OTHER FIDDLE STYLES:
Links:
- Old Time Music.com
- On Thomas Jefferson's fiddling career
- John Hartford
- Ed Haley biog
- Some Ed Haley fiddle transcriptions
- Tommy Jarrell
- Barefoot Pete's Old Time fiddle page
- Missouri old time fiddle traditions
- Old time fiddlers hall of fame
- A great collection of old time fiddle tunes in pdf
- fiddlers.org
- Roy Crawford; Alabama old time fiddler
Old Time fiddle
For the middle class, urban fiddle player of today (and let's face it, that's most of us), with a choice of fiddle style comes a bundle of ideals, values and romantic notions. For Americans, Old Time fiddling represents a nostalgic link with the country's past- a tradition rooted in the simple, honest, hardworking lives of the first rural farmers.
British settlers began arriving in the uplands of the southeast in the mid 1700's, colonising the Blue Ridge mountain and Southern Appalachian states of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Whilst fiddlers would have existed among all the nation's settlers, it was in these isolated communities of the southeast that the tradition was best preserved.
With little help to be expected from outside, self-sufficiency was essential. The big tasks of rural life- barn raising, stone picking, apple peeling and bean stringing and so forth were communal affairs where all the neighbours would help out, the day's work invariably capped with drinking, dancing and music, for which the local fiddler was essential. He was at the same time greatly prized by the community and condemned by the churchman, who saw only idleness, liquor and licentiousness associated with "The Devil's Box". Early fiddlers could name among their ranks such diverse luminaries as the pioneer Davey Crocket and, surprisingly, the author of the declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was an accomplished player and practiced every day. He is said to have been so fond of his fiddle that when he heard that his family home had been destroyed by a fire, he first asked his servant "Are all the books destroyed?", and was told "Yes, massa, dey is, but we saved de fiddle!"Fiddle Contests
Of course, the fiddle was not the only instrument available. The Jew's Harp was popular, as were the plucked or hammered dulcimers. With emancipation in the 1860's African Americans started to move into the Appalachians, bringing with them the banjo and a new style of guitar playing. These instruments gradually became incorporated into the string band tradition that we would recognise today. Harmonica, autoharp and mandolin also arrived at the turn of the century, largely via the new mail-order catalogues. The fiddle, however, remained pre-eminent, and fiddlers were by now becoming celebrities far beyond their own communities. Fiddle contests, with a history dating back to at least the 1730's, became hugely popular events, with skilled practitioners stalking the land like gunfighters in search of prize money. It was not unknown for such contests to be completely fixed: a travelling showman would arrive, propose a championship, and then watch his apparently unknown associate ride into town and scoop the prize.
Henry Ford
CONTEST FIDDLING
The earliest recorded American fiddle contest was in 1736, held in Hannover County, Virginia, the prize offered being “a fine Cremona fiddle to be plaid for, by any number of country fiddlers” With fiddling being such a valued skill, there would always have been an element of competetiveness between fiddlers, who would be vying for the best jobs and the highest fees, and also between the fans ,who wanted their local hero to be seen as the best. Some of the contests were mobile; a promoter would arrive in a town square and announce the open contest and the cash prize. The local fiddlers would all know one another ,but would be wary of a stranger- he might be a travelling “gunslinger” of a fiddler who would win wherever he went, or might even be a “ringer”, in league with the promoter.
The concept of a “brag fiddler” developed- someone who fancied his own skill ,and was happy to take on all comers to prove it. In such a competitive atmosphere, showmanship was at a premium. Fiddlers would develop a patter and stage show, and “trick fiddling” started to evolve. This involved finding ever more bizarre ways to play the instrument- tossing the fiddle in the air, playing behind the head, one arm under one leg, fiddle upside down, bow held between the knees and fiddle held with both hands, and so on. Certain tunes became associated with trick fiddling; using Pop Goes The weasel a fiddler would play each section of the tune in a different contorted position. Expert trick fiddlers could do all these antics whilst playing accurately and in time. Alabama fiddler Monkey Brown was one such fiddle wrestler; he got his nickname when it was said of him at a Tuscaloosa fiddle convention ..”that boy can do more with a fiddle than a monkey can with goobers!”
