Big Scioty

<abc float="left"> X:2 T:Big Scioty M:C| L:1/8 N:The 'B' part is irregular S:Bruce Molsky, based on Burl Hammon's version Z:AK/Fiddler's Companion K:G D(E|G)ABG AGEG|A G2 G G2 Ad|BAGB AGEG|A G2 D G2 DE| GBAd BGAG|B [e3e3] [e2e2]d2|{Bc}BABG AGEG|A G2 G G2 (DE| G2) BG AGEG|A G2 D G2 Ad|BAGB AGEG|A G2 G G2 DE|(3GAB Ad BGAG| B [e3e3] [e2e2]d2| {Bc} BABG AGEG|A G2 A G2 D2||g3 g2a ba g2|e a2 b ag e2| g3 (g e)dBA|B [e3e3] [e2e2] e2|[ee][ee]fg e2 d2|B [e2e2] [ef] [e3e3][ee]| [ee][ee]fg [e2e2] d2|B [e2e2] [ef] e2 d2|BABG AGEG|A G2 A G2 D2| g3 g2 a ba g2|e a2 b ag e2|g3 g edBA|B [e3e3] [ef] [e3e3] [ee]| [ee][ee]fg e2 d2|B [e2e2] [ef] e2 d2|BABG AGEG|A G2 A G2||

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BIG SCIOTY/SCIOTA, THE. Old-Time, Breakdown. USA, West Virginia. G Major. Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB. A popular tune in the old-time revival repertoire. It is named for the Scioto/Sciota (pronunciations vary) River, which flows through Ohio and empties into the Ohio River. The source for most of the versions, Marlinton, West Virginia, fiddler Burl Hammons, evidently played different versions of the tune (or perhaps it was a tune in evolution), for recordings of his playing by different collectors reveal variations of the melody. These different versions have influenced different revival bands -- contrast, for example, the Red Clay Rambler's version (learned from a 1970 field recording of Hammons by Malcolm Owen, Blanton Owen and Bert Levy) with versions based on the Alan Jabbour-collected recording of Burl which appears on the Library of Congress recording "The Hammons Family." Alan Jabbour says Burl simply irregularly repeated phrases within the tune, "making it wonderfully crooked. In my memory, he adds repeated phrases not just in the second (low) strain but in the first (high) as well. In both cases the candidate for possible repetition is the third phrase." (Fiddle-L 12/06/04). See John Salyer's "Kentucky Winder" for a Magoffin County, Ky., variant of "Big Sciota."

Sources for notated versions: Burl Hammonds (Marlinton, West Virginia) via the group Ship in the Clouds (Indiana) [Brody]; Zenith String Band (Connecticut) [Carlin]; Bill Christopherson & Tom Phillips [Phillips].

Printed sources: Brody (Fiddler's Fakebook), 1983; pg. 41. Johnson (Kitchen Musician No. 2: Old-Timey Fiddle Tunes), 1982 (revised 1988, 2003); pg. 8. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes, vol. 1), 1994; pg. 24.

Recorded sources: Bay 209, "The Gypsy Gyppo String Band" (1977. Learned from Burl Hammons via Jenny Cleland {of the Highwoods Stringband}). Carryon Records 005, "The Renegades" (1993). Flying Fish, Red Clay Ramblers - "Stolen Love" (1975. Collected from Burl Hammons in 1970). Folkways 31062, Ship in the Clouds - "Old Time Instrumental Music" (1978). Green Linnet, "Pigtown Fling." Reed Island Ramblers - "Wolves in the Wood" (1997). Jim Martin Productions JMP201, Gerry Milnes (et al) - "Gandydancer." Rounder 0018, Burl Hammonds - "Shaking Down the Acorns." Rounder 0132, Bob Carlin - "Fiddle Tunes for the Clawhammer Banjo" (1979). Rounder 1504/05, "The Hammons Family." Wheatland Records, the Henrie Brothers - "Wheatland Festival 1978." Reed Island Ramblers (1996). See also listing at: Jane Keefer's Folk Music Index: An Index to Recorded Sources []

X:1 T:Big Scioty M:4/4 L:1/8 K:G |:DE|GABG AGED|EDEF G2 ((3D/E/F/|G)ABG AGED|EDEF G2 ({DEF}G2)| GFGA Bc d2|e3 f e2 d2|BAGB AGEG|E G2 F G2:| |:z e|gfga gedg|egab a3 e|gfga gedc|Bdef e3 (e|e)fgf edBd|B e2 f e2 (e2|e)fgf edBd| B e2 f e2 A2|BAGB AGED|D {EF}G2 F G2:||

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