The Fiddle Thread, For all things traditional Options

[all ears]

L = note length. Thank you! That clears up a long-held question in my mind about ABC notation! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[lottie]

go to youtube, click on fiddle4u's channel and look for his version of saddle the pony

First I have to learn how to use youtube!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

How do I find the channel.. there's a channel tab but do you have to go through all those pages?

(I really am pretty dumb (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) )

Och - I'll work it out somehow... will let you know how I get on later with the learning part (IMG:style_emoticons/default/party1.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[rosfrog]

go to youtube, click on fiddle4u's channel and look for his version of saddle the pony

First I have to learn how to use youtube!! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif)

How do I find the channel.. there's a channel tab but do you have to go through all those pages?

(I really am pretty dumb (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) )

Och - I'll work it out somehow... will let you know how I get on later with the learning part (IMG:style_emoticons/default/party1.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

Hi Lottie! Once you're on youtube (you don't need to be a member, even - you can just go to the website) - just search for fiddle4u in the search box - at least one of his clips will appear. Then click on his name to go to his channel (rather than the video) and you'll find loads of tunes to learn there.

rosfrog--do you know the reel Eddie Moloney's Favourite? this reminds me rather a lot of that! unfortunately i didn't get very far with your jig, but i shall have a stab at this one today...

Hi river - no, I don't know that one. Do you have a good recording you can suggest so I can learn it? I'm all for learning new tunes!

The jig is gorgeous, but it's a bit finger trappy at times, especially if you want to roll some of the notes.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[river]

Hi river - no, I don't know that one. Do you have a good recording you can suggest so I can learn it? I'm all for learning new tunes!

if you have a copy of Altan's Harvest Storm, it's track 13 (second tune). i found a harp version on youtube, here--although harpers often tend to play slowly, it actually is played this slow, at least when i've heard it (although it sounds good a bit quicker, too).

(despite the title of that clip, as i noted in the comments, this is not the same tune as Dobbin's Flowerly Vale...)

[rosfrog]

Hi river - no, I don't know that one. Do you have a good recording you can suggest so I can learn it? I'm all for learning new tunes!

if you have a copy of Altan's Harvest Storm, it's track 13 (second tune). i found a harp version on youtube, here--although harpers often tend to play slowly, it actually is played this slow, at least when i've heard it (although it sounds good a bit quicker, too).

(despite the title of that clip, as i noted in the comments, this is not the same tune as Dobbin's Flowerly Vale...)

Excellent! I'll check it out (I love Altan - I don't play in a Northern fiddle style at all, but I love it - it's so aggressive and in your face !)

[river]

hmm, i'm not sure if i'm about to use up my 'quota' of tunes, but i can't resist posting this one ;-)

X:1
T:The Sloe
L:1/4
M:C|
K:Dmaj
| A \
| d>A d e | f>e d c | B A B/c/d/B/ | A F E D
| d>A d e | f>e d c | B A B c | d2 d :|
| A \
| (3B/c/B/ A F A | (3B/c/B/ A F d/d/ | d c/c/ c B/B/ | B A A d/d/
| c c e/e/ | e d d e | f e B c | d2 d :|

this is a very lively tune, but it's easy to kill it stone dead by playing it straight (which makes it one of those deceptively simple tunes...). it should be played not too slowly, but quite deliberately - almost like | d> A d/z/ e | f>e d/z/ c |. there's a few on youtube, but i think i like this one the most. if you can, listen to Spiers & Boden's version (it's on Bellow); Jon Boden does a spiccato-like thing in the B part that i've been trying to emulate (but so far, all i've managed is to give myself a sore arm.)

(for those who are new to ABC: d>A means the d is dotted and the A is half its normal length. z means a rest.)

on a different note (hah): what strings do people use for fiddling? i know many people use steel strings (Helicores seems popular), but my cheap fiddle is kind of brash already, and i think it might be unbearable with steel strings on. right now i'm using dominants, although i've just ordered a Pirastro No. 1 E to try...

