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groundhogpeggy - Posted - 03/31/2022: 04:35:29
Hey everybody, Bob had some upgrades since last time so his choice was extra gripping and powerful. So anyway...I hear a drumroll in the background...let's see what Bob and Roro give us for the Virtual Fiddle Festival in the month of April...don't forget, you can hear the tune played and also have a free jam track (fast or slow) on Oldtimejam.com if you want. Good luck with the tune this month and let's have some fun!
April VFF Tune
pete_fiddle - Posted - 03/31/2022: 06:17:51
Thank you Bob...... I've been waiting for ages for that !
NCnotes - Posted - 03/31/2022: 07:21:24
Wow, Bob got a "lift kit"? He's handling those cushions really well.
Good tune pickin', Bob and Roro!
(I never heard of this one...as usual...:-/
sounds like you know it already, Peggy!)
NCnotes - Posted - 03/31/2022: 08:59:57
Bruce Molsky, playing with John...:-)
Somehow he always sounds like about 3 fiddlers playing at once...
youtube.com/watch?v=yUaITM8O3L4
Edited by - NCnotes on 03/31/2022 09:01:07
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 03/31/2022: 16:04:23
omg...well...gonna be a tough act to follow after Bruce Molsky...lol. Awesome fiddling there! Well come on guys, we can do it pretty doggone good too...(I hope)!
wilford - Posted - 03/31/2022: 19:01:47
quote:
Originally posted by NCnotes
Bruce Molsky, playing with John...:-)
Somehow he always sounds like about 3 fiddlers playing at once...
youtube.com/watch?v=yUaITM8O3L4
What fiddle tuning does Bruce use on his version?
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 03/31/2022: 19:42:19
Lookin' at his fingers when he's on the lower register/octave, it looks to me like he's probably tuned AEAE. Hard to se though.
Edited by - groundhogpeggy on 03/31/2022 19:42:43
NCnotes - Posted - 03/31/2022: 20:17:35
I kinda agree with that?
His fingers on the top two strings A, E kind of match when I play...and there's really no reason to tune out of those, they sound nice and are easy to play as is.
But on the lower strings, he is not struggling like I am! (I have to hold my first finger down on the G string and the D string, and it's awkward, but he is relaxed and hardly using any fingers...ah, the power of alternate tuning!) So my guess is that instead of having to hold his first finger over both of the lower strings, he's tuned A E...
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/01/2022: 04:33:38
Well Bruce M could probably handle all of it either way without a struggle...lol...but anybody who wants to jump octaves with ease and have helpful drones anywhere would probably do good to go ahead and cross tune, as B. Molsky apparently did. I've seen John Morris, Clay Co. WV fiddler, up and close in a jam one time when I went there...just one time...lol...but now I gotta say he stayed in standard and he could pretty much pass it off as cross-tuned...without any apparent problems...I don't think he played this particular tune at that jam, but on other tunes he was really good in standard...so...it's up to the fiddler how they wanna handle these things. I wouldn't say anyone should feel pressured to cross tune if they are functioning the way they want to in standard. For me, AEAE, or GDGD or any Sawmill tuning is a helpful thing and I use it even where other people usually don't. At this point in time I do that, anyway. The bottom line is have fun learning/playing the tune, any ol' way you choose.
NCnotes - Posted - 04/01/2022: 07:49:08
Wise words, Peggy!
Well I'm gonna give this cross-tuning thing a try. I can't resist the allure of those ringing, open, easy-to-play doublestops on the low strings...( so I'm thinking, you would tune your bottom string to an octave lower than your second-string A? And after that, to tune the third string, you just find the harmonic "fifth" sound like usual. So, not so scary of a tuning...LOL, reassuring myself :-)
wilford - Posted - 04/01/2022: 09:18:42
Yep, it's AEAE. I got it. Fun tune to play. It would get very boring if it couldn't be repeated on the lower octave. Alas, the tuning explained.
I remember playing a Canadian fiddle tune (Joys of Quebec) for 45 minutes at a square dance for a Virginia reel, many years ago (there were something like 28 dancers on the floor) and I would have gone crazy but for coming up with the idea of transposing it an octave lower, live as I was performing.
I noticed how cleverly Bruce weaves in and out of playing it an octave above, then below and then splitting the octaves. I like it a lot when he splits like he does. It makes a simple tune much more interesting (IMHO) :)
pete_fiddle - Posted - 04/01/2022: 10:12:26
I'm going to be curmudgeonly, and stick with standard, through thick and thin, and i dont care if it is to the detriment of my fingers, and/or the tune....Mnyaaah....
....
NCnotes - Posted - 04/01/2022: 10:35:24
I used to vow I would never ever leave standard, yet here I am!
