What's your new fiddle tune?

[soliver]

They newby group is working on "Over the Waterfall" as the August tune of the month... Really liking that one!!

[terzinator]

Not exactly a fiddle tune but I'm trying to learn Rebecca by Herschel.

I got guff for calling it a fiddle tune this weekend. I'll never do that again!

Getting reacquainted with an album called "Instrumental Bluegrass - Mandolin," which has selections by Thile, Bibey, Steffey and others. So many good tunes on that recording, I don't know where to start.

Durang's Hornpipe? Bittersweet Reel? Stumptowne?

Ahdunno.

https://www.amazon.com/Instrumental-.../dp/B0090H0Z8Q

[woodwizard]

Having some fun tonight learning a Joe Thrift fiddle tune "Whiteface". A great Em tune.
Played on my 1922 F2... There might be a couple of light beeps from my phone during the recording ... oops sorry bout that.

[Jack Roberts]

I'm on "Jenny Lind Polka"--from the 1840s, but there is an historic recording from the 1930s on the Library of Congress website:

https://www.loc.gov/item/afccc.a4222b2/

This version only has two parts, but I've found written music for up to 4 parts in various keys. Some of the transcribed versions have obvious errors, so I'm going to mix and match what I've found on the web to come up with 4 part tune with a couple of key changes for mandolin.

[Jim Nollman]

Just returned from the Centralia WA Old Time campout where my eyes were opened to a new and vast library of old time tunes. Some of the tunes I'm just starting to learn to play properly on mandolin (with my wife on banjo) include Road to Malvern, Free State Hornpipe, Maggots in the Sheep hide, New Five Cents, Cowhide Boots, and Moon Behind the Hills.

[JeffD]

Just returned from the Centralia WA Old Time campout where my eyes were opened to a new and vast library of old time tunes..

That looks like a really fun festival.

[Jim Nollman]

It's a great festival. Basically, 300 accomplished players from all over the country. No stage except to accommodate the nightly contra and/or square dances...just a lot of young to old players wandering around the large improvised campground on the Skookumchuck River, asking to join the ongoing jams in session. Most of the music was old time, and I especially liked playing the weirdest modes (E9 anyone?) and time signatures that reminded me of Frank Zappa. What were those old time fiddlers drinking, anyway? I also played some Texas Swing with a singer wearing a big cowboy hat, also Celtic tunes of every possible flavor (jig, reel, strathspey, hornpipe, waltz) , and one morning I got to stretch out playing bass lines on mandolin for a small group playing gypsy jazz.

The jams ran the spectrum. Some were private affairs, often unison duets with a fiddler and banjo closely facing one another. Other sessions were so obviously open and yet so sublimley balanced that they turned into veritable orchestras with 10 or more fiddles, 10 banjos, several guitars...but never with more than just a few mandolins. When so many open-tuned fiddlers get that old time pulse going on a breakdown, the sensation reminded me more of European trance music than anything I've ever played at a contra dance.

I quickly learned that some of the purists really don't want to play with mandolins, unless the player adhered precisely to three note chords strummed on the beat. I was also surprised to notice that besides the many many accomplished fiddlers, banjo players and guitar players on hand, there were relatively few devoted mandolin players, unless you count all the fiddlers who brought mandolins along, but never cracked the case. Half of the people lugging mandolins were beginners who, notably, struggled to cross-pick accurately at speed. It was a friendly event, and these beginners were mostly welcome wherever mandolins were welcome.

One memorable night I played for many hours with a fantastic banjo player, 2 master fiddlers with bottomless repertoires, a guitar player who focused entirely on walking lines, and another mandolin player who picked a 1984 Gibson A with F holes. While he favored a double-time jingle-jangle technique based on 3 and 4 note chord inversions, I stayed true to single line and double-stop accompaniment. Everything that night was played in A major, and truly, I mean 30 or more tunes in a row. Yet I haven't explored so many different modes since I got hooked on Indian ragas back in the 1970s.

Of the mandolins themselves, the majority were various Gibson teen A styles, with a lesser smattering of teen F4s and F2s. There was one guy who carried around 4 Gibson A's, each pre-tuned to a different mode.

I met only two other people playing hand-made mandolins besides myself. One was a guy with a gorgeous F5 made by Will Kimble, the other had an instrument by Paul Lestock from Oregon.

