Bluegrass your Fiddle Part 1 This is intended to be an occasional series of articles about the sort of techniques, licks and attitudes that that make fiddling sound sound right for bluegrass. bluegrass. I should state right here that my own tastes extend fairly widely, but centre round the 'classic' 40s - 0s sound of !layers like "hubby #ise, Tommy Tommy $ackson, %ordon Terry, '"urly' &ay "line, $oe eadows, and &al!h ayo. Today this style is still !layed by 'traditional' !layers such as (rt )tam!er, who came o*er here with &al!h )tanley a few years ago. In this issue I'll talk about some licks +musical !hrases in the key of % that are ty!ical bluegrass fiddle. % as a key feels a bit less 'old-timey' than ( or or , but is !o!ular with bano-!layers and is right for many songs, and there are some sounds a*ailable which are central to the bluegrass sound. /or the exam!les in the attached table I'm using standard musical notation see 123 for a brief ex!lanation - if you need more instruction in reading 'the dots', I suggest you *isit a library or music-sho!. ost of the notes in the exam!les are !layed in 'first !osition' +left hand at the far end of the neck. y the way, I won't talk much about bowing here - all the licks can be !layed 'saw-stroke', each note !layed with a se!arate right-hand mo*ement, although as you get faster you may well find a smoother bowing style comes naturally.
5erha!s here is the time to set out an axe I grind e*ery now and then in worksho!s - and this a!!lies to all instruments, not ust the fiddle6 the end is more im!ortant than the beginning7 ( break is usually much more exciting if it goes out on a high than if it starts on a high and then goes downhill so let's start with some endings6 183 is a ty!ical last-two-bars of a four-bar tune like the first half of "ri!!le "reek. The last bar is the one I found the hardest to do when I learned it the awkward bit is the need to kee! the bow crossing from the ( to the string, which I found really difficult to !lay u! to s!eed, e*en using 'saw-stroke'. In the end I found I ust eased into it +after a long time by relaxing my right arm and using a sort of flick of the wrist. 193 is an alternati*e alternati*e set of notes for the same !osition !osition in the music, which +in ty!ical bluegrass-fiddler attitude a!es bluegrass bano-rolls by re!eating a grou! of three notes +in the first bar. ess around and in*ent some licks of your own which fit this !art of "ri!!le "reek.
143 is a fairly standard last line of a sixteen-bar !attern such as '&oll in my sweet baby's arms'. It's actually taken from the !laying of $oe eadows on the )tanley others' )tarday recording of ':ighway of &egret'. 1;3 is a hotted u! last line which somehow can't !ut on the brakes quick enough and s!ills o*er into the next bar. 3 are short re!eated !hrases which you can !ut into any bar of % - in backing u! a singer for instance, where there's a ga! in the song-words
Two strings Bast time I set out some ty!ical bluegrass fiddle licks in %. This issue I'll try to co*er some of the exciting bluegrass sounds that are not s!ecific to any one key. uch of what makes bluegrass fiddle so different is the !laying of two strings at once - and this is often what intrigues aCC or classical !layers or !eo!le following other traditional styles. Dne common de*ice is to !lay the same note on two strings6 one o!en and the other at what +as a !erson who !lays mandolin as well as fiddle I think of as the >th fret. (s a fiddler you'd !robably !lay this sto!!ed note mainly with your little finger. Db*iously you can only do this for the notes , (, and =, but these are common enough in the standard bluegrass keys6 for exam!le in , you could use +o!en -string !lus on %string and ( +o!en (-string !lus ( on -string, as these are the first and fifth notesE in the scale, and are the !rimary notes in a chord. #ith a little
