What does "breakdown" mean?
Nancy K. Martin
I am wondering if any of you country boys can explain to me why a
breakdown is called a breakdown (or, for that matter, what a breakdown
is)? It is one of those terms, like hoedown, that intrigues me.
Somewhere in the disheveled pile of paper that I call a library, in one of
my books on quadrilles and square dancing, a writer wrote that the
quadrilles that were danced in Europe and North America in the 19th
century were organized into 5 or 6 different figure sequences (like the
Irish sets that are so popular today and which are direct descendants of
the quadrille craze of Napoleon's time, and the quadrilles that are
still danced in Independence?, PA). Each figure was seperated by a
pause in the music and dance, with each figure having its own tune.
Apparently, it was common for the last figure to be a mixer, which was
often called the "breakdown" figure and was accompanied by an
appropriately lively tune (Mixers are the liveliest dances of any evening
of dancing!)
Seems logical that especially peppy tunes that were composed to accompany
the peppy breakdown figure would retain the "breakdown" name as they moved
into the local fiddler's repertoire. Does this sound possible to you
historians out there?
And, to head off the inevitable, I already know that Earl Scruggs didn't
work up Foggy Mt. Breakdown to delight a room full of powdered and scented
fops while they pranced through their favorite French quadrilles!
WWWWW
W/\ /\W
/ ( 0) ( 0) "huh?"
( .. )
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\/ O \/ Bill Martin
VVVV gitf...@teleport.com
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Gconklin
In article <51lleo$s...@nadine.teleport.com> mar...@teleport.com (Nancy K. Martin) writes:
+I am wondering if any of you country boys can explain to me why a
+breakdown is called a breakdown (or, for that matter, what a breakdown
+is)? It is one of those terms, like hoedown, that intrigues me.
+
+Somewhere in the disheveled pile of paper that I call a library, in one of
+my books on quadrilles and square dancing, a writer wrote that the
+quadrilles that were danced in Europe and North America in the 19th
+century were organized into 5 or 6 different figure sequences (like the
+Irish sets that are so popular today and which are direct descendants of
+the quadrille craze of Napoleon's time, and the quadrilles that are
+still danced in Independence?, PA). Each figure was seperated by a
+pause in the music and dance, with each figure having its own tune.
+
+Apparently, it was common for the last figure to be a mixer, which was
+often called the "breakdown" figure and was accompanied by an
+appropriately lively tune (Mixers are the liveliest dances of any evening
+of dancing!)
+
+Seems logical that especially peppy tunes that were composed to accompany
+the peppy breakdown figure would retain the "breakdown" name as they moved
+into the local fiddler's repertoire. Does this sound possible to you
+historians out there?
+
+And, to head off the inevitable, I already know that Earl Scruggs didn't
+work up Foggy Mt. Breakdown to delight a room full of powdered and scented
+fops while they pranced through their favorite French quadrilles!
+
+ WWWWW
+ W/\ /\W
+ / ( 0) ( 0) "huh?"
+( .. )
+ \ ///\\\ /
+ \/ O \/ Bill Martin
+ VVVV gitf...@teleport.com
+
+--
+
I have several tunes labeled 'breakdown' on Edison cylinders.
They are most certainly NOT fast tunes........
Oldtime1
Okay, I'll be the first country boy to venture out on your limb --
actually, out on your twig. I don't recall ever hearing a definition of
"breakdown" in my native Blue Ridge. My buddy John Cephas, country
bluesman from Caroline County, Virginia, says it comes from house dances,
that some dancing became so energetic that the puncheon floors of cabins
were literally broken down by the dancers. John talked about this with
three other Piedmont bluesmen (John Jackson, Archie Edwards, John Dee
Holeman) when we were filming the documentary, "Blues House Party," in the
early 80s and they all knew about it. (But I'm not sure the discussion is
in the video; it may have been cut.) Their acoustic branch of the oldest
blues draws upon the old black string bands (fiddle, banjo, rhythm groups)
for repetoire, performance settings and many terms, so I suspect that you
have here a Tidewater term that reveals some of the oldest roots of the
American musical tree. Joe Wilson
Barry Chern
Somewhere in the notes to the Yazoo "Before the Blues" series there is a
reference (which I can't find offhand) to a song being played as a 'true
breakdown' which they explain as the chord (and in this case tonality)
changing with each measure. Like the 'Don't Let Your Deal Go Down'
progression. I'd never heard that definition before. No idea if it has any
real historical basis, but I thought it was interesting.
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Kerry, Sheila, & Mirabelle Blech
In article <51m42h$1...@bessel.nando.net> Gconklin wrote:
> I have several tunes labeled 'breakdown' on Edison cylinders.
