TROSSINGEN FIDDLE WORKSHOPS - Fiddle tunes for string classes year 1 & 2 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Twas brought up in @ home steeped in classical music traditions. My parents were gracuates of the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest; pethaps you know of my father Paul Rolland, who was a very well known string pedagogue and an extremely fine violinist as well. ‘My mother was an exceptional piano teacher who trained many fine pianists and one notable failure - me. Despite their attempts to “recruit” me to their profession, [ chose mathematics, and only learned the most basic rudiments of playing those instruments. Much later, asa graduate student in mathematics in the 1960s, I encountered old-time music, and before long I was "hooked* on old-time fiddling, Later, as an extremely impoverished student without a real job, 1 found out that I could make money performing, teaching fiddling and fixing violins, and embarked on a music career which continued throughout the rest of my career as a mathematics instructor. Fiddle music isa vast and deep subject; it embraces many cultures and isa very satisfying outlet for personal creativity Above all, its fun, fun, fun. I have done much personal research in this type of musie, and have made many field trips to collect tunes and repertoires from elderly fiddlers around my home state, Arizona. I view many of the tunes I colleet as short tone poems, akin to ‘mantras or haikus that give one pleasure in the act of repeating them. How fiddlers execute and embellish them in performance and the kind of rhythm the fiddler evokes makes up the fiddler’ style. For a very'large segment of fiddle music, there are almost as many versions of a given tune as there are fiddlers. Bowing styles, note embellishments, variation patterns, even the core notes of the tune ‘can vary drastically from player to player, region to region. There are very few absolute rules in fiddling. I remember my mother ‘adamantly stressing the importance of understanding the composer's background and cultural milieu and of respecting the composer's intentions when interpreting a piece of classical music. Since fiddle musie is primarily an aural and not a written form of music, its as ‘each fiddler becomes a composer in some sense, drawing on core tunes and musical forms that abound in the work of his peers and predecessors 1 create his or her own personal style of playing. ‘Young string students really enjoy playing fiddle tunes. The melodies are memorable and the tunes have compelling rhythms and es entertaining sound effects. Since the beginning of my fiddling career in the 1970s, Ihave often been asked to perform for young students. When I do, the reaction is always extremely positive. Even kids whose idea of music is gangsta rap think that that Fiddle tunes sound "cool". Many classroom teachers in America use fiddle tunes to recruit students into ther string classes and use them as rewards to motivate students to practice. In the carly years of my involvement with fiddling, 1 met a great many musical snobs, Most classical musicians 1 encountered looked. down their noses upon fiddling as a lower class of music. As an example, in the mid-1970s I gave a concent with a fiddling partner in ‘Tucson, Arizona. After the concert, the director ofa local Chamber Orchestra approached me with a business proposition, He was trying to build audience suppor for his group and asked us to perform, but only if I could write arrangements for the music so that the ‘orchestra could play with us. He thought the audience and the orchestra both would enjoy the experience, since it was such an ‘entertaining departure from their usual offering of "serious music". I pointed out that 1 was very serious about fiddle music, and he turned red in the face as he suddenly realized that he had inadvertently insulted me. ‘When my father learned that I had become a fiddler, to my great surprise he remained very open-minded about it. He asked me to play recorded examples for him, which I did, and he took it quite seriously. Perhaps it was because he had great respect for the music of _2ypsies and the folk music of his native Hungary that spawned the great works of Kodaly and Bartok. He analytically described which pieces and players he liked and which he did not like. Later, he proposed that we collaborate on a pedagogical method based on fiddle ‘unes, He planned to provide the pedagogy while a Canadian fiddler and violinist named