Championship Contest Fiddling contains painstakingly detailed transcriptions of 44 fiddle tunes as they were played by thirteen champions of the National Old Time Fiddlers' Contest held in Weiser, Idaho. In addition to the tunes, the book includes excerpts of extensive interviews with these champions where they offer advice on how to play in the contest style, prepare for contests and deal with nerves, adapt and arrange tunes to make them your own, and play with drive, among many other topics. It is an indispensable resource for fiddlers seeking to understand contest fiddling better and prepare for fiddle contests, or learn some great tunes from the masters! Includes audio CD of the actual piece played during the contest.
This book was written to be used as a learning tool for beginners who read music. It presents very easy tunes to learn the basics of bowing and style, and progresses in difficulty with each tune. All of the arrangements are renditions that the author plays and has heard other fiddlers play. Many of the tunes are done in the style of Herman Johnson, a five-time National Fiddle Champion.
A follow-up book on Craig Duncan's popular Deluxe Fiddling Method containing 40 great fiddle solos in the keys of F, B-flat, E major, E minor, and A minor. Also features tunes in altered tunings, contest-style-breakdowns, ragtime tunes, and additional fiddling favorites. The split-track audio features full performances of the first 36 tunes in the book, split between fiddle solo and guitar accompaniment. The tunes Twinkle Little Star, Under the Double Eagle, andWhiskey Before Breakfast are not on the audio. Includes access to onlineaudio
"Transcribed and edited by one of Herman Johnson's former students, this book offers 39 solos in the inimitable smooth, precise, and innovative Johnson style. Inspired in his youth by Bob Wills of the Texas Playboys, Johnson learned tunes by listening to records and the radio. At 16, he successfully auditioned to play in Willis' band, but was then too young to join the musicians union. Johnson went on to a distinguished career as a performer and contest fiddler, winning the National Fiddling Championship in Weiser, Idaho five times, the only player to reign undefeated each year he entered the contest. He also won the Grand Masters Championship in Nashville. Many of the intermediate to advanced-level selections in this collection were drawn from Johnson's 1993 recording, Simply Perfect."
Louisiana Fiddlers shines light on sixty-two of the bayou state's most accomplished fiddlers of the twentieth century. Author Ron Yule outlines the lives and times of these performers, who represent a multitude of fiddling styles including Cajun, country, western swing, zydeco, bluegrass, Irish, contest fiddling, and blues.Featuring over 150 photographs, this volume provides insight into the fiddlin' grounds of Louisiana. Yule chronicles the musicians' varied appearances from the stage of the Louisiana Hayride, honky tonks, dancehalls, house dances, radio and television, and festivals, to the front porch and other more casual venues. The brief sketches include observations on musical travels, recordings, and family history.Nationally acclaimed fiddlers Harry Choates, Dewey Balfa, Dennis McGee, Michael Doucet, Rufus Thibodeaux, and Hadley Castille share space with relatively unknown masters such as Mastern Brack, Cheese Read, John W. Daniel, and Fred Beavers. Each player has helped shape the region's rich musical tradition.
Southern Fiddlers and Fiddle Contests explores the phenomenon of American fiddle contests, which now have replaced dances as the main public event where American fiddlers get together. Chris Goertzen studies this change and what it means for audiences, musicians, traditions, and the future of southern fiddle music. Goertzen traces fiddling and fiddle contests from mid-eighteenth-century Scotland to the modern United States. He takes the reader on journeys to the important large contests, such as those in Hallettville, Texas; Galax, Virginia; Weiser, Idaho; and to smaller ones, including his favorite in Athens, Alabama. He reveals what happens on stage and during such off-stage activities as camping, jamming, and socializing, which many fiddlers consider much more important than the competition. Through multiple interviews, Goertzen also reveals the fiddlers' lives as told in their own words. The reader learns how and in what environments these fiddlers started playing, where they perform today, how they teach, what they think of contests, and what values they believe fiddling supports. Southern Fiddlers and Fiddle Contests shows how such contests have become living embodiments of American nostalgia.
