Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t

Subject: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: MickyMan
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 10:18 AM

I'm a middle school orchestra director and I teach lots of fiddle tunes to intermediate level violinists (First three years of study). I can't help but think that there may be a message board out there that may help me source out some new tunes that don't require any great facility to sound good. I've got some of my own to share, too. Can somebody point me in the right direction? [PM's also appreciated]

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: greg stephens
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 10:38 AM

Well, I share a house with a fiddler who does a bit of teaching, so I spend a certain amount of time lurking upstairs hearing some godawful beginners scraping away downstairs. And from the evidence of my ears, the tunes that seem to have a built in capacity to sound vaguely like enjoyable music (even when played excruciatingly out of tune by cloth-eared kids) are Cripple Creek in A and Winster Gallop in G(the normal key) or D(beginner's key).

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: GLoux
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 11:15 AM

Are you familiar with David Brody's Fiddlers' Fake Book on Oak Publications? In addition to lots of tunes, it has a somewhat dated discography for each of the tunes (a lot of the vinyl recordings are out of print).

-Greg

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 11:44 AM

For Celtic dance music you might start at The Fiddler's Companion. Thousands of tunes are listed with published sources, and if you click on "tunes" you will find links to many sites offering tunes in a variety of formats - GIF files, MIDI, ABC etc.

French traditional dance music, as heard at sessions in south and southwest England for instance, is perhaps a little easier for starters, though a bit more rhythmically complex. But maybe you're looking for classical tunes, or something else. If you would like to be more specific, I might be able to provide appropriate links.

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 12:23 PM

HETZLER'S: Fiddle tunes in MIDI, slowdown/practice tools, AND message board.

Here at Mudcat we have Mudcat MIDIs. These are mostly tunes for lyrics that have been posted; see FAQ (link, top of page) for submission info.

Welcome to Mudcat! Good number of fiddlers here.

~Susan

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 12:40 PM

Tell me which ones you have and I'll try to come up with some more easy ones.

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: Zhenya
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 02:02 PM

This is a good source for Irish tunes:

http://www.thesession.org/

Look in the tune section for music (notes and abcs) and discography.

Search in the discussion section for threads about "basic tunes" or "beginner tunes", etc.

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: Bardford
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 02:30 PM

There is also the fiddle-L listserv at:
Fiddle-L

A list of tunes posted there will be found at :
Fiddle-L archives

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: open mike
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 05:22 PM

this is the best fiddle lresource i can think of: http://www.fiddle.com/
and the national championships are held here: (in Weiser Idaho) http://www.fiddlecontest.com/
where are yo located? here is the CALIF old time fiddle association
page http://www.fiddle.com/calfiddle/
do yo ever encourage your students to go to festivals and contests and join in the jams that might happen in the parking lots of camp grounds?
this is the best way to experience the music!
is there an fiddler organization or group near you? join in!

Subject: RE: Some great ideas
From: MickyMan
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 05:26 PM

I just checked back. Thank you all for those leads. Brody's Fiddler's Fakebook is geat, but what I need are very easy tunes that don't require great speed to get a good sound. My current first year tune with the best success is "Walkin'In The Parlor" in a very simplified form. During the second school year of instruction I teach simple versions of Mississippi Sawyer/Flop Eared Mule and Cripple Creek / Angeline The Baker. So many tunes require speed to sound decent. I'm looking for other moderate speed winners that teachers have had success with. Keep the info coming, especially message boards where I may talk to other violin teachers who take fiddle seriously at an early stage of student development.

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: Sorcha
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 06:05 PM

Boil/Bile them Cabbage Down
Old Joe Clark
Almost any slow aire in an easy key like D or G
Swallowtail Jig
Cripple Creek
Simple arrangement of Golden Slippers
Simple arrangement of Turkey in the Straw
Road to Lisdoonvarna I (in Fakebooke w/o ornaments)
You Are My Sunshine
Will The Circle Be Unbroken
When the Saints Go Marching In
Liberty Hornpipe

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: Peter K (Fionn)
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 07:39 PM

MickyMan, Carolan tunes should be perfect for you. The link is to midi files at The Contemplator website. It's well worth following the link, if only to appreciate midis created by the peerless Barry Taylor. The rest of The Contemplator site is worth exploring at your leisure, but I think you'll find that Carolan's tunes are perfect for your immediate need. When you've decided which tunes you like, you'll easily find the sheet music via Google.

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: open mike
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 08:55 PM

and here is a friend and neighbor who is a fiddle teacher
Pamela Kather

Subject: RE: Fiddle Forum - where can I find one on t
From: GUEST,Al
Date: 17 Jan 04 - 12:49 AM

Make 'em learn by ear, not by note, or they'll never learn how to play the fiddle.