ingenuity, you can use = +o!en =-string !lus = on ( in a " chord +as the 'third' note, and +as abo*e to gi*e fla*our in an = chord as an extra-!owerful se*enth note, !erha!s in a bluesy number. %enerally s!eaking, you can use this double-string idea anywhere you choose in a break or tune it ust adds a bit of fla*our and em!hasis. 3 for exam!les6 18.;3 is a !ossible first three lines of a break for '&oll in my sweet baby's arms' in % +see 18.23 abo*e for the last line 18.3 is a 'turn-around 2 intro in /, based on $oe eadows' !laying on the )tanleys' 'That ha!!y night' 18.>3 is an intro in used by &oy &ussell, who !layed with $im =anes, showing an imaginati*e use of the o!en % string - I'm grateful to ob #inquist for showing me this one. I'm often asked about left hand fingering of these double-sto!s6 there isn't really a rule, but as a guide-line you need to be !re!ared to mo*e your left hand u! the neck, using for 'thirds' mainly index and ring fingers and for 'sixths' mainly middle and ring-fingers, although in some cases you ma y !refer to change try this +in "6 using the to! two strings, !lay the
sequence "G= +middle H o!en string -G/ +ring H index-fingers - =G% +little H middle-fingers. ')tretched' fingering may be useful at times6 +on the ( G = strings again G% +middle G index-fingers to G/ +again middle G indexfingers. ( usage which I feel is likely to be mainly bluegrass in character is the use of the left thumb to !lay, for exam!le, % on the %-stnng with =-on-the-string6 it's a laCy habit, !robably introduced by some guitarist7 These 'third' and 'sixth' inter*als are the nuts-and-bolts of !laying twin-fiddles in triad style, where usually one fiddle !lays the tune, and the other fiddle the two harmony !arts I'll be co*ering twin-fiddles in a future issue. I'll also co*er double-sto!s such as the 'Drange-lossom )!ecial' lick in a section all about bluegrass styles of bowing.
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Tunes for eginners :ere are a cou!le of tunes for beginners. =ach in its basic form - which still sounds distinctly (!!alachian - can be !layed with ust two left hand fingers7 /irst, I assume that you'*e got the fiddle in tune this is not as easy as with the other bluegrass instruments6 the fiddle has no frets, so you can't check one string against another as you can on the guitar, bano or mandolin, and the main bit of tuning is done with !egs that work by friction - not nice geared ones7 )o if you are ha*ing difficulty with tuning don't get disheartened - you may need to get assistance from another !layer or teacher for rather longer than with the other instruments. ( !itch-!i!e may hel!, or an electronic tuner - but do try to kee! using your ear, as you'll need it all the time you !lay the fiddle. It's also fairly im!ortant to know the notes the strings are tuned to - %, , ( and = - that is unless you're going to learn by teaching yourself without reference to any other !layers, books etc.. )o let's look at 19.23 - '"luck Dld :en'. This is a classic mountain tune with a lot of character, and is !articularly suited to the fiddle which of all the bluegrass instruments makes the best 'chicken' noises7 It's in the key of '(' which, as you de*elo! the tune, will enable you to get lots of extra drone notes by using the o!en ( and = strings whene*er you can, in addition to the tune notes. The tune has the usual dance-tune structure of two !arts +usually called the ' (' !art and the '' !art, although this does not refer to the keys they are !layed in it is shorter than the a*erage tune in ha*ing only 4 bars to each !art. =ach !art gets re!eated, so a 'once-through-the-tune' consists of 2 bars the '(' !art twice then the '' !art twice. Try an intro first of all, using these two strings - ( G =6 use the 'Aash*ille )huffle' - a long bow-stroke downwards and then two short ones u! and down6 then re!eat in re*erse - long u!-stroke and short down and u!. The rhythm i s 'dah-didi-dah-di-di. If you'*e listened to any bluegrass or old-timey music at all I'm sure you'*e come across this rhythm6 it's also the standard frailing !attern on the bano, and the kind of rhythm made by what (!!alachian doggers call 'singles'.
