Andrew Lardner
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"Sunflower River Blues" by John Fahey
🕑 Added 2024-09-01 13:35:01 +0000 UTCFriends:
My summer has come to a close but I felt like doing something special to celebrate our 5 year anniversary on Patreon. I hope everyone is excited for a double drop this month.
"Sunflower River Blues" may be the most popular piece from Fahey's repertoire. I wrestled with which version to transcribe, but ultimately had only a few days to rehearse and record so I had to go with the version most familiar to me.
This comes from Fahey's second LP, Death Chants, Breakdowns, and Military Waltzes. The first version of the record was released in 1963. Similar to Blind Joe Death, most of the compositions were re-recorded and reissued on a later release of the LP in 1967. You can hear the first version of "Sunflower River Blues" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLsh_4D_rMs
And here is the re-recorded version that this transcription corresponds to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRyne6rjF1g
Although there are endless covers and lessons available on this piece, I still think doing a proper transcription that accurately documents Fahey's performance is worthwhile, and perhaps some here will still pick up a few tricks that bring their performance of the piece to the next level.
The introduction uses moving octaves on the inner strings and features Fahey's unique method of strumming upward with the index and middle fingers to create chords with a shimmery, delay-like quality. The A section is characterized by moving octaves and slow dragging slides. The B section introduces a sweet melody on the top two strings, and the C section rocks pretty hard with only three descending dyads. This could be a first great performance piece for technically proficient beginners or early intermediate players.
My lesson video for supporting Patrons can be accessed here: https://youtu.be/Kx2lD56krds
A score that has been refreshed from a 15-year-old copy that I created as a graduate student is attached below. This is a little different from other scores on here because it also includes the standard notation. Enjoy!
Edit: 4:00pm Sep 1, it dawned on me that I had one position incorrect in the introduction, this has been corrected and a new score has been uploaded.
Comments
Andrew Lardner
Hey Kush. Lovely story. I teach music to elementary kids as my day job, It's always so rewarding when they take an interest in the kind of stuff I play. The intro in that version is mostly just rocking back and forth between I and V chords. Alternating 6 and 4 in bass and hammering on the 2nd fret of the 3rd and using 2nd fret of 2nd string for melody of the I chord, then holding 2nd fret on 2nd and 4th string for the V chord.
Kush
Andrew, what is Fahey doing in the intro of the version in the Fahey, Lang, Kottke album? I can't figure out what note he is hammering on in that first couple of measures! It is the prettiest intro to this song that I have heard; seems very simple too and it annoys me that I am unable to mimic it by ear. On a related note, I was visiting Asia last year and was playing this song over and over whilst traveling by train (my favourite way to travel, I had so missed it after having lived in the States for so many years). This little girl came over, could not have been more than 8 years old, and started dancing, very happily, to this tune. She made me play it over and over for perhaps 15 minutes and then later seemed to have a great time moving to Poor Boy Long Ways from Home, too. It was a really pretty and kinda astonishing experience. It was then I realized how hypnotic Fahey's music can be. Her family shared their food with me later; it really was very lovely. Hope you are well, Andrew. All the best to you and yours.
mark blomquist
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