Belcher's Reel

X:1
T:Belcher's Reel
M:2/4
L:1/8
K:A
aA A/c/B/A/|EA/E/ Ac/A/|EB/G/ BG/B/|A/B/c/d/ ef/g/|
aA A/c/B/A/|EA/E/ Ac/A/|EB/G/ BG/B/|e/f/e/c/ A||
A/c/|ee/f/ e/c/A/c/|ff/d/ f/a/g/f/|ee/f/ e/c/A/c/|B/d/c/B/ A/B/c/d/|
ee/f/ e/cA/c/ ff/a/ f/d/e/f/|gg/f/ g/e/f/g/|(a2 a)||

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BELCHER'S REEL. AKA and see "Wake Up Susan [1]." Old-Time, Reel. USA, Catskill Region, New York. A Major. AEae tuning (fiddle). AB. Alva Belcher (1819-1900) was a black fiddler and storekeeper from Delhi, New York, who had a regional reputation in the nineteenth century. The tune named for him (it is actually an unusual setting of "Mason's Apron"), and presumably written by him, was a common dance tune in the Greene County, N.Y. area in the early 20th century. Bronner (1987) says: "At a time when local musicians rarely gained wide reknown, Belcher was a name called for in villages from the Catskills well into central New York. Belcher formed a string band that included white players, and his style incorporated the Anglo-Celtic influence on the area. Indeed...Belcher's tunes and phrasings passed into the oral tradition beyond the county's borders" (pg. 16).

Source for notated version: Wordell Martin (Greene County, New York, 1948) [Bronner].

Printed source: Bronner (Old-Time Music Makers of New York State), 1987; No. 2, p. 17.

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