not quite one or the other that's DF by me - it all adds to the 'wild' feel. (s I said, it's u! to you to use your ear and decide if you don't like it, change it. There are some words, if you're !laying in an old-timey or more rootsy bluegrass situation6 'y old hen's a good old hen, she lays eggs for the railroad men, )ometimes eight, sometimes ten, that's enough for the railroad men.' If you !lay around sessions a lot you'll !ick u! more, or you can make u! some for yourself - this isn't an exercise in guarding sacred ancient knowledge, it's being !art of a li*ing tradition7 19.83 is ' (ngeline the aker' and this is in . Bike many '' tunes it has a rather sweeter feel than the '(' tunes like '"luck Dld :en' or 'Dld $oe "lark'. It has the more usual length of 98 bars +each !art being ? bars, but it has an unusual chord !attern in that while most '' tunes feature '(' as the other !rinci!al chord, (ngeline uses '%', which gi*es it it's own s!ecial feel.
brilliantly, but not being able to make u! your own break for a song, howe*er sim!le or familiar it is. Aote6 /or '"luck Dld :en' I'm trying out a *ersion of fiddle tablature - I'd be grateful for some feedback if anyone finds it of use. =ach diagram is su!!osed to re!resent the far end of the neck of the fiddle, as seen by the !layer - i.e. *iolently foreshortened7 The arrow underneath is the bow direction - a long arrow for a long note etc., and the letters are the notes made, roughly in the !osition that you make them with the left-hand fingers. 5laying an o!en string is shown by a letter abo*e the 'nut'. =ach 'grid' show what ha!!ens in half a bar a minim, two crotchets or four qua*ers -the wa*y arrows next to the letters show what order to !lay them in. #here the note has a circle round it this m eans it is an octa*e abo*e the name of the string to its left. ( bar in bluegrass music usually equals two notes from the bass - 'bom, bom', four on the guitar -'!ick strum !ick strum' and eight from the m andolin or bano or fiddle when it's !laying fast. This is a bit faster than what non-bluegrass musicians tend to use as a bar, and is referred to as 'cut' time. This is what the " symbol with a line through it at the beginning of the written music means.
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The KountainK sound Bast time I suggested a few ideas using double-sto!!ing, but there are also a lot of good bluegrass sounds to be got out of ust one string at a time , and these mainly re*ol*e around the bluesyJmountainJhigh-and-lonesome elements of the music, although there are also !laces where a brighter or sweeter sound or e*en *ibrato is ust the right thing. It de!ends a lot on your !ersonality and taste. (s you !lay more and more, and with different !eo!le as well as on your own, you will de*elo! your listening ability, and get better at concentrating on the actual sound you are !roducing and how it blends with the other sounds the rest of the band are making and how well it fits your idea of what the song or tune i s about. Traditionally, bluegrass lead instruments - including the fiddle - like on occasion to kee! !laying the notes of the main key-chord, e*en when the backing instruments change chord. /or exam!le 14.23 is the first half of an im!ro*ised break to a tune which has chords similar to, say, =arl's reakdown6 in fact the whole thing could be !layed with a % backing as far as the fiddle is concerned7 any !layers also like to !lay the notes of the minor scale while the back-u! is a maor chord !layed by the guitarist - e.g. a b when the chord is %-maor this gi*es a nice rebellious feeling characteristic of the music and the !eo!le who
originated it. 14.83 is the second half- throwing in a few minor notes for a bluesy effect. (dditionally you can, in contrast to the fretted instruments, !lay notes which aren't actually in the standard scale6 for instance, you can get a *ery wild, mountain feeling on a song like Bittle aggie, by using a note somewhere between / and / - you decide ust where - instead of either of those notes, and also a note somewhere between " and " - see 14.93 where I'*e used an 'LK to denote this 'half-shar!' note. (gain this sounds fine - to my ear at least - on to! of standard maor chords on a guitar.
something - anything - a bit out of the ordinary, ust to get the ideas rolling.
