[Pat Willey]

Casey,

Thanks for publishing the first of Megan’s lessons. She has been one of my favorite fiddlers for many years, plus she teaches in an easy-to-follow manner. I have had several opportunities to to attend fiddle workshops she has held. I have only gone through her first lesson on the Nashville Numbering System so far, and I feel like it just doubled my knowledge of music theory?. I am looking forward to her tune lessons. The list you posted has many of my favorites.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Pat Willey.

[Pat Willey]

Thanks, Casey. I quit relying on sheet music about two years ago. Without it, I find it much easier to learn a tune. I do admit I look at printed noted now and then, but it is not the crutch it used to be (and no, I don’t (can’t) play every note you play). At an oldtime fiddle workshop a few weeks ago, the instructor stated that you really can’t ‘make music’ if you are reading notes. I think that is what you were inferring.

The workshop instructor also disparaged the shoulder rest, noting he never saw an oldtime fiddler with one. He only placed his chin on the rest when he had to reposition his left hand, and he maintained his music sounded better without it. I am trying that now, as I think upper back pain that develops after practicing a while is caused by my excessive chin pressure. Without the shoulder rest, I cannot push so hard on the chin rest, and my back strain has decreased. Maybe there is a reason that shoulder rests don’t fit in older violin cases. I am sure that for music styles other than oldtime, the shoulder rest may be more appropriate (when playing in higher positions or for vibrato).

[Pat Willey]

Camilla,

I used to frequent lots of second hand book stores picking up music books when I could find them. There are not a lot of tune books dedicated to two-part fiddling. Below are the books I have collected over the past 30 odd years (I don’t have the one Roland mentioned).

The easiest to find and would be good for beginners is written for fife, but it works for fiddle. It is written in two books: “The Fifer’s Delight” by Ralph Sweet for melody parts, and “The Fifer’s Delightful Companion” by Carol for the harmony parts. You can get these from Sweetheart Flute Co., http://www.sweetheartflute.com/music.html. These tunes are Reels, Jigs, Hornpipes, Slip Jigs, Polkas, Slides and Set Dances, lots of tunes familiar to fiddlers.

For old time fiddle, Greg Baker’s, “Fiddle Workshop 2, Fun with Twin Fiddling” published in 1989 . It is very hard to find. Greg lived in Portland, Oregon, and was active in the Oregon Old Time Fiddler’s Association, but I cannot find a trace of him now. He used to do a fiddle camp at his beach home here on the Oregon coast. His book contains: Boil the Cabbages; The Dream; Cripple Creek; Old Joe Clark; Cherokee Shuffle; Red River Valley; Flop Eared Mule; Hell Amongst the Yearlings; Eighth of January; Cattle Call Waltz; Liberty; Snow Deer; Crooked Stove Pipe; Golden Slippers; Over the Waves; Silver Bells; Down Yonder; Sail Away Ladies; Rye Waltz; Twinkle Little Star; Westphalia Waltz; Red Wing; Chicken Reel; and Turkey in the Straw.

The third source is “Tim Rued’s Twin Fiddling” published in 1985. It contains 50 tunes including: Black Eyed Susie; Drowsy Maggie; Durango’s Hornpipe; Flop-Eared Mule; ‘Possum up a Gum Stump; ‘Possum up a Gum Tree; Speed the plough, Temperance Reel; The Road to Lisdoonvarna. You can contact Tim Rued through his website http://www.folksweden.com. I don’t know if he still sells his book.

I hope this helps you.

[Pat Willey]

Casey,

Congratulations on your one-year anniversary of the looping and speed-control features. They have been very helpful to me. I knew I could click the A/B bar to set the ‘A’, or begin looping point, but I never quite got the hang of setting the ‘B’, or end of loop point. Up until today, I would just slide it over on the track pad.

This morning I decided to double-click the ‘AB’ bar and popped right to where I clicked. I am sure all the young folks and techies will think I am slow and they knew this all along, but a sometimes a year is not bad for me to learn something 🙂 You do have to have the video stopped to make it work for the ‘B’ point.

Thanks for all your work and improvements.

Pat W

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Pat Willey.

[Pat Willey]

Correction:
Actually, you don’t have to double click the AB bar. You can single click it. I think my problem was I had the video running when I tried to set the B-point, but that just always moved the A-point. That is when I went to sliding the B-button. So… double-click is not the answer, just have the video stopped and ‘activate’ the B-Button by clicking it one-time, then click the AB bar where you want it. 🙂

Is this the most expeditious method of setting AB points?

• This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by Pat Willey.

[Pat Willey]

Thanks to both of you (Casey and Blossom) for directing me to the tune ‘Pat’s County’. It is a really nice tune, and as Patti says in the Basic instruction intro, it is reminiscent of ‘Faded Love’. I also hope we can get more Western Swing into the lesson library.

Without the Forum, I don’t think I would have quickly found this tune.

Thanks again to both of you!

[Pat Willey]

Robert, would this title be the same tune as ‘Drowsey Maggie’, or is it different?

[Pat Willey]

Hi Roland. Nice to know Casey uses Prim. About 15 years I talked to Byron Berline and said he used Prim strings for his fiddle. That’s two reputable recommendations for Prim. I have seen where other fiddlers have recommended them, but I have never tried them. Maybe someday…?

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