Here’s a great tune from the Cumberland Plateau area of south-central Kentucky and north-central Tennessee, inspired by the playing of Kentucky legend Clyde Davenport.
Dandy Jim (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=240]
Dandy Jim (slow, mp3)[wpdm_file id=241]
Dandy Jim (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=242]
Here’s a tune to drive dull care away from Adrien Fontaine of Bishopton in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. Thanks to Éric Favreau and Claude Méthé for keeping this one in circulation!
Reel de la p’tite misère (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=60]
Reel de la p’tiite misère (slow, mp3)[wpdm_file id=61]
Reel de la p’tite misère (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=62
In honor of Mardi-Gras and the powerful, dynamic music of Cajun Louisiana, here’s an old-time two step which has been widely played and widely recorded, starting with Dennis McGee and Sadie Courville. It goes by a number of names, including “Enterres-moi pas” (“Don’t Bury Me”) and “Tréville n’est pas pêcheur” (“Tréville isn’t a fisherman”) and has had various and unrelated song verses associated with it. There are as many versions as there are fiddlers and accordionists playing this tune, so plan on making up your own!
Devillier Two Step (fast, mp3)[wpdm_file id=191]
Devillier Two Step (simple melody, slow, mp3)[wpdm_file id=192]
Devillier Two Step (simple melody, sheet music)[wpdm_file id=200]
It’s going to be a great month of March here in Fiddleville! I’ll be offering a new class and doing some Quebec session workshops, team-teaching a fiddle and banjo duet workshop, and playing two local concerts. Read on for the details!
On the workshop front:
Fiddle and Banjo Duet workshops on Saturday, Mar. 2nd and 16th from 1-3pm: Back by popular demand after a hugely successful debut series last fall, banjo goddess and teacher extraordinaire Leela Grace and I will once again team up to offer a two-part workshop on the magic of playing fiddle and banjo duets. The workshops will focus on the basics of duet playing, on demonstration of techniques and tunes, separate fiddle and banjo instruction, and chances to play in smaller fiddle/banjo ensembles and try out the new music, with Leela and Lisa dropping in to visit and help as needed. Participants will have access to mp3s of the tunes before the first weekend. If you took the workshop series in the fall, please join us again! We will be offering all new tunes (key of G, standard tuning for fiddle). Sliding scale $45-90, pre-registration required. For more information and registration, click here.
Quebec Spring Tune Workshops: Mar. 24 and April 7, 2013
Spring into Spring with a bagful of great Quebec dance tunes! Six tunes in two sessions, plus access to downloadable mp3 recordings and sheet music. It is going to be a LOT of fun, focusing primarily on the repertory of eastern Quebec left-handed fiddler/composer/woodcarver/life-of-the-party Yvon Mimeault: jigs, reels, step dance tunes, some old, some new, some major, some minor modal. Yvon will be the featured Quebecois fiddler at the 2013 Festival of American Fiddle Tunes in Port Townsend–taking these workshops will give you a headstart on his music (or–if you can’t go to Fiddle Tunes–a great way to learn some Yvon tunes!). You can sign up for one , workshop for $30 or take both for $50 (that’s a bargain!).
WHAT: Quebec Spring Tune Workshops
WHEN: Sunday, Mar. 24 and Apr. 7, from 3:30-5:45pm
WHERE: My music studio in SE Portland
COST: One workshop for $30 or 2 for $50
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED click here (it’s easy!)
On the concert front:
Tuesday, Mar. 19th, 8pm at the Alberta Rose Theatre: Dan Compton and I will play the opening set for for Cape Breton Scottish trad divas Mary Jane Lamond (Gaelic singer) and Wendy MacIsaac (powerhouse fiddler, pianist, and step dancer). Wendy and Mary Jane are internationally renowned, award-winning musicians. A great evening awaits! You can purchase tickets on-line at the Alberta Rose Theatre website.