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ecoration, Im!ro*isation and "om!osition These words are argon describing *arious musical acti*ities, all of which are !arts of what a good in*enti*e bluegrass fiddler does, and if you don't like argon you can ust ignore them and get on with being good and in*enti*e. :owe*er, if you like analysing what you do, this article may be of interest anyway, it's gi*en me a heading7 I feel the first two are both !retty intrinsic to the nature of bluegrass fiddle - and im!ro*isation can merge into com!osition.
it actually consists of. If you buy, say, the /iddler's /ake-book, and look at what they suggest for the )oldier's $oy, you are likely to find +I don't ha*e it in front of me as I write quite an elaborate little !iece. :ow much of that could you lea*e out and still ha*e it recognisable as the )oldiers $oy@ 5robably e*erybody will come u! with a slightly different answer, and you may change your thoughts about it o*er time. :owe*er, I think it's worthwhile asking the question, as once you ha*e sorted it out +by trying *arious ideas out you can then decorate that basic tune to your own taste - or not, as the mood seiCes you. /or interest, 1;.23 is my own idea of the utterly basic )oldier's $oy. Dne idea, which I broached in the first of these articles, is not to decorate at all for the first !art, and then to let ri! at the end. I know from !ersonal ex!erience that this does work well6 it kee!s the audience in sus!ense and then sur!rises them. It also gi*es you, the !layer, an o!!ortunity to get the feel of the moment the mike, the lights, the timing, the feel of the way the rest of the band are backing you u!, the mood of the audience, your own res!onse to their attention +adrenalin etc. - before you call on yourself to come u! with anything really com!lex in a technical way. )o it's a !articularly good !lan for numbers early on in a !erformance. Ty!es of decoration6 bluegrass fiddlers mainly use *ariations on the main theme using running qua*ers a lot of the time.
more so!histicated mental area for holding musical ideas and getting at them when you want them.
which you feel ha!!y to !lay, and which doesn't feel !added out with bits which are only there because you'*e written them. Then you could take it to your band, who will ho!efully be !ositi*e. If they're not, remember that other bluegrass musicians often ha*e fairly idiosyncratic *iews about 'what is bluegrass', and that sometimes they cannot see how a new tune +any new tune will fit that world-*iew - unless of course they hear (lison Frauss, or ark D'"onnor !laying it, in which case it will of course be 'a wonderful new idea which no one but (lisonJark could ha*e thought of. Df course, you could always send a ta!e of your tune to (lison Frauss or ark D'"onnor and ho!e they record it some day or you could ust acce!t that you can ne*er !lease all the !eo!le, and remember - you like it7 Bastly, a hallowed tradition for getting a start on a tune of your own is to !inch a bit from someone else's tune +not necessarily the lot, though this has been tried. y the time you'*e knocked it about a bit it !robably won't be recognisable, but it will ha*e got you started. To conclude this rather long article -sorry editor - 1;.3 is a waltC I wrote when we were in the studio and needed a fiddle tune. ob #inquist !layed it on the recording, and since then it's become quite a fa*ourite, although it still hasn't got a !ro!er name. I took the notes of the main theme from an D'"arolan !iece - I ho!e he doesn't mind7 E5entatonic scale - usually notes I II III M G MI of the maor scale - in % this would be % ( G =. =xam!les of tunes !layed mainly on these notes are "otton =yed $oe +in ( - uses ( " = G / and (ngeline +in - uses = / ( G .
%ro*e.
