What's your new fiddle tune?

[crisscross]

"Year of Jubilo" probably started out as a Civil War song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUthYZSGnJY though today it's best known as a fiddle tune in d https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pArFx3b-Z8M
Sheet music and mando tabs http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/am..._of_jubilo.htm
Clawhammer banjo and bowlback

[JeffD]

Red Lick. OMG what a fun tune.

Here we go again.

[Jack Roberts]

I've been playing "Brightest Eyes Reel", page 66 of Ryan's.

[Jim Garber]

Re: Ora Lee:

I found the Phillips collection version. Same tune all right, slightly different, but not much. Attributed to James Bryan and Bon Carlin. Still, I like the way I play it, the way I learned it from our Ky fiddler, which is how the utube sounds.

What goes around (and around and around...) comes around. James Bryan is the fiddler on that youtube clip which is probably where your Ky fiddler learned it. Here's the playlist from that album. Bryan is one of may very favorite fiddlers and he has introduced some excellent tunes into the general repertoire, many of them from Alabama.

There are some excellent fiddlers on that CD. Also check out Farewell Trion with guitar by Norman Blake.

Source info from Fiddler's Companion:

ORA LEE. Old‑Time, Breakdown. G Major. GDad tuning. AABB (Kuntz): AA'BB (Phillips). The tune is played slower than the usual breakdown tempo. Source for notated version: James Bryan (Alabama) with Bob Carlin [Kuntz, Phillips]. Kuntz, Private Collection. Phillips (Traditional American Fiddle Tunes), vol. 2, 1995; pg. 97. Rounder 0197, Bob Carlin ‑ "Banging and Sawing" (1985. Source: Edward Winters).

BTW it is interesting that the tuning for fiddle is mentioned as GDad. I learned this in standard but will have to try it with the E string tuned down.

Here are the two notated versions from FC.

[Tobin]

BTW it is interesting that the tuning for fiddle is mentioned as GDad. I learned this in standard but will have to try it with the E string tuned down.

Considering that the tune only touches the high D in a couple of passing spots (not even long enough to make it worth using a unison drone), I'm not sure it's really going to matter. I've been playing it in standard tuning as well, on both the mandolin and fiddle, and it seems like a tune that is pretty much restricted to the D and A strings (though I use the low open G as a drone at the beginning).

I notice this on a lot of other fiddle tunes as well, especially ones from the Milliner-Koken collection. They'll show the tuning used by the original fiddler who was recorded, but in many cases it's not necessarily important to use that tuning if the tune doesn't make use of drones or unisons. But it's good info to have anyway, for preserving the history of who played the tune and what setup they were using.

[woodwizard]

Cattle in the Cane ...practice

[woodwizard]

North Shore ... a really cool tune, new for me ...here's my try at it

[Tobin]

I'm currently having a torrid love affair with Brushy Fork of John's Creek. Been hearing it on Pandora and got it stuck in my head. It has that same grooviness as Squirrel Hunters. I'm playing the Hiram Stamper version from the Milliner Koken collection, slightly modified as most people play it (i.e. not crooked).

Oh, and I'm also really intrigued by Bring Me My Hodi Cakes Back, which I heard played by Owen "Snake" Chapman on Pandora. I can only find one version of it on YouTube, and it's a pretty crude recording from a festival. Anybody got a source for sheet music or a decent recording of it?

[terzinator]

Old Grimes

Here's a YT vid, but he plays it a bit too fast for my liking.

[onassis]

OG is one that I've been doing a lot lately, learned off this vid. And yeah, that dude is playing it WAYYYY too fast for me.

[Sandy Beckler]

I've been working on "Wild Fiddler's Rag" while I am waiting for more suggestions...

Sandy

[woodwizard]

Old Grimes ... just came across this tune today

[FrDNicholas]

Is Old Grimes a traditional tune? I have been looking for the sheet music, but can't seem to find it. If it's not breaking any copyright laws, could someone lead me to the sheet music?

[JeffD]

I notice this on a lot of other fiddle tunes as well, especially ones from the Milliner-Koken collection. They'll show the tuning used by the original fiddler who was recorded, but in many cases it's not necessarily important to use that tuning if the tune doesn't make use of drones or unisons. But it's good info to have anyway, for preserving the history of who played the tune and what setup they were using.

I am starting to like trying the tune in the cross tuning mentioned, to "see what I am missing". Sometimes its not much directly, but because of what the unused strings are tuned to there is a different feeling to it.

So I have a handful of tunes I play in cross, but I play everything in standard tuning, regardless.

[woodwizard]

,
but I play everything in standard tuning, regardless.

Me too !

[Tobin]

Another fiddle tune that's become an ear worm from listening to Pandora is Over the Road to Maysville, played by John Hartford. It's not an easy tune to replicate on mandolin, since slurs can't really be slurred and long notes can't be held. But I've transposed it to notation/tab based on his fiddle version, and there's lots of leeway for adjusting it to the mandolin.

The John Hartford version from YouTube is below. There are a couple of mandolin versions on YT as well, but none that I felt captured it the same way as I'm hearing it. My notation/tab is attached as a PDF. I didn't show a lot of the slides I put in there when I play it, or much in the way of double-stops. But the gist is there. The second "draggy" part is a really good place to spruce it up with mandolin ornaments.

"JP and Annadeene Fraley says there wasn't no tobacco warehouse in Moorehead, so they had to haul the tobacco plumb to Maysville, Kentucky. But first you play this tune peppy and haul in the tobacco, and then you get paid off and you get real drunk and you come home and you play the tune draggy, and here we go..."