Norman Burgess and I provided authentic fiddle tunes that suited his pedagogical needs. Unfortunately, he died suddenly before the projeet got very far. Ihave no doubt that hac he lived to see this project through, the so-called "Alternative Strings" revolution that has taken place in the United States inthe past decade, would have started 10-15 years earlier due to his immense influence on string teaching, During the 1970s and 1980s I taught many beginning and intermediate classes in fiddling, both for adults through local universities, and for children. The classes for children were held at the homes of parent sponsors. Class size varied from 8 to 25. I followed the sume procedure for both ages and I found it to be very successful. think you can incorporate my method into your own classrooms. You do not need to focus exclusively on fiddle tunes as Ido. You can add it to your curriculum. will provide you with some sample tunes and a recording. You can try these, or you can use these as a template for a procedure and choose or add tunes of your own selection. Fach tune helps the student develop specifie skills, in addition to giving him the experience of learning an enjoyable melody. I encourage you to try teaching a tune by rote. This teaches the student many things including how to listen carefully. In my experience the best rote teaching (sometimes I call it “monkey hear, monkey do") involves breaking the tune into small pieces. Each piece is taught with lots of repetition and as few words as possible, and added onto the previously learned pieces. In that way you can teach beginners simple tunes in one session. When taught in this way, the average student will have a better recall of the tune than one learned by reading notes. Whether you teach by rote or note, iis important to reinforce the tune previously studied with each class meeting so that the tune can ‘move from short-term memory to long-term memory. With each meeting of the class I try to teach a new simple piece and review all the previous pieces. In this way there is hope to build a repertoire of simple memorized pieces in the first year of instruction, Some students will memorize more tunes than others, but all students who actively engage in the process will earn some of the tunes. And as the year rolls on, the students gain confidence and sound better at playing the tunes,Classical techniques will enable the student to play fiddle musie. As you explore the world of fiddling, you will find many techniques and sound concepts that differ radically from the classical side ofthe equation. Also, many of the classical techniques have little or no application to the fiddling. Nonetheless, the fundamentals that you currently teach in your classes will work for fiddling. Occasionally parents are concerned that if their violin playing child learns fiddling, it wll hurt their violin playing. In my experience that is not the ‘case. The two separate techniques can exist side-by-side. To be fair to this concer, we must realize that there is only so much practice time available, and "having fun* with fiddling may reduce the time left over for practicing the classical repertoire, Students heading for serious careers in one area or the other will need to get their priorities straight and focus their practice time in order to be successful in their chosen field. Ihave seen a great many students leave the study of classical music to focus on fiddling which they enjoyed more. And I have seen students try fiddling for a while, then give it up and go to music school where they Focused on classical ‘music. I prefer to think that in each case the student found his true calling, which is a good thing. T recommend that first year string students learn to play simple tunes in unison. That is to say, violins, violas, celli and basses would all play the same notes separated by octaves. This will reinforce the melody and help to develop a "wall of sound*. I ave learned that playing the same note, getting the same sound as everybody else, is eventually of great comfort tothe beginning student. Perhaps itis the herd instinct, perhaps itis being able to *hide” in the crowd that makes this so, but in my experience with teaching beginning fiddling this way, the effect is undeniable. The whole is somehow greater than the sum of the parts. I's as if the mistakes on all sides somehow cancel each other out. I begin each class with a review of tunes leamed previously. As time goes on, the group sounds