Coleman’s march

As you may have guessed, this is not a polka but a 2/4 march. I learned it off a friend of mine but can’t recall where said she had it from. A pretty little tune, it can also be played slower so:

F8|G6FG|A2AB AFD2|E6FG|
A2d2c4|B2BA FED2|E2EF GFE2|1 D4 ABAG:|2 D4 DFAc||
d8|c8|B2Bc dcB2|A6FG|
A2d2c4|B2BA FED2|E2EF GFE2|1 D4 DFAc:|2 D4 ABAG||

This lovely march is recorded by the great fiddler, Pete Sutherland, on Eight miles from home“, recorded in 1982.
“Devil in the Strawstack” is also on that fine recoding–a fabulous gritty G Dorian old-time Appalachian tune“.

I would like some history on this neat little tune. Reply to smiskoe@aol.com

HI, Sylvia. David Kaynor introduced this lovely tune to us. Legend has it that Coleman played it on his guitar as he was sitting on his coffin while being carted away to the noose in the 1880s, having been wrongfully accused by his live-in sister-in-law of murdering his wife.
We’ve been trading this tune in our local sessions since we learned it. Everybody likes it - especially since it has a story!

X: 3
T: Joe Coleman’s March
T: Coleman Killed his Wife
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: march
K: Gmaj
|: e dc |\
B2 B/B/B BAGB | c2 c/c/c B2 Bc | d2- de dB GB | A2- AA A2 Bc |
d2 g2 f2 f/g/f | ef ed BA G2 | A2- AB cB AB |[1 G2- GG G :|[2 G2- GG G2 ||
|: B/c/d |\
g2- gg- g2 gg | f2 fd- d2 de- | ed ef gf ef | d2- dd- dc Bc |
d2 g2 f2 ff | ef ed BA G2 | A2- AB cB AB |[1 G2- GG- G2 :|[2 G2- GG G |]

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/index.html

http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/CO_COLL.htm#COLEMAN%27S_MARCH_[1]
http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/CO_COLL.htm#COLEMAN’S_MARCH_[1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSgfyf3B9RI&feature=player_detailpage#t=196s

play video

I know another tune by the name of “Coleman killed his wife”. It’s an American fiddle tune collected by Marion Thede in Oklahoma and published in “The Fiddle Book” (Oak, 1967) on p36. It’s in D, 6/8 “clog rhythm” and bears exactly no resemblance to “Coleman’s March” at all.
Unfortunately my ABC skills are insufficient to note this tune down here (it’s not Irish anyway) because it contains so much double-stopping.

http://tunearch.org/wiki/Coleman_Killed_His_Wife

Yes, that’s it! So that’s how I annotate double stopping.
Thank you Weejie.

Looking this up for something else and came across - http://nativeground.com/the-hanging-of-fiddlin-joe-coleman/

Terrible story - somewhat along the lines of Macphersons Lament. Still the fiddle went to a good home and Coleman lived to tell the tale.

The dead man’s tuning mentioned is DDAD or Open D Tuning, or Bonaparte’s Retreat Tuning, or “Dee-Dad”.

This setting is transcribed by myself from the playing of Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill on the CD “Welcome Here Again”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHuxcRDoUIU

play video