- Joined
- Jan 8, 2012
(I don't see a musician's forum on this site, so I'm putting this here.)
I’m curious about the origin of the word “cheater” as used to describe a mouthpiece for the fife. Is this a reenactorism or is there any historical evidence that this term was actually used?
I’ve heard conflicting stories from reenactors regarding the mouthpiece for the fife:
“They were used in the military music schools during the war because they had thousands of new musicians they had to train up quickly, and they called them cheaters because if you used one when learning, you were cheating at playing the instrument.”
“They were invented after the war so toothless old veterans could still play and needed a way to cheat at playing the instrument.”
However, I’ve seen ads for fife mouthpieces from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and none of them use the word “cheater,” nor does a 1904 patent for a fife with a mouthpiece I found. I don't see a reference to "cheater" in any of my Civil War books.
I keep coming across pictures of Civil War soldiers holding fifes with mouthpieces attached and can’t help but wonder if they really called them “cheaters,” which holds such a negative connotation, given their presence and apparent acceptance as an accessory for the instrument.
If someone could please point me to some historical references regarding this topic, where the term is actually documented as being used, I’d appreciate it.
Thank you.
Most recent find--this Union CW musician has a mouthpiece on his fife.
I’m curious about the origin of the word “cheater” as used to describe a mouthpiece for the fife. Is this a reenactorism or is there any historical evidence that this term was actually used?
I’ve heard conflicting stories from reenactors regarding the mouthpiece for the fife:
“They were used in the military music schools during the war because they had thousands of new musicians they had to train up quickly, and they called them cheaters because if you used one when learning, you were cheating at playing the instrument.”
“They were invented after the war so toothless old veterans could still play and needed a way to cheat at playing the instrument.”
However, I’ve seen ads for fife mouthpieces from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and none of them use the word “cheater,” nor does a 1904 patent for a fife with a mouthpiece I found. I don't see a reference to "cheater" in any of my Civil War books.
I keep coming across pictures of Civil War soldiers holding fifes with mouthpieces attached and can’t help but wonder if they really called them “cheaters,” which holds such a negative connotation, given their presence and apparent acceptance as an accessory for the instrument.
If someone could please point me to some historical references regarding this topic, where the term is actually documented as being used, I’d appreciate it.
Thank you.
Most recent find--this Union CW musician has a mouthpiece on his fife.
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