"Old Joe Clark" - A favorite old-time fiddle tune & song about a notorious scoundrel from Kentucky. Arranged for stick dulcimer. - Blogs

The following song is in ABC music format and it should be cut and pasted into an ABC converter program like the "abcConverter" on Mandolintab.net. Once you submit your ABC file, the converter will produce a quick and dirty image of your musical score which is then displayed on screen. Above the music, in the center of the screen, you should be able to see these three links:

[MIDI music file] [PDF Sheet Music] [ABC source]

The first link will allow you to hear your music as played on a midi player, which is great for learning what a new song is supposed to (kind of) sound like. It's great if you are not sure of the timing of the music. The second link converts the ABC source into a .pdf image of your music which you can then save and/or print to yield prettier sheet music. Then, if you want to view the ABC source again, you can click on the third link. However, to edit your ABC source, you best click on your browser's back arrow to take you back to the original text box holding your ABC source.

Well, I like this song, and I hope you do as well. Enjoy:

============================================================================

============================================================================

Here is a link to download a .pdf version of this song suitable for 1-5-8 tuned diatonic instrument

like most stick dulcimers: Old%20Joe%20Clark.pdf

Enjoy.

Hi ChevyTrucking,

The arrangement works well on a mountain dulcimer or any other instrument using a diatonic fretboard. It can be played on a single string instrument like a canjo, or a 3-stringed instrument like a dulcimer. The arrangement uses just the first string, so the other 2 strings are just strummed open string and act as drones. I don't understand what you mean by "It produces a result for mandolin." I don't even understand where it provides and option for selecting a mountain dulcimer, or select the key. You don't need to switch instrument types or specify a key. The default values will work. Just cut the text, paste it into the big text box at the top of the Folkinfo - Abc Converter, then click on the "Submit" button. That will produce a gif (graphic image file) of the music. Below the gif file will be three links, The middle one is labeled "pdf". Click that link and it will produce an Adobe compatible pdf file with the music all formatted beautifully, If yo are using a diatonic instrument (as most, but not all mountain dulcimers are), the arrangement should work no matter how the instrument is tuned. I generally tune mine to D-A-D', but if I want to play in the Key of G, I just retune my dulcimer to G-D-G' and play the same tabs. The music might no longer be accurate,but the tabs still are.

The Folkinfo - Abc converter does provide an option to transcribe the music should you want to have a printed version for the key you want to play in. But, as it happens, this song is already arranged in the Key of G, so you shouldn't have to fiddle with any of the transcription controls. I think you should just experiment a bit more with it trying not to change any of the default setting, and I think you will get what you are looking for. Now, be aware that the song Old Joe Clark is an old fiddle tune, and what you may remember hearing is the song played in a higher Key of A. On a stick dulcimer, I prefer playing it down a bit lower. Hope something I said helps.

-Rand.

You need to be a member of Cigar Box Nation to add comments!

Join Cigar Box Nation

Comments

Rand Moore October 9, 2012 at 7:50pm

Yeah, they give a lot of options down below the big text box for getting different kinds of results, and I'm not even sure what most of them do. The only controls down there I ever use (other than the Submit button) is the Transpose selection box and its associated "show transposed output" check box. These controls allow you to experiment with transposing the song up or down by "X" number of semitones (half-steps). I use it when I have an ABC file that uses notes that are not in range of my instrument. Once I found the right number of steps to transpose it up or down, I can click on the "show transposed output" check box, and it will update my ABC "source code" to the specified key (not just changing the key setting, but raising (or lowering) all the notes in the song. This is the only "advanced" setting I use. But, with the music I provide, the default settings are all users will need to get a nice printout of the music and tabs. I provide the ABC source so if you like to make changes and know how to use ABC music format "commands", you can do it without having to start from scratch.

I also use the JC's ABC Tune Finder and Mudcat Cafe a lot when hunting for tunes and their lyrics. I also do a lot of Googling and hunting on other web sites.

Glad you were able to get a usable copy of Old Joe Clark.