luegrass your /iddle 5art
owing The use of the bow is a large !art of what makes bluegrass fiddle so different and so exciting. owing styles ha*e been borrowed from +and in some cases not gi*en back to Dld-Timey, "aun, $aCC, =uro!ean folk styles and classical techniques, but the !articular use of them to bring out and de*elo! the nature of bluegrass music is what I'll try to talk about here. N)aw strokeO refers to the straight alternate u! and down bowing for a standard dance tune, largely made u! of qua*er-lengthE notes - e.g. Turkey in the straw, or the (rkansas Tra*eler 1.23. #here there is a break in this you may find you change direction, with the strong beats being !la yed on the 'u!' instead of the 'down', or you can try running two notes on to the same bow to kee! the !attern constant. ifferent !layers usually de*elo! a liking for !laying the strong beat notes on one direction of bowing, but e*ery now and then you find a !hrase which in*ol*es 're*ersing'. It's not like 'flat-!icking' a mandolin or guitar where you would always !ick - in an ?-beat bar - the notes falling on beats 2,9,;, and > downwards and those on 8,4,, and ? u!wards. The Aash*ille shuffle is the "aun-sound bow6 a long and two shorts. )ee 1.83 for an exam!le. In bluegrass it is often used rather faster than in "aun, and not often for long bursts. In "aun the long stroke usually co*er two notes, and this is not always the case in bluegrass. The Aash*ille )huffle is of course the standard fiddle-tune intro. The %eorgia bow is a rather subtler *ersion of the Aash*ille shuffle. It' s also more difficult, as you ha*e to make a one-qua*er down-bow somehow equal to a three-qua*er u!-bow6 i.e. you !lay one beat going downwards with the same length of bow that, !laying u!wards, you use for three beats. The effect is to gi*e the down-bow a lot of extra 'wellie', and to make it e*en more difficult and exciting, it +the down bow is on the off-beat - the second and fourth crotchets of the bar, or when the guitarist is on his 'strum' and the mandolin and bano are doing their 'off-beat' business.
to listen to It's no accident that Drange lossom )!ecial is still one of the most !o!ular tunes a bluegrass fiddler can !lay. There are of course other uses for this bowing style - see 1.;3 - 1.>3. (nother classic use is in the second !art of '&awhide', where the fiddle !layer can try to steal the focus from the mandolin. =ach of these bowing techniques can gi*e a !articular r hythmic 'frisson' to the music you're !laying. :owe*er, the more you !lay, the more you will ease into your own way of using the bow. any !layers run se*eral notes into one bow stroke, kee!ing the sound smooth, for most of the time, bringing in the s!ecial effects for what they can add at any !articular !art. I found when I was trying to !lay longer bows, I had !aradoxically to concentrate on my left hand accuracy6 when you are !laying a !lucked instrument or using the fiddle bow to set the start of each note, you ha*e some latitude in ust when you !ut your fingers down on the instrument neck, but if you are !laying a long bow-stroke co*ering se*eral notes, the e*enness of each one is solely go*erned by how well you control your left hand fingers. 1.?3 is a short exam!le of how a !iece might be bowed by one !layer on one occasion. "rucial to all of the abo*e bowing styles is relaxing the wrist and arm. This is not as easy as it sounds6 when I was setting out to learn the fiddle I really felt I had enough to do already, what with finding out what notes to !la y where on which string, sorting out my left hand fingers, getting the notes in tune, kee!ing the bow hair the right distance from the bridge, and actually holding the fiddle itself in this strange +to a fretted instrument !layer !osition under my chin. :owe*er, it !robably has to come in the end, and if you find your arm hurting, or feel your !laying is 'erky' or 'scra!y' or that you're not getting out of the instrument the sound you feel is in it, I do suggest that you ha*e a go at relaxing all the muscles in your arm exce!t the ones which actually mo*e the bow and hold it steady, and tensing those as little as you can. This will not only !ut you more in control and make bowing smoother, but it will also enable you to kee! !laying longer - better for those barn-dances7
EI'm using a standard bluegrass 'cut-time' qua*er here. In more normal musical terms it's half the length of most !eo!le's qua*ers.