[rosfrog]

hmm, i'm not sure if i'm about to use up my 'quota' of tunes, but i can't resist posting this one ;-)

X:1
T:The Sloe
L:1/4
M:C|
K:Dmaj
| A \
| d>A d e | f>e d c | B A B/c/d/B/ | A F E D
| d>A d e | f>e d c | B A B c | d2 d :|
| A \
| (3B/c/B/ A F A | (3B/c/B/ A F d/d/ | d c/c/ c B/B/ | B A A d/d/
| c c e/e/ | e d d e | f e B c | d2 d :|

this is a very lively tune, but it's easy to kill it stone dead by playing it straight (which makes it one of those deceptively simple tunes...). it should be played not too slowly, but quite deliberately - almost like | d> A d/z/ e | f>e d/z/ c |. there's a few on youtube, but i think i like this one the most. if you can, listen to Spiers & Boden's version (it's on Bellow); Jon Boden does a spiccato-like thing in the B part that i've been trying to emulate (but so far, all i've managed is to give myself a sore arm.)

(for those who are new to ABC: d>A means the d is dotted and the A is half its normal length. z means a rest.)

on a different note (hah): what strings do people use for fiddling? i know many people use steel strings (Helicores seems popular), but my cheap fiddle is kind of brash already, and i think it might be unbearable with steel strings on. right now i'm using dominants, although i've just ordered a Pirastro No. 1 E to try...

What a great tune (haven't got my fiddle to hand so I've had to sing it, but nonetheless...) - I'm looking forward to playing it later. I think it could be played as a hornpipe in an Irish dance setting, so I might try to sneak it into our session that way...

As for strings, I've used obligatos, olivs, dominants, infeld red, helicore and many others beside. The helicores are not at all brash sounding - they sound much more like synthetics than other metal strings and have a lovely quick response for rolls and such. They a lack a little in overtones, but at the speed you go when playing most trad stuff, it makes no difference.

If you want to hear them, I can send you an MP3 of a fiddle player friend of mine who uses them on an old French fiddle, which has a relatively brash voice too.

I'm currenly on wiener melange - but I'm seriously considering going back to the helicores - cheap, great sound and very responsive.

If you want to try them, river, I've got a set on an old Chinese fiddle somewhere that I'm not using - they're a bit used, but I can send them to you if you like. You'll get an idea.

[rosfrog]

Right, here's todays offering - Randall Bays (an American fiddler) plays some reels at a concert, accompanied on the bouzouki.

His intonation isn't perfect, but what style and such clever melodic variations.

Enjoy !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6xm_QgKyeY

[river]

well... this thread seems to have died a bit. here's a couple more tunes.

X:1
T:Sheriff's Ride
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:Emin
|: B/A/ \
| G E E F/G/ | A/G/ F E B | e e e f/e/ | d B B c |
| d d e/d/ d/c/ | d/c/ B A E | G A d/c/B/A/ | B E E :|
| B \
| e2 e f/e/ | d B B2 | e e/f/ g f/e/ | d/e/ d B> c
| d d e/d/d/c/ | d/c/ B A E | G A d/c/B/A/ | B E E :|

X:2
T:Dear Tobacco
M:2/2
L:1/4
K:Edor
|: B E E F | G/F/E/D/ F2 | B E E c | d c B A
| B E E F | G/F/E/D/ F2 | D> E D c | d c B A :|
|: B e e f | g/f/e/d/ e2 | B e e f | g e f d |
| B d d e | d/c/B/c/ d2 | F A A F | d c B A :|

(often played together around here.)

and a question: how do you play a highland?

[lottie]

Do people play fiddle music on the viola or does it just bounce along the bass line? I've never seen a viola play fiddle music (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

[river]

Do people play fiddle music on the viola or does it just bounce along the bass line?

i think it'd be challenging, because most trad tunes tend to be towards the higher end of the fiddle's range--the E string is used a lot more than the G string. i'm not a viola player, but i think that'd involve a lot of uncomfortable shifting ;-)

hmm, i suppose you could play it an octave lower instead...