>They are most certainly NOT fast tunes........
Tantalize us no longer! What WERE they? Do you have Titles?
Artists? Please?
Regards,
Kerry
****** ******** ******** ***** *****
Kerry Blech Sheila Klauschie Blech Mirabelle Rose Blech
Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
"The old tunes are the best tunes" -- Luther Davis
Paul M. Gifford
In traditional Canadian terminology (and in areas in the U.S. under Canadian
cultural influence, like the U.P. and Thumb of Michigan), "breakdown" is a fast
tune (reel) used for the third change of a square dance. The old Michigan
(and New York State, I believe) name for the third change was "jig." How it
came to be called those terms, I don't know, but I assume from minstrel shows.
Quadrilles and cotillions seem to have been introduced in the 1840s, and
minstrel tunes were used for the (then) five changes, and so maybe the
breakdown term was introduced then. Joe's probably describing the original
slave term.
Paul Gifford
Mary Lou Frey
Paul,
You seem like the perfect person to ask... While I grew up in the thumb
area (Essexville) and went to college in the UP, I left long before I
became interested in old-time music and contra dancing. Do you know of
any contra-dances and/or performances happening around Thanksgiving? I'm
coming home to visit 11/26 to 12/4. I live just outside Boston now and
became aware of old-time music just this spring when I became friends with
a guy who is heavily into it. I came more out of the folk tradition
myself with an emphasis on the English/scottish stuff because that's what
my (soon to be) ex-husband was interested in and he was the one who
played. Although I still like it (didn't mean to imply I didn't), I had
never really explored the Appalachia music I was interested in because he
definitely didn't like that. Lousy reasons, I know, but we all have our
blind spots. But now I'm learning how to play the guitar and expanding my
musical appreciation and will shortly be taking a clog dancing workshop.
My, there is such a lot of good stuff out there... Welcome me to the
community.
--
Mary Lou (Knack) Frey <mlf...@bbn.com>
Roger Diggle
To my earbones, a lot of tunes (at least of the ones that I know)
that are titled XXXXXXXX Breakdown tend to sound like they
coulda been polkas in a past life.
But maybe I've been living up in Polka Country too long...
--
Any apparent resemblance of these opinions to any other opinions,
whether actual or imagined, certainly is a coincidence, isn't it.
-Roger Diggle
VSeitz
Here in the Mississippi valley where the winters get very cold there would
be dances outdoors where the people would wear their goose down jackets.
Sometimes the dancing would get so furious that the coats would rip open.
This was known as "Breaking down" and the feathers would fly all over the
dance floor making it kind of hazardous................Nah...Just
kidding...... Geoff Seitz
Bill Richardson
> I am wondering if any of you country boys can explain to me why a
Why is a waltz called a waltz, or a reel a reel?
I would guess that "breakdown" evolved out of *something*, whatever it
was, but that it came into use among fiddlers because it is an evocative
word and name, like "reel" or "hornpipe".
Bill Richardson
Yatesian
According to the OED (never thought I'd be looking up "breakdown" in the
OED), a breakdown is: "A riotous dance, with which balls are often
terminated in the
country. A dance in the peculiar style of the negroes." It goes on to say
the term was coined in the U.S. but was often used humorously in England.
Also, it mentions that a breakdown frequently followed the quadrilles. But
I wonder whether, once the term entered common usage, a specific musical
form evolved, like the chord change every measure. Anyone?
J. Yates
Kerry, Sheila, & Mirabelle Blech
I can't answer this question even yet, but I can quote an
intersting monologue that is somewhat relevant. This appeared in
the liner notes to Folk Music in America Volume 3 (LBC 3) "Dance
Music: Breakdowns & Waltzes." This was part of a 15 volume LP
issue by the Library of Congress for the Bicentennial, edited by
Richard K. Spottswood. The booklet for this record was written by
John H. Cowley, and he wrote, in part:
"...
The examples included here are mainly from commercial recordings of
the 1920s and 1930s and represent only a tiny fraction of European
national music which managed to survive and flourish in this
country, even while often incorporating musical elements used here.
Though some of the music heard here is from minority cultures,
the feeling and tempos are those associated with most country
dancing in the south, both east and west. Designation of the fast
pieces as "breakdowns" would be somewhat arbitrary. Uptempo dance
tunes have been given many names -- rag, reel, blues, and special
are only a few. Unlike the waltz, no special dance or dances were
universally designated for breakdowns. Dancing varied according to
regional, community, and even individual tastes.
