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Fiddle Club of the World

Tunes from Karen Solgard

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Here are some tunes played by Karen Solgrad on a Norwegian hardanger fiddle.
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Reiselaat fra Hallingdal

Steffasgard

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Trondelag Bridal March
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Go to Karen Solgard’s transcriptions of these Norwegian tunes.

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Karen Solgard will be performing at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Sunday, November 30 at the Leadway Bar & Gallery. Click here to register, or call 773.728.6000.
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Filed under: Tunes by Paul | November 18, 2008 | Comments (0)

Notation for Karen Solgard Tunes

These are Karen Solgard’s transcriptions of some of Norwegian tunes for the hardanger fiddle. Musical notation is only a guide to one way to play a tune. Use the written notes along with the recordings. If you hear something different than what is written down, good. Trust your ears. Play what you hear.

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Click on thumbnail to enlarge.

Hallingdal notation

Steffasgaard notes

Trondelag notes

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Written music is a sketch. Sound documents are the ultimate authority.
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To hear Karen Solgard play these tunes.

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Karen Solgard will be performing at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Sunday, November 30 at the Leadway Bar & Gallery. Click here to register, or call 773.728.6000.

Filed under: Notation by Paul | November 17, 2008 | Comments (0)

Alan Jabbour tunes

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Alan learned all these tunes from Henry Reed (1884-1968) of Glen Lyn, West Virginia.
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Granny
Slow and medium versions of Granny.
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West Virginia Highway
Slow and medium versions of West Virginia Highway (aka Ebenezer).
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Peekaboo Waltz
Slow version of Peekaboo Waltz.
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Used with permission from Learning Old-Time Fiddle Appalachian Style with Alan Jabbour.
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Go to Alan Jabbour’s transcriptions of these Henry Reed tunes.

Alan Jabbour will be performing at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Wednesday, October 29 at Paddy O’Splaines. Click here to register, or call 773.728.6000.

Filed under: Tunes by Paul | October 15, 2008 | Comments (0)

Notation for Alan Jabbour tunes

These are Alan Jabbour’s transcriptions of some of the tunes he learned from Henry Reed. Musical notation is only a guide to one way to play a tune. Use the written notes along with the recordings. If you hear something different than what is written down, good. Trust your ears. Play what you hear.

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Click on thumbnail to enlarge.

Notes for Granny

Notes for Peekaboo Waltz

Notes for West Virginia Highway

Used with permission from Learning Old-Time Fiddle Appalachian Style with Alan Jabbour.
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Written music is a sketch. Sound documents are the ultimate authority.
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To hear Alan Jabbour play these tunes.

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Alan Jabbour will be performing at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Wednesday, October 29 at Paddy O’Splaines. Click here to register, or call 773.728.6000.

Filed under: Notation by Paul | October 14, 2008 | Comments (0)

Ken Perlman tunes

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Ken learned these tunes from fiddlers on Prince Edward Island.
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Brae Reel
Coming soon: a slow version of Brae Reel.
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Miramichi Fire
Coming soon: a slow version of Miramichi Fire.
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Medley: The Brae Reel & The Miramichi Fire
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Used with permission from Ken Perlman, from his Island Boy CD.
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Go to Ken Perlman’s transcriptions of these fiddle tunes.

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Ken Perlman will be performing as part of a fiddle-banjo summit with Alan Jabbour at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Wednesday, October 29 at Paddy O’Splaines. Click here to register, or call 773.728.6000.

Filed under: Tunes by Paul | October 12, 2008 | Comments (0)

Notation for Ken Perlman tunes

These are Ken Perlman’s transcriptions of two of the tunes he learned from fiddlers on Prince Edward Island. Musical notation is only a guide to one way to play a tune. Use the written notes along with the recordings. If you hear something different than what is written down, good. Trust your ears. Play what you hear.

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Click on thumbnail to enlarge.

The Brae Reel

The Mirimichi Fire

Used with permission from The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island by Ken Perlman (Mel Bay Publications).
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Written music is a sketch. Sound documents are the ultimate authority.
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To hear Ken Perlman play these tunes.

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Alan Jabbour & Ken Perlman will be performing in a fiddle & banjo summit at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Wednesday, October 29 at Paddy O’Splaines. Click here to register, or call 773.728.6000.

Filed under: Notation by Paul | October 11, 2008 | Comments (0)

Tunes from Frank Ferrel

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Here are some tunes played by Frank Ferrel, a Yankee fiddler from Maine.
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Mrs. Hogan’s Birthday
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Connemara Stockings
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Beans & Humors of Maine
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Tripping to the Well & Galway Belle
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These tunes are from Frank’s earlier CDs, “Boston Fiddle” (Rounder) and “Fiddledance” (Great Meadows Music). You should buy the CDs.
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Frank Ferrel will be performing at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Saturday, October 4 at Chief O’Neills. Click here to register, or call 773.728.6000.

Filed under: Tunes by Paul | October 3, 2008 | Comments (0)

Guest Artists for Fall 2008

Meetings held in varied locations. Check schedule below.