I brought my (new to me) Bob Altman two point, and I was elated to discover that its bubbly dry tone cut through any jam, no matter the size, the instrumentation, or the volume. The instrument's sweet spot always let me be heard while playing at normal volume.

[Dave Reiner]

Fur Trader's Reel, as recorded by (Canadian) Reg Bouvette. You can find it on iTunes and there's a version on YouTube also. Nice chords, getting to an F chord by two different routes!
A part: G F G D/G
B part: Bb F Bb F7 Bb

Dave

[terzinator]

Fur Trader's Reel, as recorded by (Canadian) Reg Bouvette. You can find it on iTunes and there's a version on YouTube also. Nice chords, getting to an F chord by two different routes!
A part: G F G D/G
B part: Bb F Bb F7 Bb

Dave

Hey, that's a cool one.

And, wow, nice collection of instruments.

[Jim Nollman]

With my newly acquired knowledge about accentuating the unique push of old time, I seem to find myself focused on learning a few tunes by ear that are a bit more difficult than my usual.

Rocky Pallet is a beautiful tune and I recommend it highly to anyone ready for a fingering challenge. The B part has taken some extra listening because it fluctuates into 3 different directions as it develops. Translating the lines from the usual fiddle to the unusual mandolin is a lot of fun because, really, how do you best translate an old time fiddles rolling pulse into single lines built on dry and woody notes? I'm not sure I'll ever be able to play it at dance speed.

Just as challenging is Pete's High D, a modern composition by the fiddler in Uncle Henry's string band. The difficulty here is that the melody extends from the low A on the g string all the way up to the high D on the E string. This works fine on fiddle, but translating it to mandolin, I find that it sounds more cohesive if, occasionally, I play some of the high and low phrasing at different octaves than the fiddler has chosen. The other "problem", is that it is a crooked tune, which actually sounds quite complete. However, I have decided to make one small change to extend the b part from 14 bars to 16 bars to make it work at a contra dance. I have emailed the composer to ask his permission, always the proper courtesy.

The third tune is easy and very noble sounding. To my ears it sounds like a Scottish March, that might by rendered by bagpipes. But how do you explain the title? The name of the tune is Maggots in the Sheep Hide. Highly recommended.

[Eddie Sheehy]

Finally tackling The Cuckoo's Nest...

[Jim Garber]

Been playing "Belle of Lexington" based on Emmett Lundy's fiddle version. I have been playing on both instruments but mandolin is a bit more fun. A great bouncy and notey tune.

Belle of Lexington

Also, Jimmy in the Swamp, a Missouri tune as played on fiddle by Bob Walters:

Jimmy in the Swamp

[Eddie Sheehy]

Finally tackling The Cuckoo's Nest...

Looks like I already tackled this a few years ago and forgot it...

[Jack Roberts]

I found a fun tune: "The Fantastic Hornpipe." I can't find a video or recording of it, but it is out there on the Traditional Tune Archive and here:

http://abcnotation.com/tunePage?a=tr...e/Sets/EF/0027

It is a fantastic mandolin tune.

[Jim Nollman]

Jim Garber, Listening to your recording of Jimmy in the Swamp makes me wonder if it was composed and/or recorded in the late 1920s. I ask that, because the tune reminds me so much of the traditional jazz of that same period. I can almost hear Bix Beiderbecke playing along.

[Jim Garber]

Jim: As far as I know it is a traditional tune from Missouri played by a Bob Walters. Who knows? Whoever composed it might have heard Bix play something like it.

[terzinator]

Not sure why I'm posting this... archives, maybe? Mess with the search functionality? Ahdunno.

Anyway, here's a list of all the fiddle tunes I've learned in the 6+ years I've been playing mandolin. It's possible I've forgotten a few, but I think it's fairly complete. If I ever get my act together, I'd like to post some very basic videos on these melodies. (I have a whole storage unit of junk I keep saying I'm going to put on ebay, too, but have I even started doing that? Nope.)