Less athletic but equally demanding tricks developed along more conventional lines; the double shuffle or “hokum bowing” is a flashy pattern of triplets carrying across two bars; this was popularised by jazz fiddler Joe Venuti in the late 1920’s, incorporated into “The Beaumont Rag”, and reached its apogee in the tune “Orange Blossom SpeciaL” in the 1940’s.Fiddle contests (a term more or less synonymous with fiddle conventions) were hugely popular all across the States for over two centuries. Most were small, local affairs in schoolhouses or courthouses, but many were huge, attracting dozens of fiddlers and thousands of eager fans. I was possible for a fiddler who was prepared to travel to attend three or four contest a week, earning cash prizes or produce of some kind; these prizes would have been particularly welcome when the conventions reached their peak, which was in the gloomy years of the Great Depression.
The poster for a typical contest, held in Dekalb County, Alabama in 1933, boasted;
“The Biggest, the Funniest, the most Soul-inspiring Event in the history of the Fiddle and the Bow. The old time tunes will rekindle the smoldering fires of youth, retouch the golden heartstrings or a broken chord, rejuvenate and transplant the soul to the green fields of memory’s ecstatic joys and pleasures of the LONG AGO”In the early days, flashy tricks were one sure fire way to walk off with the prize. It was a case of almost anything goes, whether it was trilling like a mockingbird, braying like a mule, hollerin’, jokin’ or dressing as a rooster to play the Chicken Reel. Practically the only thing not allowed was a player who had formal training; the old timers saw a big difference between themselves and the purveyors of more highfalutin’ classical music, and wanted to maintain that difference. If a player “trembled his fingers” (ie used vibrato), he would be viewed with deep suspicion.
The contests were always highly entertaining, and the larger ones may have been combined with other attractions such as hog calling, cracker eating, husband calling, buck dancing, lying contests, ugliest fiddler contests and so on.
More recently, as contests have become more formalised trick fiddling, cross tuning, hokum bowing and the tunes most associated with them, are explicitly banned in most competitions. Typically a contest will be divided into three age groups, and in each round you will play three tunes; a breakdown, a waltz and a” tune of choice” such as a rag, polka or hornpipe. There’ll be a time limit of around five minutes. The judges are normally professional musicians, and they will be looking for clarity, intonation, rhythm and creativity. After a considerable lull in postwar years, fiddle contests have once more become very popular, and hundreds of them attract large audiences across the USA and Canada. The National Old Time Fiddlers Contest at Weiser, Idaho, has been held annually since 1953. Another important contest is the Grand Master Fiddler Championship, started at the Grand Ole Opry in 1972 by Roy Acuff and Perry Harris. Mark O'Connor was among the past winners (three times!)A typical set of rules will include a paragraph such as; No cross-tuned fiddles, five string fiddles or plucking on strings allowed. TRICK FIDDLING tunes such as Orange Blossom Special, Listen to the Mockingbird, Black Mountain Rag and Lee highway Blues WILL NOT BE ALLOWED during competition!
Old time fiddling has as much diversity within it as any other type of fiddling, but in the contest environment one sub-species has, by a process of natural selection, come to dominate. This is the Texas style, now so common that the term “Texas fiddling” is synonymous with “Contest Fiddling” Benny Thomasson was the player who brought this style to the forefront, possibly learning the basics from blind Kentucky fiddleplayer Ed Haley. Mark O’Connor, before branching out in every direction possible, took it to its peak.
Whereas the old hillbilly style of bowing was largely an aggressive saw-stroke action, with one bow per note, Texas fiddling uses the “Long Bow method”. I believe Henry V of England used this with great success against the French , but I could be wrong. Texas bowing uses a smooth, flowing action with several notes slurred into one bow. Melodic and harmonic variations have developed to an almost baroque extent, and an element of improvisation is also used. Breakdowns are commonly played with swing rather than “straight”, and are often at a slower tempo than in Appalachian style.
Double stops and higher positions are common, a warm clear tone and perfect intonation are de rigeur. It is a style far more suited to the concert platform than the dance hall. In short, Texas fiddling, though the direct progeny of old time, is a very modern young thing which its grandparents would hardly recognise.
