Level: 3
Tuning: Standard

This is one of the Rev’s greatest and most beloved guitar showcases, and one of the great virtuoso pieces in the whole Piedmont canon. It is a highly syncopated dance tune using a “New Orleans” beat. Part I is the most distinctive, complex and difficult part. It features two bars of a rising base from the G to the C and descending treble that move opposite, that is down from the G to the C. While this sophisticated counterpoint is happening, The Rev. maintains the tricky New Orleans beat on both ends. It uses the A form C on the 5th fret for the high part of the melody.

To my ears this is a melody appropriated from a section of Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. This rag was so famous and beloved that any one of its parts would be instantly recognized and celebrated. Part II enabled him to pick and chord on up the fretboard, opening the way for further improvising. Often he stretched these parts beyond the bounds of the progression, which was unusual for him.