Angeline The Baker
Arkansas Traveler
Banish Misfortune
Beaumont Rag
Big Mon
Big Sandy River
Big Sciota
Bill Cheatum
Billy in the Lowground
Blackberry Blossom
Bright Days
Brilliancy
Cattle in the Cane
Cherokee Shuffle
Clinch Mountain Backstep
Cluck Old Hen
Cripple Creek
Cuckoo's Nest
Daley’s Reel
Devil's Dream
Dixie Hoedown
East Tennessee Blues
Elzic's Farewell
Fisher's Hornpipe
Flowers of Edinburgh
Forked Deer
Fred Digs Up A Hornet’s Nest
Girl I Left Behind Me
Goodbye Liza Jane
Itzbin Reel
Jerusalem Ridge
June Apple
Kentucky Mandolin
Kitchen Girl
Liberty
Lonesome Fiddle Blues
Monroe’s Hornpipe
My Father’s Footsteps
Oklahoma Redbird
Old Joe Clark
Old Daingerfield
Old Grimes
Over the Waterfall
Rebecca
Red-Haired Boy
Rickett’s Hornpipe
Rights of Man
Sally Gooden
Salt Creek
Ship in the Clouds
Shove that Pig's Foot a Little Further into the Fire
Soldier's Joy
Southern Flavor
St Anne's Reel
Swinging on a Gate
Temperance Reel
Texas Gales
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Winder Slide

[Tobin]

Just as challenging is Pete's High D, a modern composition by the fiddler in Uncle Henry's string band. The difficulty here is that the melody extends from the low A on the g string all the way up to the high D on the E string. This works fine on fiddle, but translating it to mandolin, I find that it sounds more cohesive if, occasionally, I play some of the high and low phrasing at different octaves than the fiddler has chosen. The other "problem", is that it is a crooked tune, which actually sounds quite complete. However, I have decided to make one small change to extend the b part from 14 bars to 16 bars to make it work at a contra dance. I have emailed the composer to ask his permission, always the proper courtesy.

Wow, coincidence! I've been working on that tune as well, albeit on the fiddle and not the mandolin. I find it very challenging, but I love the way they play that tune. I'll get there one day. Right now, when I play the high D it sounds more like someone squeaking the air out of a balloon.

Aside from that and a few others, I've mainly been working on tunes in A, focusing on sawmill tuning (AEAE) on one of my fiddles. I've spent so long playing standard tuning on the mandolin, I need to work on making sawmill feel natural so I don't get confused when I switch from a high part to a low part. Plus, I'm still trying to make the standard shuffle (Nashville shuffle or Georgia shuffle, depending on one's personal taxonomic choice) feel natural. So tunes like Sugar in the Gourd are seeing a lot of play time for me lately.

[Mark Wilson]

Anyway, here's a list of all the fiddle tunes I've learned in the 6+ years I've been playing mandolin.

I've learned about 30 fiddle tunes since I started and they're all on this list but Gold Rush and maybe Turkey in the Straw. which is your favorite?

[terzinator]

which is your favorite?

Whichever one I've just learned!

Actually, I love 'em all, for the most part, but three that I always enjoy playing are Flowers of Edinburgh, Pig's Foot, and Forked Deer.

[tmsweeney]

Just learned Flower's of Edinburgh at my fiddle player's request, funny how tunes show in multiple places.

[Jack Roberts]

I'm working on "Elk's Festival Hornpipe" this week. It's a fun tune to play.

[Mark Wilson]

Forked Deer.

Cool tune. I like the B part a lot. The A part is a finger buster (for me) ala Blackberry Blossom

[MediumMando5722]

I'm working on "Jerusalem Ridge" and "New Camptown Races."

[stringalong]

I just learned Mace Bell's Civil War March. Mike, you've listed some great tunes. I don't know "Squirrel Heads in Gravy." Must give it a try! Friends have chosen Sal's Got Mud Between Her Toes as our next tune that we'll jam on at the end of this month. I also like Paddy on the Handcar. There are several different tunes with that name, and I don't think the version I play is on YouTube. Not sure, though. It's in G and plays up the neck a ways. It took years to learn it ONLY because I was fingering it in the open position. Can we post links at the Mandolin Cafe?

I'm making a concerted effot to ramp up the old learning curve. These are getting cleaner by the day. What have you been working on?
Cherokee Shuffle
Big Scioty
Barlow Knife
June Apple
Nail that Catfish to a Tree
Sal's Got Mud between Her Toes
Squirrel Heads in Gravy (still kinda rough)
A couple of those make me hungry.