On Friday, Mar. 22nd, 7:30pm in Southeast Portland: I’ll be doing a house concert with the wickedly multi-talented and hilarious Betsy Branch and Leela Grace. A great evening of instrumentals and songs, new and old, from near and far, delivered up fresh. For more information and reservations, e-mail abbiew@froggie.com
On the classroom front:
Fiddle 2 Back-Up Harmonies and Chords (Part 2), Mondays, 6:30-7:30pm on Mar. 4, 11, 18, 25, April 1 and 8
By popular demand! This 6-week class will solidify and build on the previous 7-week session. You will become more skilled and comfortable playing back-up chord progressions and fills for tunes and songs in the keys of G, D, and A. We’ll work with old-time, Scottish, bluegrass, and Cajun repertories. As always, there will be opportunities to strengthen core technique: tone production, fingering, bowing, and string crossings. Downloadable recordings and hand-outs to support material covered in class will be posted to a class webpage.
Classes take place in my music studio in SE Portland (a cozy room with great ambiance!). If you did not take the first session, please contact me before registering. Cost: $100-130 sliding scale. Pre-registration required (don’t worry, it’s easy!) Just click here.
Come learn the basics of Cajun fiddling in a supportive group session. You’ll learn some great tunes and get a solid start swimming in the bayou of bowings, blues ornamentation, improvisation and back-up fiddling which make Cajun fiddling so distinctive. Tunes will be taught by ear, but both recordings and sheet music will also be provided. This is a great way to increase your repertory and be ready to jump in on the Portland Cajun Jam Session (a free Cajun music house party held third Sunday afternoons of the month).
This six-week class meets at my music room in SE Portland on Sunday afternoons from 4-5pm.
Pre-registration is required and oh-so-simple! Just visit the Intro to Cajun Music Class page.
Here’s a great old classic dance tune to start off the year: “Julie Ann Johnson,” from Grayson County fiddle legend Emmet Lundy (1864-1953). You can learn a lot about his life and music by consulting his biography page at the Old-Time Fiddlers Hall of Fame site (www.oldtimemusic.com).
Julie Ann Johnson (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=175]
Julie Ann Johnson (moderate speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=176]
Julie Ann Johnson (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=177]
Here is a great barn-burner of a Georgia fiddle tune for those holiday square dances: “Christmas Time Will Soon Be Over.” This particular setting is from Fiddlin’ John Carson (March 23, 1868 – December 11, 1949), a Georgia fiddler who recorded over 150 78 rpm records in the 1920s and 1930s. Roll up the rug!
Xmas Time Will Soon Be Over (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=150]
Xmas Time Will Soon Be Over (medium speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=151]
Xmas Time Will Soon Be Over (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=154]
Saturday Jan. 19, 2013, from 10:30 to 11:30pm, be there and be square! Come square dance up a storm to Crankset String Band at the Portland Old Time Music Gathering. Crankset String Band is me on fiddle with partners-in-musical-crime Scott Killops (banjo), Joe Moore (guitar), and Robin Wilcox (bass). Charmaine Slaven will be calling- (lucky us and lucky you!) Hope to see you there!
And, from 1-2pm on same-said Saturday, Leela Grace (banjo diva, singer/songwriter, and clogging goddess) will be doing a concert set. She’s invited myself and fellow fiddler Betsy Branch to sit in on a few tunes. Should be some pretty sweet harmonies and hot dance tunes! Hope to see you there!
Here is a great tune to start la nouvelle année: “Le Cotillon de la patte de mouton” (“Sheep Hoof Cotillion,” loosely translated!). Aimé Gagnon (see below for bio) is the source of this tune, and it was a favorite melody of Gens du Québec, a 28-member group of Québécois traditional singers, dancers, musicians, and craftspersons who traveled to Vancouver, BC in 1986 to perform and do crafts demonstrations for ten days at the Expo ’86 Folklife Pavilion. I was the tour coordinator, and one of many happy memories of those weeks was when Aimé would play this tune: after a couple of times through the tune, everyone on stage burst into song on the first part of the tune (with those most universal of lyrics: “la, la, la”). The audience quickly joined in–it was irresistible!
Born in the village of Saint-Louis-de-Lotbinière on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River (about 50 miles southeast of Quebec City), Aimé Gagnon inherited his love of music and a beautiful and unusual repertory of dance music from his father, grandfather, and several uncles. He began playing as a child, and after his marriage to Lisette Lemay, formed a trio with his wife on piano and his brother-in-law Marcel Lemay on accordion. He was by trade a farmer, carpenter, and merchant, but he wove music deep into the fabric of his family and community life. I visited with Aimé at his home in Lotbinière in the 1980s while I was living in Quebec, He was a kindly, gracious, and peaceful person whose music echoed his soft- spoken eloquence.
Cotillon de la patte de mouton (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=156]
Cotillon de la patte de mouton (slow, mp3)[wpdm_file id=157]
Cotillon de la patte de mouton (sheet music)[wpdm_file id=158]
With short days, long nights, and crisp weather, we’re about to enter the winter season. Hope you are staying warm and enjoying those miraculous, occasional blue-sky days. It’s been a busy and fun fall for teaching and performing. I am fortunate to journey with people (like you!) who are discovering the joy of making music and rising to the challenge of doing so on a great musical instrument with some truly medieval design flaws (aka the fiddle!).
I am planning an exciting bunch of classes and workshops for January-March 2013, including a first-ever Intro to Cajun music class, a Quebec Session class, Fiddle 2, and a Fiddle/Banjo duet class (with co-teacher and banjo diva Leela Grace). Read on for details on just what these classes will be, and more!
Here’s a charming version of a varsouvienne-type waltz which has circulated far and wide in Europe and North America since the mid 1800s. It usually is associated with a series of verses and refrains, and wins hands-down the contest for Waltz with the Most Variant Names.
Valse du vieux Québec (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=147]
Valse du vieux Québec (moderate speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=148]
Valse du vieux Québec (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=149]
Here is a small sample of English-language alternate titles: Clap Your Leg Up, Cock Your Leg Up, Come To Bed Love, Father Halpin, Father Halpin’s Top Coat, Father Halpin’s Topcoat, Father Murphy, Father Murphy’s Top Coat, Father Murphy’s Topcoat, Have You Seen My New Clothes?, Have You Seen My New Shoes, Is The Hen Gone, Jan Pierewiet, Jimmy Donkey’s Big Toe, Joe The Yankee, Joe The Yankee’s Big Toe, Kick A Dutchman, Kiss The Donkey, Little Foot, Little Johnny Has The Toothache, The Old Shoes, Pat’s Top Coat, Peter Big Toe, Put Your Little Foot Right Here, Put Your Little Foot Right Out, Put Your Little Toe, Reversavianna, Shave The Donkey, Shew The Donkey, Shoe The Donkey, Shoo The Donkey, Shoot The Donkey, Shoot The Honky, Silver Lakes Varsovianna, The Silver Lakes Varsovianna, Silver Lakes Varsovienne, The Silver Lakes Varsovienne, There’s A Hen Gone, There’s A Hen Gone From Jones, Throw Your Leg Up, Vals Of Vienna, The Vals Of Vienna, Valse De Vienne, Valse Of Vienna, Varsouviana, The Varsouviana, Varsouvienna, Varsouvienne, Varsoviana, Varsoviana Waltz, The Varsoviana, Varsovianna, Varsovienne, Versavienna, The Versavienna, Verse Of Vienna, Versevanna, Versevianna, The Versouviana Dance, Waltz Of Vienna, The Waltz Of Vienna, Warsoviana, Warszawianka.
This particular version is from fiddler Isidore Soucy and you can hear him play this on the Virtual Gramophone website.
Here is a great tune from the Myers brothers (Sidna and Fulton) of Five Forks, VA. “Twin Sisters” is one of those titles which has attached itself to a number of unrelated tunes. This one’s a keeper!
Twin Sisters (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=124]
Twin Sisters (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=125]]
Quebec Tune of the Month for Nov. 2012: Gigue à Matilda. Here is a great tune from the repertory of Joseph “Tido” Beaudry of St-Côme. He was an outstanding fiddler and clearly musical talent runs in the Beaudry family: his grandson Éric Beaudry (De Temps Antan, Norouet, La Bottine Souriante) is carrying on the family heritage with plenty of flair!
