The 2nd piece of the Plant Songs project is entitled “Pawpaw Papa”. This melody surprised me as it came out. It happened quickly, and it was fun, and it’s pretty unique as far as what’s come out of me before. My state of mind in embarking on this project has been that of “get out of the way” and let the music come through. I think that’s what happened here. I more or less improvised it and quickly starting writing it down with some refinement as I went.
Theoretically, this melody is in the mixolydian mode. That’s a major scale, but with a flatted seventh. It’s a scale that we talk a lot about in jazz education, as it fits over the ubiquitous dominant 7th chord. But I think this time I arrived at its use more from an Appalachian folk song influence. About a year after moving to Beacon I bought myself an open back banjo and have enjoyed learning the clawhammer style of banjo playing. There’s a lot of the flat seven chord in that music. I think I remember that being referred to as “the supertonic” in college theory classes. I think “Pawpaw Papa” has a good deal of Old Time Appalachia in it.
The title “Pawpaw Papa” fits with that theme also, as the Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba) is from Appalachia. It’s a deciduous tree native to the Eastern US. We’re right on the northern range. I planted two of them in the garden 2017, and this year we’re finally getting fruit from one of them. They grow slow at the beginning. They’re fun to grow for a number of reasons. First, they’re a native tree and have evolved with along with the local insects, animals, microbes, and fungi. Therefor, there’s not many problems growing them, especially compared to apples and stone fruits which are very difficult to grow organically in Eastern North America. Second, Pawpaw fruit doesn’t store or ship well, so it’s very difficult to find for sale anywhere - if you want it, you pretty much have to grow it. Third, the fruit is very tropical-like, unlike anything that grows around here. It’s got a unique flavor, but has hints of banana, mango, and pineapple. If you have a yard, I highly recommend you plant two or more pawpaw trees!
I grow pawpaws. I’m also a papa - a papa to a human, and a papa to some pawpaw trees!
Our pawpaw trees. The one in the foreground has about a dozen fruits hiding in the foliage.
A special moment: tasting our first pawpaw fruits!
On a technical side note, I’m providing sheet music to all the Plant Songs. Click the link below that says PDF SCORE and it should open in a new window. Play them and enjoy them!