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October 4 (Sat) 2:00
Frank Ferrel
Wicked Good Yankee Fiddling
Chief O’Neill’s Pub (3471 N. Elston)

Real New England fiddling, to be served up aplenty by Frank Ferrel, is a spicy stew of Irish, Acadian and Cape Breton Scottish blended with Yankee ingenuity. It’s hot and wicked good to dance to. Mr. Ferrel, who currently hails from Maine, was first inspired by the fiddling of his grandfather, a resident of West Virginia and Ohio. Then, while stationed in Boston shipyards in the 1960s, he fell under the sway of the Irish, Acadian and Canadian Maritime fiddlers who frequented the dance halls on Dudley Street.
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Frank Ferrel will present a mini-concert and workshop on fiddling for contra dancing. Participants will be invited to join the band for one dance that evening at the Midway Contra in Ida Noyes Hall at the University of Chicago.
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Click here to register for October 4 meeting.

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(click for another view)
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To hear some Frank Ferrel tunes.

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(click for another view)
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To hear some Alan Jabbour tunes.

To hear some Ken Perlman tunes.

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October 29 (Wed) 8:00
Alan Jabbour & Ken Perlman
Fiddle-Banjo Summit
Paddy O’Splaines (2434 W Montrose)

Alan Jabbour learned many of the tunes we play today directly from Henry Reed, the Hammons Family and others masters of a generation that has passed on. Ken Perlman provides a solid and spirited second on clawhammer banjo. Banjoists (and other instrumentalists) are always welcome at Fiddle Club meetings, but this time, there will be something especially for you. Mr. Jabbour, now retired, was the longtime director of the Center for American Folklife at the Library of Congress.
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Click here to register for October 29 meeting.
Note: if you register for Old Time Ensemble on Wednesdays next session (starts that night), you are automatically registered for Fiddle Club of the World meeting.

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November 30 (Sun) 6:30
Karen Solgard
The Enchanting Sound of Norse Fiddle
Leadway Bar and Gallery (5233 N. Damen)

The Hardanger fiddler or hardingfele, the national instrument of Norway, is a richly decorated fiddle with four extra strings running beneath the fingerboard. They vibrate sympathetically along with the bowed strings and give a haunting depth to the fingered melodies. These enchanting and ancient tunes can also be played on a standard fiddle. Karen Torkelson Solgård is a fiddler, sinter and story-teller whose personal mission is teach American audience about the national music of her forebearers. Ms. Solgard comes to us from Minneapolis.
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To hear some Norwegian tunes from Karen Solgard.
(coming soon)

Click here to register for the November 30 meeting.

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(click for another view)
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(click to enlarge)

Filed under: Meeting Schedule by Paul | September 11, 2008 | Comments (0)

In the Field: Bluff Country Gathering

Each year BobnGail (aka Bob Bovee & Gail Heil) put on one of the friendliest and funnest old-time music events anywhere–the Bluff Country Gathering–in one of the prettiest and welcomingest small towns you’ll find: Lanesboro, Minnesota. Held the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, the Gathering is four days of workshops, concerts, jamming parties, great food, easy laughter, enduring friendships and an old-time square dance. Once you’ve been, you’ll want to come back every year, so keep these links ready to register for the 2009 Gathering once it’s announced next winter.

The 2008 Gathering boasted a stellar lineup of fiddlers, banjoists and other old-time musicianers. Because I canoed the Root River from Lanesboro to Whalan with my kids and our friend, bowmaker Lee Guthrie, I missed a highlight of this years gathering. Fortunately, Lynn Garren had a recorder going for the fiddle showcase on Saturday afternoon. It featured six of the finest exponents of traditional American fiddling from my generation and the next. Tom Sauber, Brad Leftwich and Alice Gerrard (of Tom, Brad & Alice), Mac Traynham, Chirps Smith and Stephanie Coleman. All have respectfully studied with elder (more or less) masters, and all have found their own comfortable places within the deep streams of tradition.

Tom, Brad & Alice (six tunes)

Mac, Chirps & Stephanie (six more tunes to be posted soon)

Lynn generously shared sound files of the showcase with the Fiddle Club (read Lynn’s take), recorded on a Zoom H2 from the audience in the rustic Sons of Norway Lodge on May 17, 2008.

All the tunes posted here are used with the gracious permission of the artists. Please download responsibly.

The artists have CDs and other product available. Follow the links on the tune pages for more information.

Paul Tyler, convener

Filed under: Musings by Paul | August 12, 2008 | Comments (0)

Bluff Country Tunes 1: Tom, Brad & Alice

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Recordings used by permission of the artists. Click on their names or photos for links to their websites or info on their CDs &c.
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Tom, Brad & Alice

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Tom Sauber
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Deep Ellum
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Dry and Dusty
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Brad Leftwich
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Arkansas Holler
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Richmond
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Alice Gerrard

West Virginia Farewell

Wild Hog in the Woods

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Recorded by Lynn Garren at the Bluff Country Gathering in Lanesboro, Minnesota on May 17, 2008.

Return to Bluff Country Gathering post and link to more recordings.

Filed under: Tunes by Paul | August 11, 2008 | Comments (0)