Gigue à Matilda (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=190]
Gigue à Matilda (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=123]
On Saturday November 10, I’ll be back at Yachats Celtic Festival with Dan Compton for a return performance–on the main stage evening concert. We’ll be sharing that stage with Aoife Clancy (Co. Tipperary, Ireland) and Town Pants (Vancouver, BC). Should be a great night! I’ll also lead a late-morning workshop on fiddle tunes from Round Peak (Galax, VA and Mt. Airy, NC)…there will be a lot of music, song, and dance in Yachats Nov. 9-11, a great line-up of performers, and plenty of sessions. Hope to see you there!
Here is a great old classic reel from Québec which is widely played by fiddlers and accordion players alike. En avant la musique!
Reel Saint-Paul (dance speed, mp3)[wpdm_file id=115]
Reel Saint-Paul (sheet music)[wpdm_file id=116]
Here is a great old “barn burner” of a tune from Galax-area fiddler Norman S. Edmonds (1889-1976). “Uncle” Norm, as he was known locally, was a very active musician in his community of Hillsville, Virginia, passing along tunes learned from his father and grandfather to his son and grandson and the world at large.
You can hear some of Norm Edmond’s music on the CDs Normand Edmonds and the Old Timers, Vols. 1 and 2, available from The Field Recorder’s Collective. Edmonds is accompanied by The Old Timers, with Rufus Quesinberry on banjo and his sons John, Cecil and Paul Edmonds on guitars. The selections were gathered from 15 minute programs made from January to September 1958 for Galax radio. The Old Timers Show, recorded by Edmond’s son Rush, began in the mid 1950s and was on the air for fifteen minutes every Saturday morning until circa 1970.
Salt River (dance speed, mp3) [wpdm_file id=112]
Salt River (sheet music, pdf)[wpdm_file id=113]
Location: Pacific Crest Community School (116 NE 29th Ave.)
Teachers: Lisa Ornstein (fiddle) and Leela Grace (banjo)
Dates: Saturday, Oct. 13th and 20th
Time: 1pm-3pm
Fee: sliding scale $45-$95
To register, go to www.gracefamilymusic.com/leela-ellie/Leela-lessons.html#fiddle/banjo%20duet
Note: Pre-registration required. Get in touch if you need to make alternate payment arrangements.
Information: Contact Leela at leelagracemusic@gmail.com or at 573-823-5650 or Lisa at lisa.ornstein@hotmail.com or at 503-236-8277
Class Description: Have you been learning your instrument for a while, sweating over those same tunes over and over in your room alone, and wishing for a way to get out and play with others? Have you ever heard a fiddler and a banjo player together with such drive, groove, and joy that you couldn’t keep from smiling and tapping your toe? Have you wished you could find a fiddler or banjo player to play with? Here’s your chance! Come experience the pleasure of creating conversation between fiddle and banjo. Learn from two master players who are also supportive, enthusiastic teachers. Leela Grace and Lisa Ornstein find great joy in sharing the mysteries and magic of old time music with anyone who wants to play! Meet other musicians who are interested in making music together! Participants will have access to mp3s of the tunes before the first weekend. The two-weekend workshop will focus on the basics of duet playing, on demonstration of techniques and tunes, separate fiddle and banjo instruction, and chances to play in smaller fiddle/banjo ensembles and try out the new music, with Leela and Lisa dropping in to visit and help as needed. Do not miss this rare opportunity!
Fiddle:
If you know the basics of fiddle technique know at least a dozen tunes by heart, have some experience playing in various fiddle tunings (AEAE, ADAE, GDAE) and can pick up tunes by ear, this workshop is for you. Questions? Get in touch with Lisa at at 503-236-8277 or at lisa.ornstein@hotmail.com.
Banjo:
This workshop is for you if you know the basic clawhammer strum, the slide, pull-off, hammer-on, and possibly some drop-thumbing, can switch between the Open G, G modal (Sawmill/Mountain Minor), and Double C tunings, know how to use a capo to play in the keys of G, D, and A, and can play several tunes in each key. Questions? Get in touch with Leela at leelagracemusic@gmail.com or at 573-823-5650.
