Minor Musings For Bass: A Song History

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"Minor Musings For Bass" is one of the twelve titles in Ellen Pratt's Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 8, a collection its DulcimerDownloads listing pitches at players from beginner to advanced; there the piece is set in three parts, labeled Dulcimer 1 through Dulcimer 3, every one of them in CAC tuning.[1] On the contents page pictured on Pratt's own store page, it is in 4/4 time and occupies pages 59 to 61, fewer pages than any other piece in the volume.[2] That contents page marks "Coleman's March" and "Midnight On the Water" as traditional and assigns "Pig Ankle Rag" to M.E. Williams, but prints no composer beside this title, while the store page calls the book a blend of original and traditional arrangements; the sources consulted here therefore do not state who wrote the piece.[2]

A wooden double bass standing upright, seen from the front

Bartolomeo Cristofori, Double Bass, wood, 18th century. Shown for the word "bass" in the title; it has no connection to the tune.

Pratt has composed her own music since 2004, and she moved into writing and arranging for ensembles after she joined a dulcimer orchestra in northeastern Connecticut.[3] Neither the DulcimerDownloads listing nor Pratt's store page explains the title, says whether its "bass" means the bass dulcimer, or mentions a recording.[1][2]

Our book that contains the song "Minor Musings For Bass"

Sources

  1. Ellen Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements For The Mountain Dulcimer, Volume 8".
  2. Ellen S. Pratt: "Ensemble Arrangements for Mountain Dulcimer Volume 8".
  3. DulcimerDownloads: "Ellen Pratt".
  4. Image: Bartolomeo Cristofori, Double Bass, wood, 18th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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