The waltz, of 18th-century German origin, had spread over Europe
and the United States by the early 19th century. Because it is
strictly a dance for couples it was the subject of frequently
bitter controversies. The waltz was almost universally popular
until the 1920s, although it was never an important part of black
dancing. Black and black-inspired dances which have become dominant
in this century have made the waltz obsolete except in isolated
areas. It remains fashionable, for example, among the Acadian
French in Louisiana and in the Mexican and Mexican-influenced
dancing in the southwest. The vitality of the selections on this
record should prove that the waltz is anything but a genteel relic.
..."
I don't publicly endorse this viewpoint, nor do I publicly dismiss
it. I present it here merely as a found discussion on topic, though
I have private thoughts about the preceding commentary.
Paul M. Gifford
I'm not sure what you mean, but I wonder what the OED means by "following
the quadrilles." As I mentioned earlier, Canadian terminology defines
"breakdown" as the third and final change of a square dance (quadrille). Thus
the OED definition is close. I gather that the term "change" is not generally
known around the country, but here in Michigan (and also Canada and no doubt
elsewhere), it is a call; the first change is an easy one, often to 6/8; the
second change a bit more complicated; and the third change faster and
more complicated. The partners stand and pause for a bit between each change.
I'm pretty sure these derive from the cotillions introduced in the 1840s, with
five changes; then about 1855-1860, they began to be called quadrilles (but in
fact seem to be the same as cotillions). I'm not sure when the five changes
began to be reduced to three, but probably by 1880-1890.
I once knew a Scottish immigrant who played something called the "Banjo
Breakdown," so the term obviously went over there and seems to be associated
with the minstrel stage.
Paul Gifford
Bill Blevins
No, once when a bunch of old folks were dancing they simply broke the
floor down, like one year at Musicalia, and hence the term "breakdown
tune" as in "don't play no more of those durn breakdown tunes!"
Not kiddin Bill
Lyle & Elizabeth Lofgren
The following information is from the Oxford English Dictionary (1984
printing), with the earliest sensible citation:
Breakdown: A riotous dance, with which balls are often terminated in
the country. A dance in the peculiar style of Negroes.
1864 -- " Don't clear out when the quadrilles are over, for we are
going to have a breakdown to wind up with.."
Hornpipe: Obsolete wind instrument, so-called from having bell and
mouthpiece made of horn. A dance of lively and vigorous character,
usually performed by a single person, originally to the accompaniment
of the wind instrument, and specifically associated with the
merrymaking of sailors.
1597 -- "...many other kinds of daunces, as hornpypes, jygges, and
infinite more."
Reel (Gaelic "righil", to whirl, stagger): A lively dance, cheifly
associated with Scotland, usually danced by two couples facing each
other and describing a series of figures of eight.
1591 -- "They took handes and daunced this reill or short daunce."
Waltz (German "walzer", to revolve):
1781 -- "I found on inquiry that this was a favourite German dance
called a waltz."
I can play these things, but I'm no good at dancing them
Lyle Lofgren
lth...@rhrun.com
BI>> I am wondering if any of you country boys can explain to me why a
BI>> breakdown is called a breakdown (or, for that matter, what a breakdown
BI>> is)? It is one of those terms, like hoedown, that intrigues me.
BI>I would guess that "breakdown" evolved out of *something*, whatever it
BI>was, but that it came into use among fiddlers because it is an evocative
BI>word and name, like "reel" or "hornpipe".
I was told that a "breakdown" was used in the old days (ROFL) to finish
a barndance or show .... "...it was almost always at the end of a night,
and folks wanted to be sure to stay awake, or they hoped that song (the
last one??) would stick with you, and make a feller come back for more
next time...or to see if one picker could "breakdown" another with a
very fast tune.."
The above coming from Ralph Stanley backstage at a festival. A few of
us had the PURE PLEASURE of meeting and talking to Ralph. This answer
came in response to a question from a girl (about 12 or 13 years old)
banjo picker.
What ever the origin, I sure like to hear them or play them!
Len
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Paul M. Gifford <giff...@lib.flint.umich.edu> writes:
>I'm not sure what you mean, but I wonder what the OED means by "following
>the quadrilles." As I mentioned earlier, Canadian terminology defines
>"breakdown" as the third and final change of a square dance (quadrille). Thus
>the OED definition is close. I gather that the term "change" is not generally
>known around the country, but here in Michigan (and also Canada and no doubt
>elsewhere), it is a call; the first change is an easy one, often to 6/8; the
>second change a bit more complicated; and the third change faster and
>more complicated. The partners stand and pause for a bit between each change.
to Tony Parkes, is that all four couples are active, rather than the heads
performing the active role and then the sides doing the same.