better ‘and better, and the players gain confidence. Memorization is an absolute goal with fiddling. Itis good to have the class give group performances, but { encourage them NOT to use music at performances. I also encourage participation, so at performances, I "hide’ the students who still need to read the tunes behind those who can play from memory. At fiddle contests in the USA contestants are not allowed to use sheet music but must play from memory. Development of reading skills isa separate issue. You can teach fiddling quite successfully by sound alone. Many good and some ‘great fiddlers play strictly by ear and do not read music. Perhaps that is why there are many very strong blind fiddle players, Since the brain is not busy trying to translate the note on the page into an appropriate physical action, the sound-to-action connection is more efficient. Many symphony players have expressed to me their deeply felt regret that they can't play anything that is not written down, ‘There is an old joke that goes as follows. One fiddler asks another "Can you read music?" The other replies "not well enough to hurt ‘my fiddling!" The ability to read music is a great resource, and I encourage all my fiddle students to learn fo read. Some prefer to stick to the tradition of learning strictly by ear, and I do not refuse them, Obviously, as classroom string teachers you must teach your students to read. This isan area where my method of fiddle instruction diverges from my father's philosophy. He wanted students to develop good reading skills immediately, and learn all techniques step-by-step in a scientifically sequenced set of skills. I want my students to play immediately in order to maintain their interest level so they can start to have fun with it.I try to choose pieces of appropriate difficulty and I try to develop the physical and technical skills in the context of tunes and a few exercises. ofien use tablature to get students started, and switch to standard musie notation later. There are many forms of tablature. Basically, tablature isan instruction that tells you what finger to move and which sting to place it on. IS understood that the player is position and scale and chord diagrams are given for the student to look at so that he or she can know whether to place the finger in the high or low position. The essence of tablature is that anyone can learn to read it ina few seconds. I recommend that beginning students start playing tunes almost immediately, and tablature is a practical way to accomplish this. also recommend that beginning students should play melodies that they are familiar with. Some of the tunes that I use for teaching are so common that the students can hum or whistle i. This helps to connect the sound to the physical actions needed to produce the sound. But you don't have to limit your teaching to common melodies; you can teach an entirely new repertoire of fiddle tunes that the students have never heard before. Give the students a recording t listen to. At the frst lesson you can give the students a CD or mp3 recording of the tunes that you are going to teach in the next few months, and encourage them to listen to it over and over at home: until they can hear the tune in their mind, When you have listened to a simple piece hundreds of times, you can think your way through the tune. You develop a sense of what note comes next in the sequence. That makes the tune much easier to learn and when the time comes. It will also greatly help with memorization, which is an absolute requirement for true fiddling. There is an ancient technique among Irish fiddlers of "Iilting* a tune. ‘That means to sing the tune with notes and syllables but no words. "La la Ia la" is difficult to execute quickly, s0 try using syllables like "do-ba-do-bo" or "do-dle-doot" when lilting tunes. Demonstrate it for students and get them to lilt along with you. It will help them learn the tunes and build pitch awareness. In the first session or two with new beginning students I teach the students all the necessary techniques for getting a good sound and playing comfortably without excessive tension: how to hold the violin and the bow, how t0 get good tone, how fo draw the bow on the sirings, etc. All of these fundamental techniques will need frequent reinforcing at subsequent sessions, Ideally, you should memorize the tunes that you teach so that you can concentrate on conveying the more subtle aspects of sound ‘when you demonstrate, The students will