Me Melican Man (A Pigtail Rag)

A .J. Weidt (1913) TablEdited by Patrick Grant & Tom Thomason (1998)

# 2 U U U U
U UU UU U UU UUUUU U U
F 4 U U #U U U U U P # UUU U UU
[ V U U
U U
Intro First section

0 7 7 0 0 7
3 3 3 0 3 3 1 0
T 4 4 4 4 2 0 2 4 4
A 5 0 0 1 5 5
B 7 6 2
3 3 0 0

T T = Left-hand thumb

# U UUU U U U UU U U U UU
U U
UU U U U# U# U U U U U UUU U U UU ## UUU UU UU UU
UU U UU # U U U U
F U U #U U U U
#U U U U
[ U U U U U U

6 5 5 7 5 0 2 3 0 2 0 0 7 5 5 7 5 0 2 2 2
5 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 4 5 8 0 2 2 2
T 5 0 0 2 0 3 4 4 5 0 3 3 3
A 2 1 2 5 5
B 4 4 4
0 0 0 0 0 0

# # UU U
U U U U UU U U U
U UU U U U UU UU U U U UU UU UU U
U U U U U U UU U UU # U % U
F U U #U U
[ U U U U U U U V

12 7 0 7 5 5 7 5 0 2 3 0 2 0
4 0 0 0 5 8 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 3 3 3
T 4 4 4 5 0 0 2 0 3 2 4 4 4 4
A 5 5 2 1 2 5
B 0
3 2 0 0 0 0 3

Page 1 / 7
 Me Melican Man (A Pigtail Rag) - A .J. Weidt (1913)

U U
# U UUUUU UUUUUU UU U % U # UU U% U
1. 2.

U U P # UUU U
F U #U U U U U U
[ U U U

Second section
Po
18 0 7 7 0 0 3 2 0 2 2 1 2 2 1
0 3 3 1 0 3 3 1 1
T 2 0 2 0
A 0 0 1 0
B 7 6 2 0
3 3

# UU U U U U U U U U# U U U U U# U U U U U U U # U U U U% U
U U U U UU U U U U U U
F U U U . U
[ U U U U

23 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 0
1 3 1 0 4 0 4 0 2 3 3 0 1 2 3 1
T 2 0 2
A 0 0 0 4 0 4
B 0 0
3 3

# U U U U U U U U U U UU U % U # UU U % U UU U U U U U U U UU U # U UU U U
F U U U U U U U
[ U. U U U

Po
28 3 0 3 2 0 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
0 3 3 3 1 1 1 3 1 0 4 0 4
T 0 0 2
A 0 0 0 0
B 0 0
3 3

Page 2 / 7
 Me Melican Man (A Pigtail Rag) - A .J. Weidt (1913)

U U U U U
# U#U U U U U
U U UUU UUU UU UU UU U U U U U UUUUUU
1.

U UU U UU # U % U UU
F U U U U
[ U U U U

Po
33 0 0 0 0 7 7 0 0 7 7 0 5 7 5 3 0 3 2 0
0 2 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 0 3 3
T 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
A 0 0
B 7 7 7 6
3 7 0 7 0 3

# U U U U U UU UU U U U U UU U U U U U
2.

U P U P U U U P U UUU P U U U #U
F U UUU U U U U U U U
[ U U U U U U U #U UU V

Interlude Third section

38 3 3 3 3 0 5 5 3 0 3 0 5 3 0 0
0 0 5 5 5 0 1
T 0 0 5 5 5 0 0 0 2 1
A 0 0 0
B 2 3 2 0 3 2 0 0 2 3 4 2 3
3 3 3 3

# UU UU UU UUUUUUU U UUUU
U #U U U UU UU UU UU UUU UUU UU U# U U U U U% U U
F UU U UU U U V U U
U
U U U
[ U U U

44 0 0 0 3 2 3 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1 1 3 2 3 3 0 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 3 1
T 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 2
A 2 4 0
B 3 3 0 3 3
3 3 3

Page 3 / 7
 Me Melican Man (A Pigtail Rag) - A .J. Weidt (1913)

# U# U U U U # UU # UU# U U% U U U U % U U U U U U# U U% U U U U UU
F U
U U % UU UU U U U #U % U U U
#U U U #U U U U
[ U

50 3 4 5 4 5 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
3 3 3 2 2 4 3 1 4 3 0
T 4 6 4 2 2 2 2
A 5 4 3 2 0 4 0
B 4 0 2 4 0
3

# U U U U UU UU UU U% U U U U U U U U U U U
P # UUU UU UU U U
1. 2.

UU UU
F UV U U # U U
U
U U
U U U % UU UU UU U
U U
[ U U U U

Fourth section

55 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 5 3 0 3 3 3 0 0 0 5 5
1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 3 1 1
T 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2
A 2 0 3 2 2
B 3 3 3 3 2 0 0
3 3

