STEP Fiddlers
Reference for Players
Check out the Learning Resources page for all the sheet music and audio recordings of the pieces you need to know.
STEP Fiddlers rehearsal at Baths', Jan. 23/12
We went over all the tunes Christina had picked out for our concert repertoire: they are all listed on the NAFCo page, http://suzukinl.ca/stepfiddlers/learning/nafco. Notes about each:
- Kissing Dance Medley: don't rush. (That goes for everything!) The harmony for Gerald Campbell's Tune is in the sheet music on the website - it's the first line, since it's higher than the melody. Who remembers the harmony for Round the House?
- The Rufus Tunes: Jim Rumbolt's, Boston Laddie, Dr. Keilly-O. We learned the riff for Boston Laddie. The chords are, all crossing the G and D strings: in the first half, A and E, then open G and D; in the second half, A with F#, then A and E (leave your first finger across A and E), then ending on G and D. If you listen to the recording on Fiddling In The Fog, this riff starts 1 minute 35 seconds into the track - you have to listen very closely but it's there.
- Mrs. Belle's Aquaforte Set: to keep it a reasonable length, we'll only play Run Through (#1), Advance (#2), Chain (#4), and Close In (#5). These are the ones Jean and Christina play in concert. Remember not to go into Form A Line after Advance if you learned all six! To finish the tune, play the second-last bar of Close In just with a F#, rest, E, rest, then the D's in the last bar as normal. You can hear Christina play it this way in the CBC recording. She also plays Run Through, with drones, in her video interview with The Independent.
- The Night Before The Chicken Got Fried: Ben showed us the rhythm section - thanks Ben! I have to learn this before I say much about it. We will all learn all the sections, though, so we can be flexible. The groove uses chords F on the D string with C on the G string, then E on the D string with B on the G string, then G on the D string by itself. Does anyone have a recording of the STEP Fiddlers playing this?
- Farewell Reel: Great that most people know the duet part! Lift the bow after the Scotch snap (which is actually written as an eighth-and-quarter in bar 2) and accent the next note as you land on it. Accent the beginning of each phrase, which isn't always every six beats. Remember that it ends in the middle; that is, after the first part, not the second.
- Memory Waltz: we did a fair bit of work on this. Please have the melody off the page by next time, and work on the second and third parts - we need to memorize all three. IGNORE THE BOWINGS - there are some mistakes. Also please insert a repeat sign at the start of the second bar - when repeating, you don't play the up-bow B and C.
- After Memory Waltz, we could play either Genevieve's Reel or The Gypsy. Try them both out and see which you prefer!
- Ryan's Fancy Arriving / Jim Hodder's: see below for playing notes.
Fiddle 3 class, Jan. 21/12
A quick summary from Christina:
"We worked hard on Ryan's Fancy - I showed them how to "make it talk" as Emile used to say - bounce the bow on the string crossing part. We worked on slurring into a strong beat and how to emphasize the beat with bow speed and weight - improved the "scotch snaps" and put some accents in the 6/4 bars. Talked a bit about Acadian cuts. We also did last year's arrangement of Jim Hodders."
Notes from Heather:
- A Scotch snap is a sixteenth note followed by a dotted eighth - "ka-tim" for those of you in Musicianship 3! Stress the sixteenth by thinking of the word "haggis".
- An Acadian cut is a way of accenting four even beats such the first and second are accented, and the third is very light - the fourth is medium, as a pickup to the next bar.
- The last three notes in bar 13 are filler: play the D before them normally, but lighten up on the F#-F#-D. You can slur the D-F# and then the F#-D.
- The order of silly things to do in place of the high B's in Jim Hodder's Reel is as follows:
Harmonic B's, Stomp (don't play), Tritone (B flat on A string, E on D string), Shattered glass (each player plays a different note on upper strings), Wolf whistle, and THREE rests.
Joint Rehearsal with the Young Folk Fiddlers, Jan. 6/12
On Friday afternoon we got together with the Young Folk Fiddlers, also going to NAFCo, to start learning the common tunes that will be played by all participants. Leaders present were Christina, Julia, and Charlotte-Anne, and the rehearsal was attended by 8 STEP Fiddlers and 6 Young Folk Fiddlers.
Music for the NAFCo Slip Jig, I Got A Bonnet and NAFCo Polka, transcribed by Christina from the Tutor's Gathering recordings, was handed out. The tunes do have proper names but we're not sure what they are yet! The sheet music and audio will be posted on the Learning Page as soon as possible - watch for email to say so.
The group started with the Polka, led by Julia. Things to keep in mind when learning this piece:
- Polkas are played with emphasis on the second beat of every two, unlike singles where you stress the first note.
- Leave the grace notes out to start and add them in once you learn the main notes.
- In bars 22-23, play the sixteenths evenly, not as cuts.
- Mind the C# in bar 8 - keep the 2nd finger nice and high.
- After repeating the third part, when going back to the first part, use ending 1 - in other words, play the half-note D only at the very end.
- When adding in grace notes, play them at the beginning of the beat and don't lengthen the time - they take time away from the note following.
- Variations in bar 20: instead of the quarter-note D, you can play eighth notes D and C#, or eighth-note D and sixteenth-notes D and C#. You can hear all three variations on the recording.
- Optional: rolls on the dotted halves in the third part.
