) [Titon].

Printed sources : - Titon (Old Time Kentucky Fiddle Tunes), 2001; No. 156, p. 181.

Recorded sources: -Berea College Appalachian Center 003, “John M. Salyer: Home Recordings 1941-42” (1993). Leatherwood (cassette), Bruce Greene – “Vintage Fiddle Tunes” (1987).

See also listing at:
Hear John Salyer's 1941/42 home recording at Berea Sound Archives [1]



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