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(6 the Kcliche keyK Df course, there are bluegrass cliches which you can !lay in % and other keys, but it has been well said that almost the entire re!ertoire of licks which bluegrass fiddler use to !lay in the key of ( are or will soon become cliched. It's interesting to listen to today's good fiddlers - )tuart uncan, say, or (lison Frauss - and see how they try to esca!e this tra!7 :owe*er, for the !ur!oses of this essay, I intend to go the o!!osite route and absolutely re*el in the well-turned !hrases which ha*e added so much to the history and sound of bluegrass fiddle. )tarting as usual with the end of a tune. 1>-23 gi*es an outro the first two bars of which can also be the first bit of a 'last line' or 'last-two-bars' !hrase6 exam!les of these with slight *ariations are 1>-83 and 1>-93. The latter '4 - bar' last line ty!e of !hrase is also called a Kturnaround', for exam!le where you ust ha*e a 'turn-around' for an intro to a song, or short 'turn-around' breaks in for exam!le a gos!el number. (nother 'tail-out' !hrase is 1>-43 this little !hrase can really add a bluegrass fla*our to almost anything. (nother of these was exam!le 18-83 in 'luegrass your /iddle - Two strings' The tune "otton-eyed $oe makes use of a !articular bowing and fingering combination 1>-;3 which turns u! again in the standard break for the song Pncle 5en - I wonder if those two e*er met u!. ( general !oint I would make is that while the notes ( and = on can be !layed on the o!en strings or - in first !osition - with your left little finger +on the and
( strings res!ecti*ely, it's really useful to be able to !lay these with equal facility using either or both methods, as at the s!eed of a lot of bluegrass breaks one is often better than the other for a !articular case. Try using each way on 1>-3 - this is actually in =, but in the key of ( you'll need to be able to use !hrases in and = to co!e with the 'three-chord' numbers which make u! the *ast bulk of the bluegrass re!ertoire. There are some ty!ical double-sto!s in the key of (, and again for many of these it's good to get used to using your little finger quite a lot. )ee 1>->3 which takes you u! in 9rdsJ4ths from the bottom to as high as is generally useful. ( more modern - say from the >0s at least - cliche is to go u! the = string to the octa*e !osition6 =+o!en - (+index -"+ring - =+little fi nger. Dr try coming down the same way6 this is how 5aul )helasky's fiddle break to %rey =agle works in that section 1>-?3 is the first line of Bime &ock, which yron erline !o!ularised as a fiddle contest !iece - ob #inquist tells me that it is now banned from many contests, as it got o*er-used7 Aote that this starts at the to!, and the first octa*e = is !layed as a 'harmonic' -ust resting your little finger exactly halfway u! the = string to get the note. Df course it is im!ortant to ha*e your own ideas and ways of building u! breaks, backu! and instrumental numbers, but a good way in to getting the feel of how a bluegrass sound is made is to start a break by !laying the tune - many classic bluegrass songs ha*e a sim!le tune and chords - and then start fitting in some of these standard !hrases, as best you can at first, and then using your own udgment as to how you can make the break sound good. 1>-@3 is a sim!le-ish break for #orried an lues. )ee if you like this a!!roach - if not, ust listen to a few more old bluegrass recordings of numbers in ( and find yourself some
more cliches7
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Twin /iddles They say you can't ha*e too much of a good thing so, if you're really into the sound of the fiddle, why not double it u!. ill onroe used twin fiddles a lot, and so did many other bands in the ;0s and early 0s, including $im =anes G the )henandoah Malley oys, and e*en &eno G )miley and the )tanley rothers on odd tracks. ut it was ill "lifton's records that first drew me to that fuller, richer sound, imitating the *ocal harmonies, and with some extra attractions of its own. ill used Tommy $ackson, enny artin, %ordon Terry, "al Aewman and "arl Aelson on the early tracks, Tommy $ackson and uddy )!icher for the "arter /amily Tribute album, and 5aul and &oy $ustice for KThe "ode of the ountainsK and K)oldier )ing me a )ongK6 all excellent !layers who stam!ed their characters on the twin fiddle
arrangements.