Maybe it will just take the right tune to lure you, Pete.
pete_fiddle - Posted - 04/01/2022: 11:46:07
NEVER!..........EVER!...........
Then again... One of my mantra's is "Never Say Never"...
wilford - Posted - 04/01/2022: 13:17:31
By changing the tuning of my fiddle, it took me about 2 minutes to learn how to fiddle the tune, both parts. This way, you get the drones, too. As corporal Agarn said on F Troop "Makes sense; not to me but....." lol
RichJ - Posted - 04/01/2022: 14:45:59
OK here's my first wack at WAJTK. Did it in key of A, the way it seems to be done most of the time and with AEAE tuning. I pretty much parroted the the OTJ version for this time. I think the OTJ version may have flipped those A and B parts around which I kinda' like better. Also that high/low register thing seems to be a different in the OTJ version. Think It would have been harder to pull off in standard, at least for me. I want to try this tune in a lower key like maybe FCFC and see what happens.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/01/2022: 18:21:21
Wow, Rich! Congrats on being first to get the tune going! Sounded good in AEAE. Good job fiddling that one.
NCNotes...yes, the way I tune to AEAE is to just tune the G string up a whole step and then listen for the perfect 5th of the next string...D...going on up to E. Then you will end up with a perfect 4th interval between the two sets of perfect 5th strings...i.e., 4th interval between the E and A...so it does give you a new dimension there so to speak.
Pete, I admire your curmudgeonliness...be bold...play that thing in standard! Lol...I'm sure it'll be fun.
Can't wait to hear what everybody does with it. I'll get mine up here in a few days...busy times so I'm runnin' behind...and fiddlin' behind too.
Quincy - Posted - 04/02/2022: 00:43:15
He is such a cool kid! Bob did very well. We are a huge fan <3
The tune Bob picked sounds like a challenge! Love the Bruce Molsky version , oh I wish one day hahaha.
He dances with fiddle.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/02/2022: 04:29:54
But you'll play the Anja version like nobody else in the world can! And that'll be awesome.
Fiddler - Posted - 04/02/2022: 06:40:06
Here's a recording I did with Dean Barber in Oct 2011 whilst in the middle of chemo and home for a short respite. (I was hiding my hairless head under a cap that read "I'd rather be fiddling.") Dean Barber came during this time by for some tunes and spirit-lifting. Oh, FWIW, you can see my TUF bow hold.
Edited by - Fiddler on 04/02/2022 06:44:15
DougD - Posted - 04/02/2022: 08:05:13
Nice duo. Where did you learn this tune, Kirk? To me its a very obscure one - I don't think I've ever heard anyone even mention it, let alone play it. We mostly play stuff from around here though.
NCnotes - Posted - 04/02/2022: 08:36:02
Woo, very nice, Rich! :-)
And Kirk, I love the turns/variations the tune takes in your version...
pete_fiddle - Posted - 04/02/2022: 10:02:46
Just found a Live version on soundcloud by one of my fav fiddlers Christine Cooper and her band "The prairie sharks" Nice..
soundcloud.com/christinecooper...-kansas-1 .....Just got to put up with some Advertisements(maybe) before it starts, but it's worth it.
Edited by - pete_fiddle on 04/02/2022 10:06:06
Fiddler - Posted - 04/02/2022: 14:27:43
quote:
Originally posted by DougD
Nice duo. Where did you learn this tune, Kirk? To me its a very obscure one - I don't think I've ever heard anyone even mention it, let alone play it. We mostly play stuff from around here though.
Thanks, Doug. I learned the tune from a number of sources, including field recordings from Clifftop and Genero festivals. I think I first heard the tune on a recording of Rafe Stefanini. I played regularly with David Allen and Richard Chance in the Dallas who also influenced me. Richard has since moved to W-S, NC.
Also, this tune is in the standard repertoire of the old time community in the DFW area.
Edited by - Fiddler on 04/02/2022 14:31:19
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/02/2022: 19:40:29
Wow...some nice fiddling, Kirk! Y'all sound good together. Glad you shared it.
I guess you hear it in the Dallas Fort Worth (I'm guessin' that's DFW ) area because it's about walking to Kansas...lol???? Ain't gonna hear that one much maybe farther out from Kansas...like, farther than walking distance. I do like the tune quite a bit, even though I ain't nowhere near to Kansas. We could get a tune called Drive along, Groundhog, to Kansas, maybe.
NCnotes - Posted - 04/03/2022: 08:18:36
Ha ha, yes, geography...our jam (here in NC) frequently plays "Living in Raleigh" and "Carolina Calling" :-)
RichJ - Posted - 04/03/2022: 09:19:51
Well I decided to mess around more with "John" today. Audacity is a great, free sound program I've been fooling around with for a couple of years. It takes awhile to learn all the stuff it can and do and there's a ton. Today I made an mp3 recording of the OTJ banjo/guitar jam track for WAJTK. Then slowed the tempo 15% and changed the key from A to F. Fiddle was tune FCFC. I'm kinda' liken' the slower tempo and lower key for this tune.
