[Dixielandjazz] The ax in music

[John Farrell]

As a matter of fact "axe" (Yanks, note the impressive spelling caned into me
at the best English schools) is derived from the German. Those of you who
have played with German bands will know that when counting in a tune instead
of 1, 2, 3, 4 the leader says Ein, Zwei, Ach, So. To save time (in keeping
with German efficiency) the Ein and Zwei were dropped years ago and the Ach
and So run together. Then the "O" in So eventually disappeared for the same
reason.

Deutschland uber Alice and all that jazz.

John Farrell
stridepiano at tesco.net
http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm


----- Original Message -----
From: "Stephen Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 5:46 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] The ax in music


> Not sure where it came from but can attest to its use as a term for
> musical instrument in the late 1940s among the jazz musicians in NYC (at
> least)
>
> Perhaps it is allied with the term "woodshedding" which means to
> practice. E.G. If one goes to the woodshed, one takes an ax.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone