What's your new fiddle tune?

[Charles E.]

f-d, I have been playing this tune for years, great tune, but where do you play on the E string?

[fatt-dad]

fifth measure of the B part, I play c#, e, f#, e, c# (two notes to the beat). That's about how I recall it, bearing in mind I'm typing and not playing.

f-d

[Mike Black]

f-d, I have been playing this tune for years, great tune, but where do you play on the E string?

You play the open drone notes!

[Charles E.]

Well yea!

[walt33]

Cuckoo's Nest on the fiddle, at the moment.

[Charles E.]

fifth measure of the B part, I play c#, e, f#, e, c# (two notes to the beat). That's about how I recall it, bearing in mind I'm typing and not playing.

f-d

Well dang, after hearing the Todd Clewell cut I guess I have been playing the tune without those high notes at the end of the B part. I will have to amend that.

[Jim Nollman]

Almost nailed a new tune with the great name: Drunk at night/Dry in the morning. Learned it from a recording by Abby Newton. It has a strange meter, might be a slip jig. What is that: 9/8 time? Not hard at all to learn once you focus on the melody.

I'd include this tune in a short list of tunes I know which have verses comprised of the same few phrases, but arranged in different orders. This tune has about 6 unique phrases, which are arranged in different combinations within a verse structure of AABCB. Quite different from what we're all used to, which is AABB.

A more pronounced example of this same kind of phrase-based tune is Walsh's Hornpipe. I recently recorded it, and had great fun breaking the tune down into its building blocks of 6 or 8 phrases, then rearranging these phrases into every possible combination. That's a lot of variation when you get your two melody instruments playing different phrases together. Interesting thing is: No matter how you scramble this egg, the basic tune shines through. The key is keeping each phrase intact to the original, so what you get in the end bears no resemblance to an improvised jam.

[fatt-dad]

I've got Cumberland Gap stuck in my head. Step 1 to learning a new tune.

f-d

[Jim Nollman]

just for accuracies sake. I was incorrect about the meter of that tune Drunk at Night/Dry in the Morning. It's actually a waltz. When played with the usual waltz syncopation, the addition of the extra bars, makes it sound great. It's not an old tune, and I have also learned that there's a recorded version with lyrics, although i haven't yet found it. Worth a listen, if for no other reason for the number of bars contained in one verse.

One other thing. I am well aware that this, as well as some other tunes I have mentioned learning on this thread, are not old-time American. This thread title got my attention months ago, because it seems to be about learning and sharing fiddle tunes played on mandolin, no matter what their country of origin. Does anyone care?

[JeffD]

I sure don't.

[Mike Snyder]

I was thinking in very generic terms when I started this thread. The term "Fiddle tune" is pretty non-specific and lots of new tunes, actually, a great variety of tunes have been mentioned. The "tune of the week" thread has proven very sucessfull because of the videos, and has somewhat surpassed this thread (vastly) because of them. As a vehicle for learning tunes the concept works. Wish I'd thought of it. As it is, this thread has provided the titles of many great tunes which can then be researched on youtube.
Being exclusive of anything, or setting parameters never occured to me. Recently working on;
O'Keefes Slide
Boys of Blue Hill
Whiskey In The Jar
Rock the Cradle Joe/Waiting for Nancy, which pair very nicely. Keep 'em coming, folks.

[fatt-dad]

my jam mates like to pair "Sadie in the Backdoor" with "Waiting for Nancy," a tune I really don't care that much for (the latter). Too much on just the two high strings and I don't have the low part down yet (yeah, I guess I could practice). I like to pair "Sarah Armstrong's Tune" with "Sadie in the Backdoor." I think these two tunes line up perfectly.

f-d

[Mike Snyder]

Sadie is a cool tune that I've tried and failed to pick up from videos. I need to find someone "in the flesh" to learn it from.
Running the three together might be fun.

[Mike Black]

Mike, I can show it to you this September.

[AlanN]

'Nancy' got me thinking...Norman and Nancy off Sam Bush's Late As Usual. Great tune and great album.

[Jim Nollman]

Learning Mrs MacPherson of Gibton. Love the B part, with its double stop C/G falling down to a double stop Bb/F. I'll check out Sadie at the Back Door.

[fatt-dad]

Here's a video of me and my pancake playing "Sadie at the Back Door" and "Sarah Armstrong's Tune." I've learned them both by ear, but do play along at the local jams.

Enjoy!

http://s238.photobucket.com/albums/f...7-07at2023.mp4

f-d

[Mike Snyder]

Thanks fd, sometimes the easiest stuff just won't get in my ear. Goes well with Sarah Armstrong and the Wichita crowd plays that.
Can't wait for September, Mike. Thanks.

[Jim Nollman]

Minnie Foster's Hornpipe. Like some other hornpipes that get my full attention, this one shows definite hints of early ragtime. There's a great recording off it by Kevin Burke which is my own source for learning it by ear.

[fatt-dad]

I'm now stuck on, "Cumberland Gap." Nice tune for the key of "D"ulcimer.

f-d

[Mike Snyder]

"Pipe on the Hob" is tying me in knots, so I play
"Blue Eagle" for the pure joy of it.

[Rod Freeland]

Sadie is a cool tune that I've tried and failed to pick up from videos. I need to find someone "in the flesh" to learn it from.
Running the three together might be fun.

Mike Snyder,
Here's as close as you'll get to the definitive 'Sadie at the Back Door':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4ht2GEdzzA
It's Greg (fiddle) & Jere (guitar) playing Jere's tune, which he said his banjo taught him. Maybe not as good as 'in the flesh' but nearly. I fist heard Greg & Jere play this tune in maybe the early '80s, and it's still played around here in the SF Bay area all the time. Also, Old Yellow Dog does a nice version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IqyPOlqsxc

Rod Freeland, Berkeley

[Mike Snyder]

Thanks, Rod, much appreciated. There are a variety of ways that folks approach this tune. I like them all, but originality is so.....................original. I'll do my best to preserve this one in my little corner of the old-timey world.
The Dog was my first touchstone to this tune. The syncopation varies quite a bit.

[billkilpatrick]

"reesem pee dee dee" from "the mountain music project" video - it'll brighten your day:

[Mike Bunting]

I'm working on Big Bear, a Metis fiddle tune by John Arcand. It has a certain Monroe feel to it.