#hen ill was o*er last year for the south-east area ayfest, I transcribed a few of the breaks and ob #inquist and 2 !layed with him at the concert in :astings. Bet's ha*e a look at K
1?-83 is the intro to Kid the %reen /ields of MirginiaK, which ill sings in the key of /. This may be an un!o!ular key with some bluegrass fiddlers, but it should be a !oint of honour that you don't gri!e6 the singer must choose the key which is right for his *oice, and it's u! to you to find something interesting and a!!ro!riate for the fiddle in that key. Tommy and uddy ha*e a lo*ely 'floating'
feel to this ?-bar 'half-break', and manage to work in a lot of extra quality - note the use of what is effecti*ely an =b triad to signal the change to b, for exam!le. Aotice too that although the harmony fiddle works 'around' the melody line mostly, in the !enultimate bars it flits to 'two-!arts-abo*e' to a*oid some ugly left-hand fingering.
/or something a bit more KfruityK, ha*e a look at 1?-93, which is the 'turn-around' intro to Kary earK. :ere the lead fiddle !lays the o!en =-string along with the melody - as it might well if !laying solo anyway. :owe*er, when the harmony !arts are added the effect is considerably enhanced I'll be co*ering more about twin fiddles in !art @ of 'luegrass your fiddle'. luegrass your /iddle 5art @
ore about Twin /iddles :a*ing looked at some arrangements from the 2@;0s last time. 2 thought I'd come right u! to the cutting edge of bluegrass and try a 'four-line' arrangement 1i.e. where each fiddle !lays two notes all the time3. This isn't really a new musical idea, as this was the fashion with *ocal harmonies in the 2@;0s, creating a Kcool-aCC' feel to the music. Bet's try it out, using KIn the 5ines'' as an exam!le. I'*e ke!t the lead line at the to!, as did those 2@;0s *ocal arrangements, so that there are three harmony lines underneath. =ach chord thus formed is therefore a th, >th, diminished, or something e*en less like a classic bluegrass sound. I'*e gi*en the KleadK fiddle lines 2 G 9 +counting from
the to! and the 'harmony' fiddle lines 8 G 4, but this isn't set in stone.
5erha!s this is the !lace for my Khomily of the month'' - about rules in bluegrass music. It's easy to see bluegrass as a highly regimented musical disci!line only certain !rescribed instruments - nothing electric +exce!t !ossibly bass -singing in a strict harmony style - in fact to see some bands you might think bluegrass was only allowed in %. ( or . ut if you look at the background of the (!!alachian !eo!le whose music is the main source of bluegrass material and general feel, you'll see a rugged indi*idualism !robably second to none on the !lanet. I really can't think that ill onroe, or &al!h )tanley, or any of those !eo!le changed the way they made their music ust because of what someone else said. (lthough I'm sure they ha*e all taken immense care to be true to the s!irit of the music as they belie*ed it to beQand slightly different in each case. )o, in all the exam!les I'*e gi*en, and in any other tutorial you read, let your own feeling of the essence of what you lo*e about the music be a !art of the equation. (ll that 2 +or anyone else can do is to show you what I do, or how to
make a 'ty!ical' bluegrass sound. =nd of :omily7
(ll the twin-fiddle exam!les so far ha*e been !re-arranged - set !ieces, so to s!eak. :owe*er, it's !erfectly !ossible to !lay twin fiddles without ad*ance notice, as long as you and your 'twin' are both familiar with the tune and its general harmonic feel, or if it has a fairly straightforward tune and backing chords.
fiddle
luegrass your /iddle 5art 20
)ome KTricks of the TradeK (s this will be the last in this series, !erha!s it's legitimate to ha*e a look at some of the things, not all technical, that bluegrass fiddlers can do to add to the feel of what they !lay, to kee! their audiences +and themsel*es amused, and generally to make their music and their show ust that bit better and more exciting. The bluegrass sound6 a lot of the feel of (!!alachian fiddle music is the wild, swoo!ing sound imitating the wind in the mountains, eerie at times, and I feel that this is much of the essence of ill onroe's Khigh, lonesome soundK. It's also really good for bluesy numbers, or making K'drunkK sounds in a comedy number. (ll of this is done by sliding your left hand finger a little while bowing the note. Dften you'll start a note lower than you end u! withQe.g. get to the you want by starting with a " or somewhere near it.