Well, it’s not old-time exactly, but close enough! This new monthly jam session will take place on third Sundays of the month from 1-3:30 pm. It is a free event with a house party format and is designed to be friendly and inclusive to anyone who likes to play or wants to learn some Cajun tunes. Contact me if you would like to be on the e-mail invitation list.
Possum up a ‘Simmon Tree (sheet music)[wpdm_file id=42]
Possum up a ‘Simmon Tree (mp3)[wpdm_file id=43]
Here is a lovely Kentucky tune from the playing of Buddy Thomas (1934-1974) of Emerson, Kentucky. This tune is also known as “Puncheon Camp.”
Quadrille des ancêtres, 2e partie (mp3)[wpdm_file id=41]
Quadrille des ancêtres, 2e partie (sheet music)[wpdm_file id=40]
“Quadrille des ancêtres, 2e partie” (= “Old Folks’ Quadrille, 2nd Figure”) is one of my favorite tunes and is making the rounds in the Pacific Northwest. It is from the repertory of Isidore Soucy. Here’s a bit more about him.
Isidore Soucy (1899-1963) was an accomplished fiddler when he left Sainte-Blandine (near Rimouski) in 1924 for Montreal, part of the huge rural exodus which swelled Quebec cities and New England mill towns in the early 20th century. His timing was perfect: the entrepreneurs of Montreal’s burgeoning entertainment industry, realizing that they could successfully market rural traditional culture to recently urbanized French-Canadians and Franco-Americans, were recruiting musicians for their recording studios, stage shows, and radio “barn dance” programs. In 1925, Soucy began recording; by 1928, he was performing full-time on CKAC and playing at the 1,620-seat Monument national theater for Conrad Gauthier’s Veillées du bon vieux temps. Over the next 35 years, he led or played in several popular groups, recorded hundreds of 78s and albums, and with his family hosted Chez Isidore, the most successful TV variety show of its day.
September 2012 Quebec Session Class
When: September 9, 16, 30, and Oct. 7 2012, from 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Where: the music studio (1605 SE 27th Ave. Portland, OR)
Great Quebec session tunes await you: reels, waltzes, 6/8s and more from fiddle legends such as Louis Boudreault, Jules Verret, and Edouard Richard. This 4-week class will expand your repertory of tunes to share at dances and Portland’s Quebec Jam Session (a free house party held first Tuesday of the month). There will be NO CLASS on September 23rd…I’ll be playing a gig at Mississippi Pizza with Leela Grace and Betsy Branch.
Quebec Session Class is a group class series where traditional tunes typically played in Quebec are taught by ear in an inclusive, relaxed setting. Class members receive a CD of all tunes and downloadable sheet music.
Cost: $75 ($65 pre-paid)
To Register: E-mail me (lisa.ornstein@hotmail.com)
Here is a fiddle tune I learned from Magdelan Island fiddler Avila LeBlanc (1914-2010). This is one of several tunes which Avila classified as “rabestans” (my spelling), a type of of dance tune composed of short strains with a set of associated lyrics (generally just a couplet or two). A good singer, by combining the sung verse with lilting, could fill in for a fiddler when people wanted to dance and no musicians were present.
The words to “Le petit métier” (sung to the first part of the tune) are:
Si j’avais c’que j’ai pas,
Un métier pour fair’ d’la toile,
Si j’avais c’que j’ai pas,
Un métier pour fair’ du drap.
Henry Reed (1885-1968) of Glen Lyn, Virginia, recorded this tune for Alan Jabbour in the 1960s. During the summer of 1973, I spent a couple of months as an intern at the Library of Congress Archive of Folk Song. My boss was Alan Jabbour and I spent much of my time transcribing his recordings of Henry Reed’s fiddling. This particular tune seems to be a variant of “Lady of the Lake,” which appears in an early 19th century publication from the state of Virginia. You can learn much more about Mr. Reed and listen to his music on the Library of Congress website Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier: The Henry Reed Collection.