-Rand.
chevytrucking October 9, 2012 at 3:35pm

I tried just pasting it and you're right, it produced the music sheet. What I was talking about is down below that, there is a drop down box for tablature (instrument) and next to it a drop down box for key. It says tabluture, so I thought maybe I needed to select Mountain Dulcimer to get the correct tabs, except it won't work that way. Thanks.
Rand Moore October 9, 2012 at 1:30pm

Hi ChevyTrucking,

The arrangement works well on a mountain dulcimer or any other instrument using a diatonic fretboard. It can be played on a single string instrument like a canjo, or a 3-stringed instrument like a dulcimer. The arrangement uses just the first string, so the other 2 strings are just strummed open string and act as drones. I don't understand what you mean by "It produces a result for mandolin." I don't even understand where it provides and option for selecting a mountain dulcimer, or select the key. You don't need to switch instrument types or specify a key. The default values will work. Just cut the text, paste it into the big text box at the top of the Folkinfo - Abc Converter, then click on the "Submit" button. That will produce a gif (graphic image file) of the music. Below the gif file will be three links, The middle one is labeled "pdf". Click that link and it will produce an Adobe compatible pdf file with the music all formatted beautifully, If yo are using a diatonic instrument (as most, but not all mountain dulcimers are), the arrangement should work no matter how the instrument is tuned. I generally tune mine to D-A-D', but if I want to play in the Key of G, I just retune my dulcimer to G-D-G' and play the same tabs. The music might no longer be accurate,but the tabs still are.

The Folkinfo - Abc converter does provide an option to transcribe the music should you want to have a printed version for the key you want to play in. But, as it happens, this song is already arranged in the Key of G, so you shouldn't have to fiddle with any of the transcription controls. I think you should just experiment a bit more with it trying not to change any of the default setting, and I think you will get what you are looking for. Now, be aware that the song Old Joe Clark is an old fiddle tune, and what you may remember hearing is the song played in a higher Key of A. On a stick dulcimer, I prefer playing it down a bit lower. Hope something I said helps.

-Rand.
chevytrucking October 9, 2012 at 8:59am

I just read up on ABC music format and tried pasting the text in the link you provided. It produces a result for mandolin, for example, but if I try to select mountain dulcimer key of G, it doesn't work. Any idea why? I can't figure it out.
Rand Moore October 8, 2012 at 5:04am

Hi Clock & Wolf.
Thanks for the complement. It's a bit of work to get a song encoded in ABC music format, but the exercise is helping me learn to read/write music better and it gives me more material which I can practice playing with. I plan to get maybe 20 or 25 of my favorite beginning and intermediate level folk songs documented this way and then put one or two posts in other appropriate CBN discussion groups providing them with an index and links to the material I'm developing here. I think by providing the music in ABC format, other people who want to adapt my songs, can do it if they know (or are willing to learn) how to use ABC format. And, any suggestions or corrections they make I'll be able to add to the work I've done.
-Rand.
Rand Moore October 8, 2012 at 4:53am

There are lots (and lots!) of verses to this song, with many verses being "floater verses" that you see from time to time in other sings like Boil Them Cabbage Down, Shady Grove, Cindy, Liza Jane, Sally Ann, and others. As this song was also used as a kind of dance and parlor game, many verses were composed by players on the fly. The popular verses have stuck around. However, many of these verses do not conform tightly to the music; so to adapt them, singers either have to produce another note (or two) as needed, or they have to sing two syllable words using a single note. Either way, I hate these variances. I believe a well formed verse will have one word (or syllable) for each note of the verse. Without this conformity, the musician must adapt on the fly to force either the lyrics or the music to match and that's too much work for me! So, the verses I have selected above all correspond to what I call the "7,5,7,6" pattern, which means the first and third lines have 7 words or syllables while the second has 5 and the fourth line has 6. Because of this requirement, there are lots of fun verses out there that I haven't included because they need to be "fixed". But, hopefully, what I have provided here will be enough to satisfy you. If not, Google the Internet for "Old Joe Clark lyrics".

-Rand.
Clock The Wolf October 8, 2012 at 12:20am

Good work on all of this, Mr Rand. I hope more people see these blog posts of yours.

This reply was deleted.