Hi Mark,

One idea is to analyze the fiddle tune and in the melody determine it's harmonic implication. The other idea is to listen to a good accompanist on a recording and copy those chords.

The problem with Irish recordings of the twenties by masters of the fiddle such as Micheal Coleman is they unfortunately found poor accompanists who didn't have a feeling for the modal implications of a tune such as Red Haired Boy. There are certain notes in the tune to suggest chords that are predominant. I refer to these as guidepost chords and in between there can be others that are more flexibly chosen.

The best thing to do is to learn to sing the fiddle tune, play with the chords until they sound right to you and then use them behind the fiddler. Most fiddle tunes are melodic enough so that when you slow them down, you have a kind of song. Then you set your chords to it.

Analyze the chordal style of the piece. If it's Irish, it's probably modal. Determine the mode. Red Haired Boy is Myxolydian therefore you can use the bVII chord or the V minor chord interchangeably. Appalachian fiddle tunes are generally not too modal because they were used for dances. Some such as Shady Grove or Cluck Old Hen might be closer to the modal styles of the British Isles.

The other suggestion is to learn or make up a series of bass run patterns that run through the chords that are usable for I, IV and V7 progressions.

Then there's the "crooked" tune. Here, you may have to determine what happens to the bar line at the "crooked" spot. It may go into a three-quarter bar or two-quarter bar in four-quarter time. Eventually, if you accompany the "crooked" tune more than once, perhaps your ear can pick it up.

Frank