[Perry]

Another fiddle tune that's become an ear worm from listening to Pandora is Over the Road to Maysville, played by John Hartford. It's not an easy tune to replicate on mandolin, since slurs can't really be slurred and long notes can't be held. But I've transposed it to notation/tab based on his fiddle version, and there's lots of leeway for adjusting it to the mandolin.

The John Hartford version from YouTube is below. There are a couple of mandolin versions on YT as well, but none that I felt captured it the same way as I'm hearing it. My notation/tab is attached as a PDF. I didn't show a lot of the slides I put in there when I play it, or much in the way of double-stops. But the gist is there. The second "draggy" part is a really good place to spruce it up with mandolin ornaments.

"JP and Annadeene Fraley says there wasn't no tobacco warehouse in Moorehead, so they had to haul the tobacco plumb to Maysville, Kentucky. But first you play this tune peppy and haul in the tobacco, and then you get paid off and you get real drunk and you come home and you play the tune draggy, and here we go..."

Been working on Maysville myself albeit on guitar...at least for now...crooked as can be....
I hear an Am chord that could work nicely in the accompaniment....

[Jess L.]

Traditional tune (played somewhat nontraditionally I suppose, if my choice of instruments is any indication) called "The Month Of May" (or Merry Month Of May), this is me attempting a 3-track recording using an old Favilla flatback mandolin and a couple variants of GDAE guitar:


There's also mandolin tab, practice MIDI backing track, sheet music and chords for the basic tune at my other post here at the Cafe.

Over the Road to Maysville

Tobin: I'm going to have to learn that someday, it sounds great! Thanks for posting it.

[Tobin]

Oh, and I'm also really intrigued by Bring Me My Hodi Cakes Back, which I heard played by Owen "Snake" Chapman on Pandora. I can only find one version of it on YouTube, and it's a pretty crude recording from a festival. Anybody got a source for sheet music or a decent recording of it?

So I finally got around to transposing the YouTube version of Bring Me Back My Hodi Cakes by the Oxcart Ramblers, though I still titled it as a Snake Chapman tune. Since I can't find an online version of Snake playing it, I'll have to assume that the Oxcart Ramblers are playing it pretty true (???).

This is a really nice medium-tempo tune that has a wonderful old-time flow to it. It's so simple that it almost plays itself. It's technically a 3-part tune that seems to be played AA-BB-AA-BB-CC-BB. Or at least that's the most sense I could make of it (they don't play it in that exact order or exactly the same all the way through their festival version). And the C part is pretty much just the same as the A part, but an octave higher. Very, very simple.

Anyway, I've attached a PDF of the notation/tablature. For some reason, the little thumbnail makes it look black. It opens fine on my computer, but can someone else verify that it's readable when you open the PDF?

Here's the YouTube video of it. You'll get this one stuck in your head, guaranteed.

[Jess L.]

Anyway, I've attached a PDF of the notation/tablature. For some reason, the little thumbnail makes it look black. It opens fine on my computer, but can someone else verify that it's readable when you open the PDF?

The PDF works fine here, I opened it in a new tab in Chrome browser (had to download the PDF first though), looks good.

Great tune by the way, thank you!

Incidentally, for what it's worth, the downloaded PDF tests clean when scanned at VirusTotal.com. I used to be reluctant to open PDF files because of potential security issues - some introductory reading about PDF security at StackExchange Information Security - but nowadays I am perhaps somewhat less concerned due to running a variety of better local real-time security software and a somewhat more-hardened computer... although those should not be used as an excuse for overconfidence. Some of the clever modern malware authors are even targeting Mac - article at TheSafeMac . Although (from everything I've read over the years) the malware authors have to work a lot harder to affect UNIX-based systems (Mac, Linux etc), and such authors have to rely more on common user-error in clicking/accepting the wrong things. But I thought I'd mention this in case anyone else had similar concerns, looks like this particular PDF is safe.

[Denny Gies]

A Kenny Baker tune, Walkin' In My Sleep, in the key of G. It's a fun tune to play.

[Mike Snyder]

Saddle Old Kate and Blue Mule. Getting fit up for Winfield and needing the horsepower. Or mule power. Woodwizard, going? Any old-time pickers be sure to look us up at Shoo Goo camp. OT jam daily, always at 1300 (one o'clock) but we may bump it up to 10 am if it's hot out. Anyway we'll have flyers out on the backside of the grandstand. Good music any Old Time.

[Mike Snyder]

Thanks to Scott T. for letting me play your awesome Nuggett on Sunday. The Lawrence, Ks old-time crowd was very welcoming. Got to dust off Twin Sisters and a few old favorites. Falls of Richmond in two flavors and Cherry Blossom. A great day.

[Tobin]

Been working on Maysville myself albeit on guitar...at least for now...crooked as can be....
I hear an Am chord that could work nicely in the accompaniment....

JP Fraley's original recording did have an Am chord in the "B" part, and it gives it quite a different flavor than John Hartford's rendition. Personally, I like John Hartford's version better, as going back to the C chord keeps it more peppy. Horses for courses, though!

Great tune by the way, thank you!

Y'know, Hodi Cakes is a tune that needs to get more exposure. I can't believe it's not more common, as great a tune as it is.

I finally heard Snake Chapman's recording a couple more times, and I must correct myself on a previous comment I made about it. The YouTube video I posted is not playing it true to Snake's version. He plays it backwards from the way I notated it (i.e. my "B" part is his "A" part). He also doesn't have a low-octave and high-octave version of what I notated as the "A" and "C" parts. He just plays the high octave version. So Snake's version is more of a straight AABB fiddle tune. FWIW.

[Jack Roberts]

I've been working on singing and playing at the same time. I'm starting with "Marching Through Georgia", but it's not exactly what you'd think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flKG0-wYzFg