respect you for having the tunes memorized, especially since one of your stated gals is 10 have them memorize the tunes. But even if you do not memorize the tunes before the classes begin, you can still be very successful teaching them,SOME OF MY EARLY INFLUENCES AS A FIDDLER 2m21/ Clark Kessinger playing Sally Ann Johnson at the Newport Festival. He is one ofthe most influential West Virginia fiddlers with many recordings to his eredit, anda fiddler I greatly admired when I first started fiddling inthe late 1960s. This video shows him to be quite an entertainer with his wiggly legs and buck dancing ‘pnw youtube.com /watch?v=7SwinLwiNZY segment: star to Im10s ‘8m25s/ Byron Berline - Billy in the Lowground at a Texas Fiddle Party in the Mid-1990's. Byron was already a national fiddle champion and had recorded a wonderful fiddle record (vinyl) with The Dillards that was a great inspiration to me when I started fiddling. 1 spent countless hours trying to decipher the lilting pattern of accents in his bow work http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=midMivLVq4séfeature=related segment from 0m35s to 1m15s 2m42v/ Jerusalem Ridge with Kenny Baker, Bill Monroe interviewed by Aly Bain from Boys of the Lough from Aly Bai 1985 TY show Bill Monroe, the mandolin player in this segment, is revered as "The Father of Bluegrass Music" and Kenny Baker was his fiddler longer than anyone other. Kenny Baker is perhaps the most influential bluegrass fiddler because of his role as Monroe's main fiddler, and he has also been a prolific tune writer. Jerusalem Ridge is one of his more popular compositions. bhup:/Avww.youtube.com/wateh?’v=bpzoLAwZ. gsSfeature=related segment from the start to Im3Is ‘6m18s/ Orange Blossom Special; Vassar Clements with allstar cast of bluegrass fiddlers on the Grand OV Opry Vassar Clements (April 25, 1928 ~ August 16, 2005) was a Grammy Award-winning American jazz, swing, and blucwrass fiddler. He has been dubbed the Father of Hillbilly Jazz. Vassar Clements plays with the Del McCoury Band along with some of the best bluegrass fiddle players at the All Star Bluegrass Celebration in honor of Vassar’s 75th birthday, on April 2nd, 2003 atthe Grand Ole ‘Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee. The other star bluegrass fiddlers on this Video are Stuart Duncan, Jason Carte, Hunter Barry, ‘Andy Leftwich, James Price, Jim Van Cleve, Rhonda Vincent, Alison Krauss, and Sara Watkins. Inp:/ivww youtube.comivatch?v=9f_ QySKisgléefeature=related segment from start to Im4s 1MS0S / Buddy Spicher - Black Mountain Rag Buddy Spicher has had a long career in country filing. This film cut is probably from the 1950s or 1960s and features him on a bluegrass fiddle standard in a country music show. hupiffwww.youtube.com/watch?v=xRa3jr4GIN& segment: start-Im05s 1M 40S / Don Messer & His Islanders Don Messer's great influence on American fiddling stem from his regular radio and television broadcasts from 1929 and 1969, and his fiddle transcriptions compiled into published music books. Here he and his group playing St Anne's Reel, A Canadian fiddle standard. ‘The film also shows solo dancing to the music; broadcast from Canada in 1964. ip /wvew. youtube. com/watch?v=BNCyddiqZEU Sfeature=related segment from start to Om46s 1m57s/ Jean Carignan plays Reel de Rimouski ‘This famed Canadian fiddler and taxi driver was noted for his unique style, technical wizardry ineluxing amazing off-the-string bow pyrotechnics: ricochet bowings, left hand pizzicato. ‘up: /www. youtube. com/watch?v=BjlkRH2wI7Q8N segment Om25s to Im25s 4MSSS/ Jerry Holland - Cape Breton Fiddler Jerry Holland's has influenced a younger generation of Cape Breton fiddlers like Natalie MacMaster who have taken this traditional Scottish style all over the world in touring shows. This set of tunes recorded with pianist Mary Jessie Gillis when he was younger, going from slow to fast & exciting: you can clearly see his bowing, but duplicating it is another matter. The fiddle world mouened his passing quite recently hutp: www. youtube.com/watch?v=Aaxw¥ 2GeOuw segment: from 2m35s to 3m24s 3m15s/ Tommy Jarrell; Drunkards Hiceups aka Rye WhiskeyMany old-time musicians revere Tommy Jarrell, not for technical prowess but as a tradition bearer, a direet descendant of a distant ‘musical past, with an interesting and deep repertoire of very old tunes that he salvaged from obscurity when he was “discovered” by folk revivalists, ‘nnp:/fwww.youtube.com/vatch?v=bDIPnG3RDxU segment from start to 1m25s ‘3m6s/ Cajun Musicians The Savoy Family Band ‘This is a good example of authentic traditional Cajun music featuring well-known tradition bearer Mark Savoy on accordian with his ‘wife Ann on guitar and his sons Wilson and Joel on fiddles. This is music for dancing and celebrating, with a Very engaging rhythmic pulse |hup:!