Keys to sing in - the soldier

[Danny]

Perhaps a clue to what keys songs were sung in (played in?) as recollected by a surviving soldier. Handwritten notes in an 1883 "Vets Who Wore The Blue" pocket songster (see adjacent post "Girl I Left Behind Me")

for Star Spangled Banner - "C"
for Marching Thrugh Georgia - "a"
for Red, White and Blue - "a"
for Tramp, Tramp, Tramp - "g"
for My Country Tis of Thee - "a"
for The Army Bean - "Bb C" (I suppose that meant either ok?)

Attached is a photo of the index pages to that little book. It appears that the songs remembered by soldiers were of a quite common popular variety. We maybe shouldn't try so hard to mine the more obscure sheet music, tutors etc.

It's interesting that more than a few songs in this Old Union compendium were about slavery or even some reb songs - considering how many Union boys supposedly didn't feel they were fighting to free the slave or embrace the Reb.

- Dan Wykes

[markj]

Perhaps a clue to what keys songs were sung in (played in?) as recollected by a surviving soldier.

For some troops, the proper key was irrelevant. Ulysses S. Grant, for one, suffered from tone deafness and famously remarked to the effect, "I know two songs: one of them is Dixie...and the other one isn't." He allegedly despised military music due to its incessant drumming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tone_deaf

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Danny]

Mark -

Wasn't it rather "I know two songs: one of them is Yankee Doodle...and the other one isn't." ?

- Dan Wykes

[civilwarbuglertn]

Most soldiers did not read sheet music, much of what was passed out were called broadsides. Middle Tennessee State University's Center for Popular music has an extensive searchable collection of these songs. It rivals that of the Library of Congress. I have been privlidged enough be about to research Civil War music there. Here is a link:

http://popmusic.mtsu.edu/dbtw-wpd/te...broadsides.htm

these are scans of the orginal pieces.

Jason Simmons
Civilwarbuglertn