How Do You Intro A Song?

[Mandoplumb]

If I understand what you are saying potatoes are, I think it works great on fiddle tunes, but can easily be overdone on bluegrass songs, with vocals. Can be used but starts sounding the same if over used just my opinion.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Okay, I'll bite. Why is it called potatoes?

[Turlagh]

"Wrote a song about it."
"Like to hear it?"
"Here it goes!"

Calhoun Tubbs

[Mark Gunter]

If I understand what you are saying potatoes are, I think it works great on fiddle tunes, but can easily be overdone on bluegrass songs, with vocals. Can be used but starts sounding the same if over used just my opinion.

Not selling potatoes on this end, just answering the question Al asked. My first post in this thread, after a number of people told of many ways to open a song, was, "And for fiddle tunes, potatoes."

There is no one way to open songs. I've been playing music and singing songs all my life (not with mandolin), and I wouldn't dream of opening all songs the same way. What could be more boring? Why would anyone want to do that?

I don't know why they call it potatoes. In my mind, it's like passing a hot potato - you throw a bar or two of rhythm to the other players so they know the tempo. The term comes from "on back there" it's not a new term.

[Jack Roberts]

"Poe-tatoes,Poe-tatoes"
I use:
"Cheeze-burger,Cheeze-burger"

But normally we start with vocals, so we only say "And-a" and get started.

So this is how I introduce a song. I learned music when I was young listening to folkies on LPs. They would always tell a story about the song before they sang it. So I generally say a few words about who wrote the song, who has performed or recorded it, and maybe what I know about the history of the song. Since we sing a lot of gospel songs, we generally read a bible verse or a quotation by the song writer about the song.

For example:

"I'll Fly Away was written by Alfred E Brumley while he was picking cotton on his father's farm in the hot Oklahoma Summer of 1929. You might know it from the film "Oh Brother, Where Art Though", but it has been sung by many people, including Arethra Franklin in a tribute to Princess Diana" 'and-a (sings) One bright morning, when this life is over...'"

[foldedpath]

Okay, I'll bite. Why is it called potatoes?

I've always heard that it comes from the children's rhyme ""One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato, Four," which has a rhythm feel similar to the Georgia Shuffle played by that fiddler in the video example above.

I think it's more of an OldTime and Bluegrass tradition for fiddle tunes, not so much for Irish/Scottish trad, where a session or band leader might do a verbal count-in to start a tune set. For one thing, it doesn't work for jigs, slides, or anything else that isn't straight 4/4.

I heard an interesting variation on count-ins last week at a duo concert by Kevin Crawford and Cillian Vallely, the flute player and uilleann piper from the Lúnasa band. Kevin counted in most tune sets by saying "Three" and then starting the tune after a beat. It might have been to allow a quick breath before the downbeat, but it also leaves room for a pickup note before the first bar. Some fiddle/pipe tunes start like that. It's obvious how saying "Three" works for reels, but for jigs I think he was counting 3/4 superimposed over 6/8.

Anyway, it was a cool way to start sets by just saying "Three" and launching in, but I don't think I'd try it in a session or a band. Everyone would have to be on the same page, and knowing exactly what the tempo should be. These two guys have been playing together a long time, so it works for them.

Another thing about that concert -- it was a great demonstration of how to work an audience with a genre of music that doesn't have a lot of innate variation. Kevin is a great front man for a band, a very funny guy. He told stories about the tune origins, made fun of his partner (and vice-versa), talked about life on the road. Audience patter like that can work wonders in a "pure drop" traditional concert like this, which doesn't lend itself to much variation between sets. You can only do so many slow airs as an intro to a set of reels.

[Jack Roberts]

Okay, I'll bite. Why is it called potatoes?

I think potatoes comes from fiddle tunes, where it is used to count "one and a two and a (po-tato po-tato) or one long down bow, as short up and a short down then a long up and a short down and short up. This gives one full measure and starts again with a down bow. i.e. one quarter note, two eighth notes and repeated.

"Alligator alligator" is used for 8 eighth notes, "Alligator chomp chomp" is for 4 eighth notes followed by two quarter notes.

Using words makes keeping rhythm easier.