Early fiddle recordings
With the arrival of the recording industry, national fame became an attainable for old time musicians. Seven-times Georgia fiddle champion Fiddlin' John Carson was lured into an Atlanta broadcasting studio with the promise of "a snort of engineer's whiskey", and in 1923 he recorded Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane and The Old Hen Cackled and the Rooster's going to Crow.
OKeh record label head Ralph Peer declared the result "pluperfect awful", but the release was an immediate success and Carson vowed to "quit makin' moonshine and start makin' records!"
Eck Robertson and Blind Ed Haley were prominent fiddlers in the new gold rush which was to become the massive industry of country music. Tommy Jarrell, from North Carolina, was among the most influential players, recording seven albums and, late in life, achieving worldwide recognition. Alongside commercial recording, a determined effort was made by musicologists to record and preserve old time music in its original state. Following in the footsteps of Cecil Sharp, who collected Appalachian tunes and songs from 1916-18, Alan Lomax made many field recordings in the 1930's for the Library of Congress.
As radio and the phonograph entered almost every home it became possible for many more people to hear old time music, but at the same time it was becoming commercialised, watered down, cleaned up and irrevocably changed. Local stylistic differences which had been passed down the generations were all but lost, and with the arrival of the triple threat of amplification, bluegrass and rock and roll, the writing was on the wall for old time music.
Revival of Old Time fiddle music
Fortunately, as with so many folk styles, the 60's and 70's saw a reawakening of interest by young people tired of slick but shallow commercial music. Bands such as the New Lost City Ramblers, which included Mike Seeger on fiddle, sought to recreate the original old time sound, and today there are many fine players such as Brad Leftwich, Bruce Molsky and Bruce Green. Those who concentrate solely on old time fiddling tend to have a relatively low profile (it's not a profitable business to be in!); better-known professionals whose style encompasses some old time fiddling include John Hartford and Jay Ungar.
John Hartford............
Bruce Molsky............
Brad Leftwich
“O Brother where art thou”
Old Time music got a huge shot in the arm when, in 1990, the Cohn Brothers released their quirky comedy “O Brother Where art Thou”. Set during the Depression era in the southern States, it has a plot loosely based on the plot of Homer’s Odysey, The story centres around a group of escaped convicts (led by George Clooney) ,who form an impromptu old time band, play “for ten dollar apiece, singin’ into a can!”, and become an overnight success, helping to re-elect the Tennessee Governor Pappy O’Daniel, and earning a pardon Though full of humour, the film beautifully captures the gritty reality of the period, and the music, unusually for Hollywood, is fully authentic. Along with a few vintage recordings, most of the tracks are recreations by the cream of bluegrass and old time musicians. Bluegrass star Alison Krauss is one of the lead vocalists, and fiddle playing comes from old-time fiddle guru John Hartford and bluegrass session king Stuart Duncan.
The key song on the multi Grammy-award winning soundtrack is Man of Constant Sorrow, written by the blind Kentucky fiddler Dick Burnett around 1913. Made famous by the Stanley Brothers, versions also appeared on the debut albums of Peter Paul and Mary, Judy Collins, Rod Stewart and Bob Dylan.
Five million copies of the soundtrack were sold, and many of the musicians went on to perform songs from the film on a live tour and DVD release, entitled “Down from the Mountain”
Old Time fiddle technique
Old time fiddling evolved primarily for the accompaniment of dancing. As fiddle was often the sole instrument, double stops and drones are frequently used, giving more volume and a fuller sound. Some fiddlers raised one or two strings with matchsticks allowing the possibility of triple stops. A whole series of alternative tunings may be used, allowing the strings which are not fingered to drone or ring more freely. The simplest change would be ADAE (tuning up the bottom string a tone) for playing tunes in the key of D. With the "high bass" or "dead man's tuning", both G and D are tuned up, giving AEAE. Others include the Black Mountain tuning AEACsharp, and the Bonepartes Retreat tuning DDAD.
With the fiddle in one of these tunings it is possible for a second player to "beat the straws"; little "fiddlesticks" are hammered rhythmically on the lower strings giving a strange zinging sound, whilst the fiddler is bowing on the upper strings.