/wrw.youtube.com/watch?v=wiv8PUyelHQ&feature=related segment from star to OmS6s In Concert Doug Kershaw - The Ragin’ Cajun Doug Kershaw is a unique fiddling entertainer. He has written some hit songs and been featured on national television. His manner of playing is visually stimulating: wild eyrations, and holding the fiddle against the chest (or even loose in the at) while he plays and sings at the same time. Mostly in public he performs his big hts and acts like a wild man, but he isa very capable traditional Cajun fiddler when he chooses to play the old tunes. My older son Michael and I played triple fiddles with him onstage at a festival in Geneva Switzerland; one of our more interesting memories, bup:/www youtube.com/atch’v=X3mSnad-981 segment from start to OmS8s Doug Kershaw - A Classical Cajun Gumbo ‘This is a 2008 promotional video fora joint concert featuring Doug Kershaw with the University of Northern Colorado Symphony Orchestra. When I visited with Doug in Geneva in 2005, he talked about wanting to put out a method book that would teach string players to play his style of music. T offered to help him by doing the transcriptions but he never took me up on it. But his avowed interest in preserving his style of music comes forth in this collaboration with university string students. hup:/www youtube. com/vatehv=rnigUwH3}9U&feature=related segment from ImI8s to 220s OLD-TIMEY MUSIC Ams) Brace Molsky - Cotton Eyed Joe Bruce Molsky performed this in concert atthe Edinburgh Folk Club in 2008, He has done extensive research into Appalachian ol timey music, and is one of the most vigorous advocates of the highly driving, rhythmic style of eross-tuned fiddling from that region ‘of America. ‘There are a lot of videos of him performing on you-tube, and they are well worth watching. ‘hupz/fwww.youtube.com/watch?y=nsfQaesSve0 segment from start to 1m3s 4m50s/ Rayna Gellert, Clifftop 2008 Fiddle Finals Rayna Gellert is one of the rising stars of Appalachian old-timey fiddling. Her band Uncle Far is quite popular on the festival cireit. Here is a portion of a solo piece played in competition, "Folding The Sheets” http://www. youtube. com/atch?v=TrweiT fVgQ&feature=Play ListS&p=C386B394CC98 | B9playnent_from-PLAindex-O&playne xtel ‘segment 235s to 310s ‘3m15s/ Rayna Gellert (fiddle) and John Herrmann (banjo) Wolves A'Howlin’ (Old timey fiddle and banjo is a perfect combination, and this isa great example of how well these instruments work together. hitp:/www. youtube.com/watchv=9DKAz6HEStaéfeature=related segment from 1m23s to Im47s, COMIC RELIEF ‘2mS6s/ Willie Hall, King of JazzThis is perhaps the best comedy violin routine that Ihave seen, Trick fiddling at its finest, Show the whole thing to your classes, I uarantee that your students will love it. ‘The segment shows him playing Pop Goes The Weasel but the whole video has more worth watching. hutp://srww.youtube.com/wateh?v=7XA 16CzV_YO segment from 050s to 2m08s is his Pop Goes The Weasel routine THE NEW GENERATIONS OF FIDDLERS 2m26s! Stuart Duncan playing Kentucky bluegrass style version of Soppin' The Gravy 1 first met Stuart Duncan when he was 11 and had recently won the American Seoutish Fiddling Championship. He has become one of bluegrass music's best fiddlers, known for his clean technique and musicality. ‘hup:fww-youtube.com/watch'v=uXID_2wQWHs segment: 0m22s to 1m 22s, 4M48S/ LEAHY ur family has enjoyed this touring family band on several occasions. Their dynamic stage show is quite impressive. Some consider the lead fiddler Donnell Leahy among the finest traditional fiddlers in the world, He is martied to popular touring fiddler Natalie MacMaster. This cut shows three of the family fiddlers (all 8 play quite well) in unison & harmony & dancing. hitp:wvew.youtubecom/watch?7v=QQly4iyo8wo8feature=related ‘segment from 2MS0S - 3MS0S 4m36s/ Barrage: 7 Wicked Reels—> Barrage isa touring group of seven young fiddlers who combine outstanding fiddling with dance and energetic movement to create an entertaining stage show that tours constantly around the world to showcase fiddling in its many forms. ‘The show personnel changes with each tour. Perhaps