# % UU UU U U# U U U U U% U U U U U U UU UU U U # UU UU U UUU
UU U U
F U U UU #U U UUU
[ U U #U U U U U U U U U

61 1 1 5 0 0 3 3 0 0 3 3 0
3 3 4 0 1 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 3 2 2 0 3 0
T 2 2 2 4 4 3 3 0 0
A 2 0
B 0 0 0 2
4 0 0 3 3 3 3 3

T T

Page 4 / 7
 Me Melican Man (A Pigtail Rag) - A .J. Weidt (1913)

UU # U UU U UUU U
U UU U U U # U U # U U U U U U U U #U U U
#U
U U U
F U
[ U U % U #U U U % U #U U U U. U

Po Po
67 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 3
1 0 4 4
T 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0
A 0 4 0 4 0
B 0 0
3 1 2 3 3 1 2 3 3 3

T T T T T

# UUU U U U U U U U U U UU UU UU UUUUUUU
P U U U #U U U U U
F U. U #U U U U V U U U U
[ U U

Po
Third section (repeat)

73 3 2 3 3 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 3 5 3 0
1 1 1 1 1
T 0 2 1 0 0 0
A 2 0 2
B 2 3 4 2 3 3 3
3 3

# U #U U U U U
U U UU UU UU UU UU UU UU U # U U U U U % U U UU # U U U U # UU
F V
U
U
U U
U U U U U % UU
[ U U U

79 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4
3 2 3 3 0 1 1 1 1 3 2 3 3 1 3 3 3
T 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 2 4 6 4
A 4 0 5 4 3
B 0 3 3
3 3

Page 5 / 7
 Me Melican Man (A Pigtail Rag) - A .J. Weidt (1913)

# # UU # U U % U U U U % U U U U U U# U U% U U U U UU U U U
F UU U U U # U % U U U U U U # UU
#U U U #U U U U V
[ U

84 5 4 5 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 2 4 3 1 4 3 0 1
T 2 2 2 2 0 2 1
A 2 0 4 0
B 4 0 2 4 0 3
3

U
# UU UU UU U% U U U U U U U U UU P UUU P
F UU U UU U U % UU UU
[ U U

89 0 0 0 0 1 3 5 3 0 8
1 1 1 1 3 1 5
T 0 0 0 0 0 5
A 2 0 3 2 5
B 3 3
3 3

It gave me great pleasure when Patrick Grant sent me the rough version of this tablature. It's one of those rarities that inspires one to
go out and actively look for new tunes.

I say "rarities" because this rag was written directly for the guitar rather than being a guitar arrangement of a piano rag.

"Me Melican Man - a Pigtail Rag" was written in 1913 by A.J. Weidt and first appeared in the magazine "Cadenza" which was published in
Boston, Massachusetts between 1894 and 1924. Mr. Weidt is said to have contributed a number of pieces to this magazine including one
entitled "Cold Molasses Rag". Patrick and I are still looking for other period rags composed for our beloved instrument.

"Melican Man" is fairly easy to play as it stands. There are, however, a few places where other fingerings might be used and a couple of
alternatives for endings, etc.

The treble notes on the last 8th of the opening chord sequence are, for example, marked as open strings. The same is true of the 3 (4), 4
(5) notes first appearing in the first measure of the first section. We felt that playing these notes as fretted strings provided more
control over their durations without making the passages more difficult to play so we changed them.

A close inspection of the piece clearly reminds is that the piece was written with a 12 fret neck in mind, probably of classical width.
This means that certain chord inversions have been avoided, notably the second ending of the second section. Where the original uses two
first position G chords for this ending, the longer neck of a modern steel string guitar (especially in the case of those models with a
cutaway) would allow the second of these chords to be taken as 4 string barré at the 12th fret with the little finger fretting the G note
at the 15th fret. A "C shape" barré at the 7th fret could also be used but this is a bit more awkward to get to rapidly. We've left the
original chord in place out of consideration for those of you playing short-necked classical guitars.

The final C chord we've indicated is not the original. The original ending consisted of double first position C's. We felt that this
sounded sort of lifeless and took it upon ourselves to make a suitable alteration. We had two (very standard) options, the one presented
here or that of playing a bass G on the second 1/8th and sliding this up to the 8th fret to play a standard C chord in that position. As it
turns out I (Tom) have chosen to play a combination of these two variations by playing the bass G as the second 8th and ending with the
chord indicated in the tab.
Page 6 / 7
 Me Melican Man (A Pigtail Rag) - A .J. Weidt (1913)

Tom Thomason & Patrick Grant

April, 1998

Page 7 / 7