Digital Tradition Mirror

This notation is pretty simple; dark circles mean covered holes; empty circles mean uncovered holes; a '+' below means to blow harder to get the upper octave; a '#' below means this note is too low for the whistle chosen and you'll have to fake it :) The author of this program always plays accidentals by closing holes, so you'll never see half-covered holes.

When I was starting, I found notation like this to be very helpful, and I know plenty of people who have trouble reading music who find this notation easier. Good luck!

The Alberta Homesteader

(C whistle)

(This score available as ABC, SongWright, PostScript, PNG, or PMW, or a MIDI file)
(Choose a whistle key: A B C D E F G Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb A# B# C# D# E# F# G#)
Dulcimer tab for this song is also available

The Alberta Homesteader

1.  My name is Dan Gold, an old bachelor I am
    I'm keeping old batch on an elegant plan
    You'll find me out here on Alberta's bush plain
    A-starving to death on a government claim.

2.  So come to Alberta, there's room for you all,
    Where the wind never ceases, [and] the rain always falls
    Where the sun always sets and there it remains
    Till you [we] get frozen out of your [our] government claim.

3.  My house it is built of the natural soil
    The walls are erected according to Hoyle
    The roof has no pitch, it is level and plain
    And I always get wet when it happens to rain.

4.  My clothes they are [are all] ragged, my language is rough
    My bread is case-hardened and solid and tough
    My dishes are scattered all over the room
    And [] my floor is [gets] afraid of the sight of a broom.

5.  How happy I am [feel] when I roll into bed
    The rattlesnake rattles a tune at my head
    And [] the little mosquito, devoid of all fear
    Crawls over my face and into my ear.

6.  The little bed-bug, so cheerful and bright,
    He [It] keeps me up laughing two-thirds of the night
    And the smart little flea with the [] tacks in his toes
    Crawls up through my whiskers and tickles my nose.

7.  You may try to raise wheat, you may try to raise rye
    You may stay there and live, you may stay there and die
    But as for myself, I'll no longer remain
    A-starving to death on a government claim.

8.  So farewell to Alberta, farewell to the west
    It's backwards I'll go to the girl I love best
    I'll go back to the east and get me a wife
    And never eat cornbread the rest of my life!

collected from Ivan E. Brandrick, Athens, Ont., 1958 by Edith Fowke;
from "The Greer County Bachelor".JB
JB
                                                 apr96

Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!