As part of the Mel Bay Encyclopedia Series, the purpose of this book is to offer fiddlers direct access to the gems of the genre. Composers represented in this volume span a three hundred year period including works by: Patrick MacDonald, Adam Craig, Capt. Charles Duff, Simon Fraser, Robert and Joseph Lowe, Robert MacIntosh, William Marshall, and J. Scott Skinner. Ms. Rideout's original compositions are also included. the tunes are listed in order by key signature to enable the fiddler to put sets together for performance, competition or session playing. This book contains extra marches and strathspeys unique to Scottish fiddling. the end of the book is dedicated to solo numbers consisting of piobaireachd (pibroch) and slow airs. the Scottish Fiddle Encyclopedia is an essential tune book for musicians interested in developing a deeper appreciation for genuine traditional Scottish fiddle music.
Presents 140 of the most frequently played tunes in old time fiddle contests as well as the most popular bluegrass, square dance and country tunes heard throughout the United States. the performance length arrangements of contest tunes include standard as well as challenging variations on hoe-downs, rags, polkas, show pieces, and waltzes complete with suggested accompaniment chords. This encyclopedia of fiddle tunes and variations spotlights American popular fiddle music as played by the great fiddlers of our time.
North American Fiddle Music: A Research and Information Guide is the first large-scale annotated bibliography and research guide on the fiddle traditions of the United States and Canada. These countries, both of which have large immigrant populations as well as Native populations, have maintained fiddle traditions that, while sometimes faithful to old-world or Native styles, often feature blended elements from various traditions. Therefore, researchers of the fiddle traditions in these two countries can not only explore elements of fiddling practices drawn from various regions of the world, but also look at how different fiddle traditions can interact and change. In addition to including short essays and listings of resources about the full range of fiddle traditions in those two countries, it also discusses selected resources about fiddle traditions in other countries that have influenced the traditions in the United States and Canada.
Native American drumming and chant; Czech and German polka; country fiddling; African American spirituals, blues and jazz; cowboy songs; Mexican corridos; zydeco; and the sounds of a Cambodian New Year’s celebration — all are part of the amazing cultural patchwork of traditional music in Texas. In Everyday Music, author and researcher Alan Govenar brings readers face-to-face with the stories and memories of people who are as varied as the traditions they carry on. From 1983 to 1988, Alan Govenar traveled more than 35,000 miles around Texas, interviewing, recording, and photographing the vast cultural landscape of the state. In Everyday Music, he compares his experiences then with his attempts to reconnect with the people and traditions that he had originally documented. Stopping at gas stations, restaurants, or street-corner groceries in small towns and inner-city neighborhoods, Govenar asked local residents about local music and musicians. What he found on his road trip around the state—and what he shares in the pages of this book — are the time-honored songs, tunes, and musical instruments that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Govenar invites you to accompany him on his journey — one that will forever change the way you look at the traditional music that is such an important part of our everyday lives. Everyday Music is accompanied by a special online resource (www.everydaymusiconline.org) with video clips, recorded interviews, and performances. The site also features special resources for teachers who want to bring this rich cultural experience into their classrooms and for general readers who simply want to know more. Table of Contents: Introduction 1 Julius Vita: Czech Accordion, Seymour 9 John Burrus: Cowboy Songs and Country Hymns, Stephenville 18 Osceola Mays: Spirituals and Poems, Dallas 30 Howard Dee “Wes” Westmoreland III: Fiddling, Gustine 40 Miguel Pedraza: Tigua Drumming and Chanting, El Paso 51 Alexander H. Moore: Barrelhouse Blues, Dallas 62 W. W. Trammell: Guitar Maker and Musician, Lone Star 73 Lydia Mendoza: Boleros, Corridos, and Rancheras, Houston 83 Original Oompah Band: German Dance Music, Tivydale 96 John Henry “Bones” Nobles: Bones Percussion, Beaumont 107 Yani Rose Keo: Cambodian Music and Dance, Houston 117 Appendix: Traditional Music in Texas Radio Series 129 Acknowledgments 131 For Further Reading, Listening, and Viewing 133 Index 137
