Fiddle tunes that sound great slow

[Mark Miller]

I mentioned on the fiddle tune thread that I'm trying to get my picking cleaner, which means being happy going slow. Some fiddle tunes just need to be played at least at 200-210 bpm, which is more or less dance tempo as I understand it. It takes me a lot of work to get a tune up to that speed. I enjoy that, but it's also nice to be able to let a tune settle in somewhere in the 150-180 range, which is where I'm really comfortable. Any suggestions for fiddle tunes that sound great at that speed? Thanks in advance!

[Eddie Sheehy]

They all sound great at that speed. Fast speed reels are for dancing to.

[terzinator]

Banish Misfortune and Flowers of Edinburgh are great when slowed down a bit. There are cool little triplets and trills and whatnot in there, and you lose all that if you speed them up too much.

[Charles E.]

Going down that Georgia Road

Winder Slide

Lazy John

Sal's got mud between her toe's

These should be played slow IMO

[yankees1]

I prefer most fiddle tunes slower than the fast speed that many play these tunes. To me they just sound better ! Exception is Orange Blossom Special !

[Manfred Hacker]

St. Anne's Reel is such a nice melody and sounds really pretty at about 165-180.
Another one that is usually played way too fast is Gold Rush. Even the pros mention that on the Jam DVD I have with Steffey and Tim Stafford.
What drives me crazy is when people want to race just about every tune but are not able to play cleanly and in time.
Ok, full disclosure. I am not able to play St. Anne's Reel at 230 - unless I leave out half of the eighth notes.

[bigskygirl]

St. Annes Reel is nice at a slower tempo, I like Red Wing around 190-200 depending on how notey it is.

[JeffD]

Packie Manus Byrne, an amazing Donegal whistle player, advised these speeds for various traditional Irish tunes.

[Jess L.]

They all sound great at that speed. ...

Agree.

An example... I just discovered this video today, it's not super-fast but has a nice rhythm:


(direct link)

[Tobin]

You're headed in the right direction, but I think the wrong question has been asked here. Rather than, "which fiddle tunes sound great slowed down?", the better question is, "how do I make any fiddle tune sound great when slowed down?"

A lot of fiddle tunes sound really cool when played at full speed. But there's no reason that slowing them down to comfortable playing speed, especially while learning, can't sound just as good ...or even better. Your playing style and techniques will need to adjust for tempo to give the tune exactly what it needs at that speed. What does the tune need at a slower speed? Well, that's up to you.

At slower speeds, there's more opportunity to use double-stops that you may not be able to execute at faster speeds. There's perhaps more room for slides, tremolo, trills, maybe a little bit of off-the-beat playing, using more of a swing-style picking rhythm, or some syncopation. Pick a portion of a phrase to play some staccato notes for emphasis, instead of playing everything the same. Don't treat a fiddle tune like a recipe that must be followed exactly. Make it yours; own it. When you put your own personal accent in it, it will sound good at whatever tempo you choose.

Take a tune, any tune. One that I think makes an easy example is Booth Shot Lincoln. This one sounds great when played fast (220bpm or more), sticking pretty much to the melody and using very little ornamentation. Then take it and slow it down to 160-180 bpm, giving it more feeling. There's a lot of room for double-stops there, perhaps some arpeggios.

Another trick to use on a tune like this is to use a different chord progression. Yes, a lot of fiddle tunes have room for interpretation on the chords. Booth Shot Lincoln is one that works great with a standard I-IV-V progression at fast speed, but when slowed down, it develops more feeling with some of the IV chords replaced with vi chords. For obvious reasons, this is a lot more relevant when someone else is playing backup with you. But you can still imply the different chords into your melody by using double stops at appropriate places. It makes a world of difference in the feel of the tune.

[Zach Wilson]

Cold Frosty Morning is a good one.

[samlyman]

Tobin's post is dead-on. Any fiddle tune can sound good slow. You must consider what makes a tune sound good slow vs medium tempo vs fast. I sometimes wind up in jams where people play fiddle tunes painfully slow. I would much rather move on to a better jam but sometimes accept the challenge of making the best of the situation by adding lots of double-stops, tremolo, triplets and extremely fast runs.

[Jim Garber]

Three favorites these days: Ora Lee, Coleman's March and Rose of the Mountain

[Tobin]

Jim, is that Wild Rose of the Mountain, the JP Fraley tune? Or a different tune? I think there's one called Rose In the Mountain too.

[Jim Garber]

Jim, is that Wild Rose of the Mountain, the JP Fraley tune? Or a different tune? I think there's one called Rose In the Mountain too.

The Wild Mountain tune is also a good one to play moderately. That is sourced to JP Fraley and the Rose in the Mountain to John Salyer, both of whom were fiddlers in Kentucky. Here is the one I mentioned played by a group of folks who are used to breakneck speed tunes. Even they don't play it fast tho Salyer actually played it somewhat faster.

[Mark Miller]

Wow these are really great tunes. Thanks everybody. I learned the A part of Flowers of Edinburgh today. Beautiful.

[vernob]

Over the Waterfall. A slower tempo makes it down the gurgling creek!

[WW52]

I particularly like Tom Berghan's beautiful version of Big Scioty (Sciota) on tenor banjo or mandolin.

[WW52]

Red Praire Dawn is nice, too.

[Pick&Grin]

Coleman's March is a great one.

Here's a version and lesson from one of my favorite mandolin teachers, Baron, at MandoLessons.com.


Here's another very nice slow version on a 10-string.

[Mark Miller]

Well this should keep me busy for the next year or so! I started to "learn" a bunch of these. But I kept hearing variations on the melody of Whiskey Before Breakfast in my head, so right now I'm going back to that one, nailing down several different versions. No wild Sam Bush-y jazzy improvisational flights, just modest variations that will allow me to play the tune for longer than two minutes without driving everyone in the house crazy. Then it'll be on to Flowers of Edinburgh, or Coleman's March, or ...

This is turning into a great thread just for listening as well. Thanks guys!

[AlanN]

Dis one, heah

[fatt-dad]

The Falls of Richmond. Regarding all the wonderful Celtic/Irish tunes, which I agree are fine in slow mode, are these, "Fiddle Tunes?" Not to be a pedant that is. . .

f-d

[pops1]

There are a lot of tunes I like to play slower, most of the people I play with also play for dances, as do I and the dancers would not appreciate anything slow except a waltz. The speed is necessary for dancing, but I tell folks at jams we're not dancing here let's slow it down, but it's hard to keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Parrie'

Ain't got no honey baby now, Roscoe, Seneca square dance, to name a few, but there are some that beg for the downhill side of the slope.

[crisscross]

I once tried a jazzy arrangement of Turkey in the Straw played at a slower swing tempo