one of your students will someday become a member. Your students will enjoy watching the Barrage performances on you-tube. hhup:/wwsv.youtube.com/watch?y=wCulusanwS&mode=related&esearch= segment from 1m26s to ImS2s OMS9S / Buddy Spicher - double stop lesson when he was much older He has been one of Nashville's most prolific session fiddlers. His signature double stop harmony technique can be heard on a great ‘many commercial recordings and has had far reaching influence on the current generation of young *hot" fiddlers. |hup:/www youtube.com ateh?v=PaPAZ-3YmQ&NR=1 Buddy Spicher & Billy Contreras - The Way You Look Tonight Here you can hear how two fiddlers can weave a complex 4-note harmonic tapestry with one fiddler playing the outside pair of notes ‘and another playing the inside pair, Here he demonstrates with his young virtuoso protegé Billy Contreras, who noted jazz violinist and improvising guru Christian Howes considers one of the greatest jazz violinists today. |upfwww-youtube.com/watch?v=3gPKCVuhHyU&efeature=related segment star-Om25s -4m20s! Billy Contreras - Amanda Here is a taste of Billy Contreras’ jazzy solo work. http:www:youtube.com/watch'v=pCKxISBXZBI&feature=related. segment: 2m20s3m10 2m32s/ Darol Anger Rhythm Technique Lesson Darol Anger invented the complex “chopping” technique for use in his Turtle Island String Quartet. ‘The violin, viola or cello becomes a percussive instrument. This technique is currently in widespread use among fiddlers in styles ranging from old-time to jazz. Darol Anger demonstrates chops in a tune and explains chopping process. ‘hup:fww youtube. com/watch?v=03Hudy JB bOSeature=related segment: from start to 1m47s 2m2Sw/ Casey Driessen Backstage At Wintergrass hutp:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLe-PT9H InE& feature=related Casey Driessen has developed a rapid triplet chop and integrates it with singing. How does he do it?2?? segment from Om20s to 1m03sIMSSS/ Christian Howes - Blues Lesson Christian Howes is a great jazz improviser and string educator. He runs a string eamp and maintains a busy teaching and performing schedule. He has just released a valuable set of digital resources that teach improvising for the aspiring young jazz musick ‘one isa freebie useful to string teachers. |hutp:fwww youtube. com/watchW=I155150fOOsSeteature=related 2mLIs/ Christian Howes - Tips For Improvising Christian Howes suggests improvising from Carl Flesch scale, bouncing bows, double stops & trills hhup:/fwww.youtube.com/watch?v=2NvK8_j24DA &feature=related CONTEST FIDDLING: 4m239/ Tristan Clarridge at the National Old-Time Fiddle contest at Weiser, Idaho in 2008 This video shows a complete round in the finals of the nations biggest fiddle contest by one of the best contest fiddlers, ever. I've known Tristan and his equally skilled sister Taschina since they were 12 and 15. Together they dominated American western fiddle contests for many years. This was his fourth national ttl in five years, and he was already seriously involved with a performing career utilizing his skills on the cello. hhup:www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbXIRVAWKig segment: start to Om42s 4m33s/ Winners of the 2009 twin fiddles competition at Weiser Idaho. Alina Geslison, Grace Dayton. ‘Twin fiddling (duets with mostly parallel harmony) is a recent addition to fiddle contests around the country, and I think I may have helped it to get established at these festivals, [have loved twin fiddling throughout my performing career. Young players seem to really relate to it, as these two young twin fiddlers show. http://www. youtube.com/watch?v=s7GS7QYnEeU Sifeature=related segment: start to ImI6s 2m46s/ Mark O'Connor - Fiddle Encore I've watched Mark O'Connor’ career with interest since he released his first record at age 12. He first conquered the world of con fiddling, then went on to become Nashville's most sought after session musician, He has enormous talent on fiddle, guitar and ‘mandolin, He seems to be regarded as a modern day Paganini. Eventually he branched out into jazz, swing and composing his own take on classical music based on American roots music. This year he has released a series of method books to teach his style of violin Here, he performs an encore after his concerto with the Brooklyn Philharmonic at Prospect Park, NYC in 2008. The first portion of the encore is improvised, and then last portion is his arrangement of Devils Dream, hup:/!www.youtube.com/vatch?v=vpMsJ1qD214