Gold Rush

[doublestop]

I am working on Gold Rush. Can someone give me an idea of the tempo of that song.

[mandofiddle]

LOL. Depends on who you play it with. I've played it slow and rip roaring fast. I'm not sure what the "original" tempo is for it though.

[bnjrpkr]

This is a great song that is often played too fast,in my opinion.

[jimini_pickit]

This inspired me to pick the tune a bit and try slowing/speeding and I settled on a comfortable speed...then I recorded it and posted it to the Mandolin Project under Miscellaneous Musings, if you want to check out MY opinion on how fast<g>!

Happy Pickin'
Jim

[MWM]

For a nice speed, listen to the Tony Rice Unit's version on "Unit of Measure" with Jimmy Gaudreau on mando. It's often played faster and occasionally slower. This version sounds about right to me. An overall great CD too.

[AlanN]

Yes, the Unit of Measure version is a good tempo for that tune, and Jimmy's playing is right on, in his style. The only thing is his mando sounds thin to me, could be the mix.

[GBG]

Not over 120.

[JDARTGOD]

Up to 120 bpm sounds right to me. You can get a good groove thing going with the right players at around 96 - 100 bpm.

[mingusb1]

Beware! #

Expert players (such as on "Unit of Measure") have a great knack for making really fast playing sound relaxed, even mellow. #

And the timing of Tony Rice's lead phrasings has always been a challenge for me to play along with (on rhythm).

But this is NOT to say don't do it!

Z

[KevinM]

Is that tune on the great Skip Gorman "Monroesque" album...hmmm....

[250sc]

JDARTGOD,

I agree with you about the importance of 'Groove'. You don't need blazing speed to create energy and sometimes the tempo can prevent creating a good 'pocket' for the song.

[Nathan Sanders]

Check with Byron Berline in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

Double Stop Fiddle Shop (http://www.doublestop.com/)

[jlb]

I think alot of folks play this one at speed-grass tempo because it is so easy to play, relatively speaking.

But the Monroe recordings (at least the ones I've heard) are moderate, and that I have humbly found to be the preferable tempo for this tune, especially given the 4 chord thrown in at the B part.

Again, in my humble opinion, if played too fast, there is too much blurring of the A and B part, and the subdelty of the 4 chord in the B part is almost entirely lost.

Just my 2 cents...play it as fast or slow as you want to make it sound!

[Vincent]

JLB- do you have any live recordings of the gold rush? I just know of the Country Music album and Mark OConners fiddle album...

[jlb]

All the recordings I've heard (by WSM) have been on cassette from a friends collection. I don't know if any of them are live. I'll try and contact my friend and see if I can't turn you on to a WSM recording.

[jlb]

Friend wasn't home, but I did find this online: http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=fm69jxz9fi&ean=790051155292


This is a Bill Monroe box set, and has an audio sample of Gold Rush. As you can see after hearing it, it is played by WSM at a moderate tempo (at least here) ... maybe even on the slower end of "moderate".

A search on the BN sight reminded me of recordings of this track that I have on several CDs, to include David Grier's "Freewheelin", Tony Rice's "Church Street Blues", and Dan Crary's "Guitar". Kinda funny how the flatpickers have caught on to this number. Like I said, I think it is relatively simple, so probably lends itself to alot of the fancy flatpickin hot-dog techniques.

But I don't think any of these recordings are over the top speed-wise, for what its worth.

But I'd certainly recommend checkin out that WSM audio sample to see what tempo "the man" played it at. Wonder if that's Byron Berline on fiddle?

[Givensman]

Moderate .... with feeling.

i have a new saying ive been using lately.... " comfortably fast" or ill say "pick it as fast as you comfortably can"

now i gotta go off a lil bit about something... this whole thing about playing fast....... BLUEGRASS people, it has ALOT to do with up tempo... you cant really argue that up tempo songs arent a HUGE part of bluegrass... and all this fiddle tune playing stuff, some of it doesnt sound like bluegrass to me, but anyways listen to bill monroe... most of the time i hear people gripe about fast playing, the person griping cant hang with the speed, playing fast is fun, and if you do it right it sounds good.. and yeah the whole point is to make it sound relaxed, SOMETIMES, however from time to time it is great to burn one down with ferocity and emotion... that tony rice unit gold rush is right on to me. dont ask me to play soldiers joy slow, or ill drool on my mando! some tunes need to be fast, or even want it. playing fast tastefully is where it is genuinly at... im not sayin play everything fast, im just sayin when you do... etc... when you talk about your pocket... that pocket is also based on your own and fellow pickers limitations.... wether it be pikers who cant play slow, or ones who cant play fast, as the late great john hartford once said "style is based on limitation" i have a personal guideline i follow with speed, if it gets faster than someone might be able to groove to, tap a toe, clog, square dance you get the idea, its too fast... and that is pretty damn fast... im a huge fan of the johnson mtn boys but some songs are that fast! like two dollar bill on the old school house.. that is a bad ### tune, but at a show, thats too fast.... my band blazes through that number too, but a notch below what JMB do. also alot of people cant play blazin fast because of bad technique, especialy guitar pickers, i play guitar and can burn it up and be totaly relaxed (practiced alot!) i watch some of my guitar playin friends whose fret board skills dwarf mine, but their right hand technique is trash! keep your hand closed darn it (im always preachin that) either way, what i want to end this rant with is ......... speed of tunes has (obviously) been an issue with some of the pickers ive been playing with, and when you learn a tune, dont learn it super slow, and dont try to learn it fast, learn it right in the middle. i learn most tunes up to speed, but more complex tunes just a touch slower. either way gold rush is a great tune. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[jbrwky]

Just as a point of reference the various versions in my Tefview files are between 220-240 bpm. Ironically, the advanced version is at 220 while the intermediate version is set at 230.

[GBG]

220-240 translates to 110-120 the way I use a metronome.

[Peter Hackman]

Friend wasn't home, but I did find this online: http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?userid=fm69jxz9fi&ean=790051155292




But I'd certainly recommend checkin out that WSM audio sample to see what tempo "the man" played it at. Wonder if that's Byron Berline on fiddle?
WSM recorded this number with Roaldn White on guitar,
James Monroe on bass, and
Byron Berline on violin, on August 23, 1967,
I believe (could check it in N Rosenberg's discography).
(I forget who played the banjo, maybe Vic Jordan).
Neil notes that this session was the only time Monroe recorded
in August. The same session produced Virginia Darlin'
and Sally Goodin. Evidently Monroe was anxious to have
Berline's fiddling on record.

I find this performance a bit static, or even mechanical.
The tempo is perfect, however,
and I advice anyone tackling the
piece to choose a moderate tempo leaving room
for lots of trills and triplets and other ornamentations.

[Mark in Nevada City]

I worked up a slow version from a Dan Crary album many years ago that I thought sounded cool. I showed it to my Dad once (ok, ok he is a banjo player) and he said it sounded a lot like gold rush only slow.:p

I play it pretty fast now, most people do, but I still like a slower version when pickin on the couch.

[Stanley Cox]

I have a video of "California" doing "Gold Rush"
on the American Music Shop and it metrones out at
120 bpm. (Remember the good ol TNN days?)
Stanley