Good Morning! Fiddle Club reawakens
Spring is sprung.
The grass has riz.
I wonder where
my tulips is.
And if you’ve been wondering the same about the Fiddle Club of the World, I’m glad to tell you that it has reawakened from its Winter-long slumber. Announcements of a three or four meetings with featured guest artists will be coming soon.
For right now, mark your calendars for Saturday, March 28. Dan Gellert will be in town to perform and jam at a meeting of the Fiddle Club. As soon as I nail down a site, we’ll get the registration information posted here at in the workshop listings at oldtownschool.org.
In the meantime, check out the new fiddle pages at oldtownschool.org/fiddle. Teachers are posting information and links in the Flog (Fiddle Students Blog). All tunes are accessible through the archive link. You will also find a jukebox version of the Hands On CD.
Check back early and often.
Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World
Chicago Chapter
Filed under: Uncategorized by Paul | March 11, 2009 | Comments (0)
Tunes from Karen Solgard
| Click blue link to download or to listen to these .mp3s. or Click here for tips and troubleshooting on how to get at these .mp3s. or Here are some tunes played by Karen Solgrad on a Norwegian hardanger fiddle. or or Reiselaat fra Hallingdal Steffasgard or Trondelag Bridal March or or Go to Karen Solgard’s transcriptions of these Norwegian tunes. or |
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.
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or Written music is a sketch. Sound documents are the ultimate authority. or To hear Karen Solgard play these tunes. or |
Filed under: Notation by Paul | November 17, 2008 | Comments (0)
Alan Jabbour tunes
| Click blue link to download or to listen to these .mp3s. or Click here for tips and troubleshooting on how to get at these .mp3s. or Alan learned all these tunes from Henry Reed (1884-1968) of Glen Lyn, West Virginia. or or Granny Slow and medium versions of Granny. or West Virginia Highway Slow and medium versions of West Virginia Highway (aka Ebenezer). or Peekaboo Waltz Slow version of Peekaboo Waltz. or or Used with permission from Learning Old-Time Fiddle Appalachian Style with Alan Jabbour. 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. |
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.
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Used with permission from Learning Old-Time Fiddle Appalachian Style with Alan Jabbour. or Written music is a sketch. Sound documents are the ultimate authority. or To hear Alan Jabbour play these tunes. or |
Filed under: Notation by Paul | October 14, 2008 | Comments (0)
Ken Perlman tunes
| Click blue link to download or to listen to these .mp3s. or Click here for tips and troubleshooting on how to get at these .mp3s. or Ken learned these tunes from fiddlers on Prince Edward Island. or or Brae Reel Coming soon: a slow version of Brae Reel. or Miramichi Fire Coming soon: a slow version of Miramichi Fire. or Medley: The Brae Reel & The Miramichi Fire or or Used with permission from Ken Perlman, from his Island Boy CD. or Go to Ken Perlman’s transcriptions of these fiddle tunes. or |
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.
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Used with permission from The Fiddle Music of Prince Edward Island by Ken Perlman (Mel Bay Publications). or Written music is a sketch. Sound documents are the ultimate authority. or To hear Ken Perlman play these tunes. or |
Filed under: Notation by Paul | October 11, 2008 | Comments (0)
Tunes from Frank Ferrel
| Click blue link to download or to listen to these .mp3s. or Click here for tips and troubleshooting on how to get at these .mp3s. or Here are some tunes played by Frank Ferrel, a Yankee fiddler from Maine. or or Mrs. Hogan’s Birthday or Connemara Stockings or Beans & Humors of Maine or Tripping to the Well & Galway Belle or or These tunes are from Frank’s earlier CDs, “Boston Fiddle” (Rounder) and “Fiddledance” (Great Meadows Music). You should buy the CDs. or or 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.
| 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. or 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. or Click here to register for October 4 meeting. |
 (click for another view) or To hear some Frank Ferrel tunes. |
 (click for another view) or To hear some Alan Jabbour tunes. To hear some Ken Perlman tunes. |
or 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. or or 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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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)
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