[rosfrog]

I play the viola sometimes in our session if there's loads of fiddle players - I'll alternate between playing things an octave lower, playing cords and rhythm accompaniment and playing in the same octave as the fiddle and shifting up for the higher bits. It's great fun.

The problem you will have is that the viola has a kind of inbuilt inertia that makes it unsuitable for playing really fast reels with clean, precise ornamentation - but for things like jigs, hornpipes etc it's great and, you really can't beat it as a slow air instrument.

If you're playing alone, Lottie, play the tunes posted as if you were on the fiddle - they'll just sound a fifth lower, which isn't a problem unless you're in a session. If you want to focus purely on viola for a bit, practise octaving the second parts or shifting. Could be fun technique exercises.

Great tunes River ! I'm really enjoying getting some new tunes from non Irish and Scots sources - it's excellent!


Here's my tune for the day - something for the Scots music lovers - a thoroughly gorgeous strathspey :

X: 1
T: Marquis Of Huntley, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: strathspey
K: Gmin
F|D<G G>F D<G G>A|F>GA>B c/B/A/G/ F<A|D<G G>F D<G G>g|f>c e/d/B/A/ G2G:|
d|g>ab>g d>gb>g|a/g/f/d/ ~c>d f>c a<f|g>ab>g d>gb>g|b/a/g/f/ d>^f g/g/g ~g2|
g>ab>g a>^fg>d|f>c d<f A>Fc>A|D<G G>F D>GG<g|f>c d/c/B/A/ G2G||

To get it right, aim to make the uneven pairs really snap - think fi-ddle and flick the bow with your fingers to change notes. Listen to the battelfield band for a fantastic version.

Allan

[lottie]

Here's my tune for the day - something for the Scots music lovers - a thoroughly gorgeous strathspey :

X: 1
T: Marquis Of Huntley, The
M: 4/4
L: 1/8
R: strathspey
K: Gmin
F|D<G G>F D<G G>A|F>GA>B c/B/A/G/ F<A|D<G G>F D<G G>g|f>c e/d/B/A/ G2G:|
d|g>ab>g d>gb>g|a/g/f/d/ ~c>d f>c a<f|g>ab>g d>gb>g|b/a/g/f/ d>^f g/g/g ~g2|
g>ab>g a>^fg>d|f>c d<f A>Fc>A|D<G G>F D>GG<g|f>c d/c/B/A/ G2G||

To get it right, aim to make the uneven pairs really snap - think fi-ddle and flick the bow with your fingers to change notes. Listen to the battelfield band for a fantastic version.

Allan

Oh I love the Marquis of Huntly (but it is Huntly without an 'e' - Huntly is only 15 miles away from me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blush.gif) )

I've got it in my fiddle book... just can't read these charts yet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wacko.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Have any of you heard of the Scottish fiddler Paul Anderson?

[rosfrog]

Sorry! I shall remember to spell it correctly in future (I think with trad tunes it's especially important to get the names right...)

I know Paul Anderson's playing - very nice indeed.

[lottie]

Sorry! I shall remember to spell it correctly in future (I think with trad tunes it's especially important to get the names right...)

I know Paul Anderson's playing - very nice indeed.

Paul Anderson comes from a village near here (close to my parents) and I've seen him play quite a few times.. quite incredible on the slow airs as well as the 'hot stuff'! He's a lovely lad from a farming family and is very well known, a real 'community' supporter - he was 'composer-in-residence' at Huntly a few years back and wrote a lot of music about the town so I must see if I can look out the book. He's considered to be a very 'North East of Scotland' fiddler, lots of snaps and sharp bow-movements, very much like the local spoken accents of this part of Scotland... compared to the lilting softer sounds of the West Coast. He's just written some more tunes based on locations around here but I haven't heard them yet...

Just out of interest! But I do like his playing... and, by contrast, I love Catriona MacDonald too...