Annotation:Hell on the Wabash (2)
Tune properties and standard notation
HELL ON THE WABASH [2]. American, March (2/4 time). E Minor (Mattson & Walz): A Minor (Cole, Kerr): A Major (Sweet). Standard tuning (fiddle). AABB (Cole, Kerr, Sweet): AA'BB'CC' (Mattson & Walz). Listed as a 'jig' in Ryan's Mammoth/Cole's 1000, referring not to the Irish 6/8 jig but to a type of old-time syncopated banjo tune known as a "straight" or "sand" jig. The minstrel origins for this syncopated tune are quite evident and the genre was popular on the early variety stage in the 1870's and 1880's. Its use as a march is attested to by its appearance in fife manuals and martial collections.
Source for notated version:
Printed sources: American Veteran Fifer, 1902. Bruce & Emmett (The Drummer's and Fifer's Guide), 1862. Cole (1000 fiddle Tunes), 1940; p. 81 (appears as "H_' on the Wabash"). Kerr (Merry Melodies), vol. 2; No. 423, p. 48. Mattson & Walz (Old Fort Snelling... Fife), 1974; p. 67. Ryan's Mammoth Collection, 1883; p. 114. Sweet (Fifer's Delight), 1964/1981; p. 55.
Recorded sources: