Hell on the Potomac
Notation:
Standard Notation
ABC Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
traditional
PDF Files:
--- choose file type ---
Standard Notation
Mandolin Tablature
Violin Tablature
Tune Sheet
American
Play
MIDI
No audio
available
Transcription: by Darryl D. Bush
"Hell on the Potomac", also known as "Hell on the Wabash", "Wake up Susan" or "Hell on the<br> Rappahannock", is an American reel in G major, known in southwestern Pa. The parts are<br> played AB.<br> Bayard (1981) identifies this as "one of the three or four" tunes universally known by<br> Pennsylvania folk musicians. The melody is usually known as "Wake up Susan" or "Hell on the<br> Wabash" and it is sometimes found with other parts; Bayard is not sure if this means the<br> tunes with different titles are "divergently evolving cognate tunes" or the result of<br> trading strains or "otherwise infecting one another".<br> In Bayard's Dance to the Fiddle there are three versions called "Hell on the Wabash" which<br> are very different from the "Hell on the Wabash" in this section. There is also one version<br> called "Wake up Susan" (in two parts instead of three) and one called "Hell on the<br> Rappahannock".<br> Ultimately, the first strain is derived from the tune whose most famous title is "Mason's<br> Apron". The "Hell on the (insert place-name)" is a floating title and a popular naming<br> convention and were attached to a variety of different melodies at the whim of a fiddler.<br> Other tunes using more-or-less similar melodic material are "The Night We Made the Match",<br> "Picnic Romp", "Jack of Diamonds" (Thede), "The Cottage by the Sea" and "The Red-Headed<br> Girl".<br> It was printed in Bayard's Dance to the Fiddle (1981) (he printed 19 versions from various<br> players, both fiddlers and fifers).<br>
Click
here
for a full page view.