Fiddle Club of the World

Dan sent us recordings of these tunes played at a moderate tempo. The first two are in the key of C. The third is in Bb. Be brave and give it a try.

Shelvin’ Rock

New Five Cents

Brushy Run

Just added, a D tune, from a 1985 album of Dan’s band, Shoofly.

Sugar Hill

Send a comment and let us know which two of these four tunes you especially want to work through at the Fiddle Club session.

Dan Gellert will be performing at the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Saturday, March 28 at the Leadway Bar & Gallery.

You can register for the Fiddle Club meetings as a workshop. Cost is $20. Call 773.728.6000 or to register on line, go here. Space is limited.

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.
or

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.

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.

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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Alice Gerrard

West Virginia Farewell

Wild Hog in the Woods

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Click here for tips and troubleshooting on how to get at these .mp3s.

Las Chaparreras.

A simple huapango in the style of Son Huasteco.
slow version of Las Chaparreras.

El Caballito

A more complicated Son Huasteco huapango.

More to come. Check back in a few days.

Felipe Valle & Juan Rivera are the featured guests for the Fiddle Club of the World’s meeting on Sunday, July 20 at the Leadway Bar & Gallery (5233 N. Damen).

Go here to register.

In fiddle classes at the Old Town School, we seldom get around to teaching tunes in the key of C. That’s a shame. There are so many good ones. Larry Warren, a gentleman I met on FIDDLE-L, posted a private page of sound clips of C tunes contributed from fellow FIDDLE-L subscribers. Here’s my contribution of a few gems (IMHO) that I don’t think made it to Larry’s page.

Blue Buggy Bounce
I learned this nearly 30 years ago from Hector Phillips, of Petersburg, Indiana. I made this recording ten years ago for a FIDDLE-L compilation CD. Rhys Jones is on guitar.

Hector Phillips can be seen and heard in “Tough, Pretty, or Smart: A Portrait of the Patoka Valley Boys,” a film by Dillon Bustin and Richard Kane.

Postuns Jig
Even longer ago, I learned this one from Paul Gifford, who was then living in Ferndale, Michigan. He learned it from Merritt Olsen, from the nearby Detroit suburb of Birmingham. I heard Merritt play once–he also played a button box accordion–and greatly regret that I never went to visit him. Of course, at that time I could barely scratch out an identifiable tune.

Walter Harmon’s Hornpipe in C
And this one I learned in 1979 from Donald Duff of Lizton, Indiana. He learned it from Mr. Harmon, an older local fiddler who helped Mr. Duff get started when he was a kid. Jimmie Campbell of Dolan, Indiana played the tune as well, and called it “Old Bob.” Same name, different tune from one Garry Harrison collected.

Just so the record is straight, I am the fiddler on all these recordings. Any clunkers are mine and mine alone. Enjoy the tunes, and maybe we can play one of two of them at the upcoming open session of the Fiddle Club on July 15.

Paul Tyler, convener

Click here for tips and troubleshooting on how to get at these .mp3s.

Oyster River Hornpipe

This mp3 is about 6 minutes long. Here’s an abridged mp3 (two times through the tune).
shorter recording

Played by Frank Hall (fiddle), Lena Ullman (banjo) and Paul Tyler (guitar). Recorded October 2007 when Frank and Lena were visiting from Ireland. Frank, a long-time resident of Bloomington, Indiana, learned the tune from Lotus Dickey. Note the chord changes in the B part (Em & B7).

And here’s an example of Lotus playing the tune in a medley with “Weller’s Reel” and “Green Fields of America,” recorded at the Indiana Fiddlers Gathering in 1982, with Dillon Bustin (guitar) and Linda Handelsman (hammered dulcimer).

Oyster River Hornpipe medley

The Fiddlers Gathering (aka Battle Ground) is coming up the last weekend in June.
The Tippecanoe Battlefield in Battle Ground, Indiana is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Chicago.
The setting is a beautiful setting. The folks are friendly. The jam sessions are lively.

Paul Tyler, convener