The Slip Jig was taught by Charlotte. Notes on this tune:
- Slip jigs are counted in 9 beats per bar, not 6 like our doubles, and are played slower.
- In every set of three beats, emphasize the first, and pull back on the second and third.
- Notice: In the first half, the two endings only differ in the last 3 beats.
- Follow the bowings as marked. If you're not playing the grace notes, play the repeated B's in the first half and F#'s in the second half as one long note.
- To play the grace note between two of the same note (which happen to be B and F# in this tune), hold down your 1st finger and cut with the high 2nd (on A string) or 3rd (on E string).
Enough people can play I Got A Bonnet that we just played through it a few times starting slowly. A couple things to know:
- Slowed-down tutorial recordings for this tune are in Christina's book, Inshore Fiddling 2.
- A possible slip-up: in the fourth bar of the first half (end of the first line of lyrics), there are four sixteenth notes in a little up-down pattern. That does NOT occur in the second half - it's just a quarter-note.
Stay tuned for news of future rehearsals: there will be both joint- and separate rehearsals for the two groups throughout the winter. Listen and practise all you can!
Rehearsal Nov. 19/11
Thanks to all who came out to our first rehearsal! We've decided what pieces we're going to play at the Christmas Wassail, and we'll all be dressing as mummers. Rules for costumes: you have to be able to walk, see where you're going, and play. Besides that, the crazier the better!
The Wassail is at GEORGE Street Church on Dec. 11th, and starts at 2:00 pm. Please be there 1:30 or earlier. Bring your families and friends: tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door, and go to support the Folk Arts Society.
Performance hints for beginners (and reminders for everyone else!):
- WATCH CHRISTINA. She will show you what to do. Make sure you're standing so you can see her and your fingers too.
- If your fingers get tangled up:
- Don't panic! Smile! The audience will notice it much more if you make faces or stop completely.
- Play air violin - watch Christina's bow to see where she changes strings
- OR, Play on the open A in rhythm or with long notes
- Come back in as soon as you can!
- If Christina starts to bend her knees, you're not all playing together at the same speed. Uh-oh. Listen to your neighbour and keep Christina's tempo. Tap your toe (silently) if it helps.
- Christina makes funny faces and tries to catch everyone's eye in the last line before the tune changes, or ends. Be ready.
The medley of tunes that everyone will play is Come Upstairs and Mussels in the Corner. They're both in "Inshore Fiddling 2".
- Hints:
- - In Come Upstairs, finger 2's are high, and there are no third-fingers at all!
- - Mussels in the Corner starts on D on the A string. High 2's here too.
Those who can play the harmony for Mussels, please review it - we may only need one or two harmony players, depending on numbers, but it's good to know.
Practise going from Come Upstairs into Mussels smoothly. Play the last line of Come Upstairs and the first of Mussels without missing a beat, and repeat over and over. Then back up to all of the second half of Come Upstairs going on into Mussels.
On the last open D of Mussels, play a long note, keep it going until Christina takes her bow off the string. That's the very last note you'll play.
Second tune of the day: Four-Poster Bed. Make sure you have tape on the end of your bow, or don't quite touch your violin when you tap. (Easier just to have tape.) Remember, in the second half, the first long note is a down-bow and the next two notes, long and short, are up-bows. The rest are all separate.
If we have room, we will turn around all the way during the four taps! First time, turn to the left (so you don't hit your neighbour) and on the repeat, turn to the right. This happens on the second time through the tune.
The members who know Doggie Doggie and/or Brother's Jig will play them. Younger ones, back up between the older ones into the back row, and let the older ones come to the front. Especially on this one, don't rush, keep Christina's tempo; and play close to the bridge with as much sound as possible. There's not very many of you and it's a big church, so turn up the volume! For Brother's Jig, make sure you're playing the same version as Christina: the first line goes, B - E - E - G - E / B - E - E - G - E / A - D - F# - E - D / A - D - F# - E - D. See sheet music on the website for specifics.
Crocker's Cove, a.k.a. "Sing for the Janneys" will be our opening number, and we'll march in playing it. If you can rehearse walking while playing, that will help! If you can't play this piece by the concert date, bring a tambourine or other small one-handed percussion instrument (your other hand will be holding your violin). We'll have a look at where the aisles are, when we first get there, and make a walking plan and an order for getting on stage without getting snarled up.
ORDER OF PIECES IN CONCERT:
- Sing for the Janneys
- Four-Poster Bed
- Doggie Doggie / Brother's Jig
- Come Upstairs / Mussels in The Corner
... and don't forget a big bow and smile at the end! The audience will love you!
One of "The Most Interesting People In Newfoundland"
Speaking of famous fiddlers, Christina was interviewed on video by the newspaper The Independent last spring. We all know she's interesting, but now everyone does! Next time someone asks, "Who teaches you fiddle?" you can point them to this link.
Rufus Guinchard Film
How much do you know about Rufus Guinchard? Do you know the reason for his strange fiddle position, and why he stopped playing in public? There was a film made about him about twenty years ago, with Rufus telling his own stories and jokes, and teaching the folk-festival crowd of that time (and their little children!) the dances and tunes that he knew, as well as scenes of where he lived. It's about twenty-five minutes long, and well worth watching. Keep your ears open for tunes you recognise - there should be quite a few!
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