Drummer’s Call: The Fife Music

Of all the Duty Calls, the fife music for the Drummer’s Call is surprisingly the most varied over time.

While the fife music remains the same in the 18^th C. Fife tutors, we see quite a bit of variations and alterations in many 18^th century fife MS and in 19^th century fife manuals and MS.

Loss of the rest

Some American fife MS’s from the Revolutionary War show the regulation English tune.

However, others demonstrate that changes and embellishments are already altering the tune.

The rest has disappeared and the final note is cut to a quarter note instead of a half note.

Some triplets have embellished the phrase and some notes are altered, although the melody is still largely the same.

Even the British fife music eventually drops the rest and cuts the length of the final note.

This change becomes permanent in the 1817 regulations adopted with Potter.

Shift to dotted rhythm

The most common shift is a change from straight eighth notes to a dotted rhythm, which we see in Potter (above) and Rumrille and Robbins (below).

We also see the opening 16th notes become a pick-up of 32nd notes in the American versions.

Shift to 6/8

In some cases, instead of changing to dotted eighth notes, the tune shifts to a swung rhythm in 6/8, as seen in Hazeltine (below).

Other Observations

The original 18th C. tutor has 9 measures; once the rest is removed, the tunes are a more traditional 8 measures. However, some versions are even shorter. Robbins is only 7 measures. Hazeltine is 6 measures.

Download a pdf of these Drummer’s Call variations.

The Fifer’s Call

One American MS – Giles Gibbs (c. 1776) – included a curious little tune titled “The Fifer’s Call”.

It would be interesting to know whether this was used in practice as a call for fifers, or written in jest.

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Do you have any thoughts or observations on the fife variations of Drummer’s Call? Contact me or comment below.

Want to know more about the fife music, check out “Drummer’s Call: Drum Beating“.

If you found learning about this Duty Call interesting, check out my discussions on the major duty calls:

• The Reveille
• The Troop
• The Retreat
• The Tattoo
• The March
• The Three Cheers