Fingering tends to be quite simple, with little ornamentation beyond a few slides; what is greatly admired among old time fiddlers is an energetic and driving bowing rhythm. In old time music there is little in the way of structure to the performance of a tune. Solo breaks, the life and soul of bluegrass, would be considered egotistical and newfangled. Because they tend to be repeated many times in a row, many fiddle tunes have words to go with them, often humourous if not ribald. To ease simultaneous playing and singing, the fiddle is often held somewhere on the upper chest, tilted clockwise to facilitate heavily accented downbows.
Old time fiddle repertoire
Among the many tunes with words are Cripple Creek, John Henry, Cluck old Hen and Old Joe Clark. Whilst some have an American origin, many tunes can be traced back to anglo/celtic roots; thus the Fairy Dance became Old Molly Hare, Macleod's Reel became Uncle Joe, and Shepherd's Hey became Walking in the Parlour. Energetic tunes in 4/4, such as Billy in the Lowground, Cumberland Gap, and Soldier's Joy are called "breakdowns". Waltzes are also common; many of the more popular ones are recent compositions . Over the Waves was written by a Mexican dance orchestra leader named Juventino Rosas; Midnight on the Water was by fiddler Benny Thomasson's father Luke, and the haunting Ashokan Farewell, theme tune for the American Civil War TV series, was by Jay Ungar.
THE ORIGINS OF OLD TIME TUNES
Many tunes which are standards in the old time fiddle repertoire can be traced back hundreds of years- often to the British Isles. Musicologists such as Alan Jabbour have done a great deal of interesting work in this area.SOLDIER’S JOY
Was first published in Scotland in a 1779 collection by Joshua Campbell. The three notes at the end are a strong suggestion that it was once played as a hornpipe, but nowadays it is usually played as a reel. The soldier’s joy may have been a reference to opium.FISHER’S HORNPIPE
The collection “16 cotillons, 16 minuets, 12 allemands and 12 hornpipes composed by J.Fishar” was published in London in 1780. What we now know as Fisher’s Hornpipe was titled “Hornpipe no.1” It was already in wide circulation by 1800, and remains popular both in the British and American repertoire. The hornpipe as a dance was at its peak on both sides of the Atlantic in 1780-1850. It used a dotted rhythm, a slower pace than the reel, and tunes typically more harmonically complex than had gone before. The dance is now little used, and In America most horpipes have been speeded up and turned into reels.MONEYMUSK
Yet another tune which has crossed the Atlantic, this was written by Daniel Dow,
and published as “Sir Archibald Grant of Monemusk’s reel”. It was common practice to name tunes after a rich aristocratic sponsor, either in gratitude for past help, or in hope of bounty in the future.BONEPARTE’S RETREAT
This is both a song and a tune. It may have derived from an Irish Air called the “Eagle’s Whistle” In the American southern states it is usually played in DDAD tuning ie. Dropping the G string to a D, and the E to a D. This is normally played at a stately pace. However, the song collector Alan Lomax made a recording of it for the Library of Congress, played by a Kentucky fiddler WH Stepp. This particular performance was much faster than usual, and it was heard by Aaron Copeland. He decided to incorporate it into his 1942 ballet Rodeo, but using this new higher tempo. It is this kind of random serendipity that is often the driving force behind changes in the repertoire.RICKETT’S HORNPIPE
John Bill Ricketts was a circus entrepreneur who emigrated to America from England in 1792. This tune was named after him and by the 1850 it had already appeared in many tune collections.TURKEY IN THE STRAW
This may have originated as an 18th C English tune, The Rose Tree. It is also close to several other American tunes, including Natchez under the Hill and Sugar in the Gourd.
It appeared in print as Old Zip Coon in 1834, and as Turkey in the Straw in 1861.
Links:
- Old Time Music.com
- On Thomas Jefferson's fiddling career
- John Hartford
- Ed Haley biog
- Some Ed Haley fiddle transcriptions
- Tommy Jarrell
- Barefoot Pete's Old Time fiddle page
- Missouri old time fiddle traditions
- Old time fiddlers hall of fame
- A great collection of old time fiddle tunes in pdf
- fiddlers.org
- Roy Crawford; Alabama old time fiddler
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Chris Haigh is a freelance fiddle player based in London. He plays bluegrass, country, old time and Western Swing fiddle styles, and works with the barn-dance band Quicksilver,
