DAD'S HORNPIPE
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Both tunes are collected from the Dawsons of Swamp Rd Franklin. The first of these is Dad's Hornpipe. This tune is interesting in that it closely resembles a well known Appalachian tune, Rickett's Hornpipe. The Dawson family seems to have added their own mark to this tune. Another traditional player, Edward Tassie Hills from the North East of the state also played this tune, his version sounding even more like Ricketts Hornpipe. Tassie Hills played everything with a sneaky up beat and an amazing light off-beat lilt. To this he added an often virtuosic ornamentation and amazingly, cross-key playing and key changes. I will feature Tassie Hills in later articles but it should suffice to say that his style can be contrasted with the style that the Dawsons bring to an often similar repertoire.
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Straight Ahead Style
Compared to Tassie Hills, Edie and Paddy Dawson have a much more straight ahead style. That is not to say that they don't use a back-beat nor that they do not swing. They do, but their approach is far less syncopated and fancy than that of Tassie Hills. Other older Huon Valley players recorded by John Meredith such as Lyall Mansfield of Franklin, Norm Burgess of Geeveston and Basil Coulson of Waterloo seem to share this approach with the Dawsons of Franklin.
The version of Dad's Hornpipe also called The Old Hornpipe that I have transcribed is an approximation of the tune as recorded by Fred Pribac in 1999. I have checked this against a recording of The Dawsons playing the same tune by John Meredith made in 1986 and there seems to be little difference between the two versions. The chords I have added take some liberties with the feel but are in keeping with the mood of the tune.
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