Appalachian music. Cabin Creek [music transcription]. Note sheet.

Meter: 4/4
Transcribed by Alan Jabbour, from a performance by Henry Reed.
Key: G
Compass: 9
Strains: 3 (high-middle-low, 2-2-2)
Rendition: 1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-3r-1r-2r-3r-tag
Phrase Structure: AB QR UV (abcd qrq's uvus)
Handwritten: Played thru 4 times. 2nd time transcribed. Note hexatonic scale (-4). 1st 2 notes missed 1st time. Ending untranscribed.
Cabin Creek, from which this three-part tune takes its name, is a creek that flows into the Kanawha River above Charleston, West Virginia. It was the site of a famous strike in the annals of West Virginia coal, but this tune may evoke the creek generally rather than the battles fought there. It is of that variety of tune, popular in West Virginia, which begins at the top of the tune's compass and cascades downward by degrees--like a creek, one might think. Another name for this tune is "Barlow Knife," and it is often played under that title as a banjo piece with some associated lyrics. Henry Reed said he learned this tune from Mr. Underwood, who had moved from Franklin County to Monroe County, and described it as an old Franklin County piece.