Aoises6 the fiddle can do good imitations of animals +e.g. mules, birds +es!ecially chickens, trains +KDrange lossom )!ecialK', cars +KBee :ighwayK and, as I said abo*e, a lot of the traditional music can sound like the wind in the trees or the ri!!ling of a mountain stream. )ome of these sounds are made by the usual method of !laying the instrument, but you can get a lot of mileage in other ways6 the strings behind the bridge gi*e a nice squeak, you can ta! the body of the fiddle with the bow for a wood-!ecker bird-sound, and a wonderful gritty noise comes from rolling the bow against the back of the fiddle, with the hairs in between7 There are also harmonics, which I co*ered in an earlier !iece. If you'd like to hear a really wide range of noises the fiddle can make, get KDut of (mberK 1)B( "80;3 by (&" +more like ex!erimental aCC than bluegrass. ( traditional kind of !ercussion is for someone to ta! the strings with knitting needles, or sticks while a fiddler is !laying. There's sco!e for !lucking with right or left hand fingersQill "lifton and also the )tanleys featured !lucked fiddle breaks, and I sometimes !lay back-u! chords on the fiddle, using it like a ukeQI read that enny artin does this too.
about using one's body efficiently, and at the same time looking good. )econdly, I'*e found my !laying gets better if I'm not looking at m y left hand. I sometimes watch the !lace the bow touches the strings, and try to listen to the quality of the sound it makes, and I also try to kee! eye contact from time to time with whoe*er else is !layingQor the caller, at a barn-dance this gi*es me a chance to !ick u! the cues, which are sometimes tinyQa twitch of an eyebrow !erha!s, that is a reminder to me that it's my break next, or that someone's forgotten the arrangement so can I !lease take the lead for a bit7 "reati*ity *s "raftsmanshi!6 ha*ing my own ideas is the most rewarding bit of !laying the fiddle. It's *ery enoyable sometimes to set out deliberately to co!y a nice !iece or break by some-one else, but to feel KrealK I ha*e to know that what I'm !laying is in some serious way KmineK - to Kha*e ownershi!K of it in the modern argon. It does take !racticeQat !laying, and I mean !laying as in 'Kbeing !layfulK. #hen I'm trying out something new, some, !erha!s most, of what 2 come u! with will be Kcra!K +not to beat about the bush, but it's worth !erse*ering if you kee! trying it different ways, adding or taking away this and that, you usually come u! with something that is worth adding to your store of useful bits for im!ro*isations, or e*en de*elo!ing into a com!lete instrumental !iece. "raftsmanshi!Qknowing where the notes are, manual dexterity, knowledge and ex!erience of how to get the best sound out of your instrument Qthat's all im!ortant but, for me, it's not more im!ortant than that of creati*ity. Ideally the two can go hand in hand it's not easy, but you may like to think about it. #hen I'm !erforming well, I'm trying to get Kinto flowK -a state of mind where you ha*e good access to the ideas and musical memories which make you a musician. Dften this means that, while in this state, I'm rather worse at doing other thingsQe.g. the social niceties. I also find that the fiddle itself can res!ond to warmth, humidity, being !layed a lot, and se*eral mystery factors which I'm working on right now. efore I started to !lay the fiddle much, I was warned by *arious P) !layers that fiddlers were a Kfunny bunch....sort of craCy and !reoccu!iedK now I understand from the other side what it's like, and ust how ner*e-racking !laying the fiddle can be as !art of a bluegrass band on stage. ut it can also be a oy and, as ill onroe himself said, Kthe fiddle is *ery s!ecial6 in some ways it is Kthe most bluegrass of all the instrumentsK. %ood luck in your !laying ad*entures
Rick Townend