Edited by - RichJ on 04/03/2022 09:26:18
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/03/2022: 17:26:09
Wow...it's pretty neat that you can change the pitch and tempo like that with Audacity! I do think, like so many other tunes, it does sound really good in a lower pitch...get a richer tone. Maybe that's why they call you "rich," hey? Well anyway, I really like it...your A part sounds very "walky," like somebody walking along, possibly even toward Kansas, and it sounds like you're throwing a long bow in your B part which really adds nice, what I think of as "texture," to the whole tune. Nice job...sounds good in F.
RichJ - Posted - 04/04/2022: 03:28:30
Thanks Peggy, Yeah - I do like the lower/slower tempo. Gives ya' the chance for a nice, easy going, slow walk to Kansas (for us old timers) lol.
BTW- Here's the altered slowed down, pitch changed OTJ track I used should anyone else like to try it in F.
Edited by - RichJ on 04/04/2022 03:30:01
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/04/2022: 04:36:50
Cool...thanks, Rich. Can't wait until I get the chance to try!
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/04/2022: 14:21:12
Well it's been a busy time and too exhausted for music...don't know when I'll get to it, but there's a chicken in the oven now...and I decided to sip on some good ol' coffee and do some lookin' into this tune. Not sure where it came from but I looked around while that chicken is cooking there in the oven, like they do...and found this because I'm always wondering if I get to do any sangin' with my fiddlin', lol...because I do love to sing. So I found this little bit of info here... bluegrassmessengers.com/walk-a...john.aspx
and then I found a youtube with people singing this tune and i think theirs sounds pretty nice...however...I'm not sure I'll have the comfort level with it that would inspire me to just haul off singing like crazy with it...still...interesting and just in case somebody else here feels like they're fixin' to haul off singing it...some inspiration from good ol' youtube for that sorta thing...
youtu.be/-edicTzrPJ4
For me...gotta chop some cabbage and carrots for our chicken in the oven...gotta crush up the dogs' supposedly tasty chewable heartworm treats...crush that up and hide it good in their part of the chicken or else they just won't go near it. Then...hopefully get a little resting time this evening...tired...exhausted...anyway...in case anybody finds this inspiring...I know how it feels to wanna just haul off a-singin but just have no words to sing it with.
NCnotes - Posted - 04/04/2022: 18:32:53
Rich, it's sounding great with the backing track and doublestops, and it sounds cool down low.
Are we calling this tune "WAJTK" now I guess it is a bit of mouthful!
I like the singing too, Peggy! I like how they sing about packing his rosin and bow...who knew John was a fiddler? 
(Sorry about all the emojis, just figured out how to do them...)
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/04/2022: 20:33:29
Overuse of emoji syndrome, hey? Lol...it's fun! I liked the verse about packing his rosin and bow too...makes us fiddler types all happy to sing about stuff like that!
DougD - Posted - 04/04/2022: 21:28:18
Peggy, the piece the Bluegrass Messengers are referring to is a different song. Interesting to see the sheet music though - it shows the performers in their minstrel garb, and also in their street clothes, without blackface. The band was tambourine, violin, banjo, bones and triangle. levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/col...n/020/191
I wonder where the words the Wolfe Brothers are singing come from. I know Dale Morris, and I'm tempted to ask him. Good playing though.
Edited by - DougD on 04/04/2022 21:34:27
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/05/2022: 04:29:49
Oh thanks, Doug. Yeah I was wondering where those words came from...to me, somehow they sound "newer," or something...wondering if the Wolfe Brothers wrote them or got them from some contemporary...or maybe they're the original...who knows. If you find out, I'd like to hear what they tell you. I sure did like the way they did it and sang it though. The fiddling was pretty awesome too.
RichJ - Posted - 04/05/2022: 07:35:56
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggy
Overuse of emoji syndrome, hey? Lol...it's fun! I liked the verse about packing his rosin and bow too...makes us fiddler types all happy to sing about stuff like that!
I think we should start a new thread on a discussion of what kind of rosin John might have packed for that trip to KS. lol
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/05/2022: 12:06:03
One thing I do have around here is all kinds of rosin to choose from if you haul off and walk along to Kansas...let me know if ya need some...lol.
Ok well here's my submission...I had to hurry through...got the idea from Rich's that FCFC might be good...I think I grabbed the fiddle that doesn't do as well in lower pitches as the other...just in a big hurry here...the fiddle seemed like it really just wanted to be squeaky today...I KNOW it couldn't have anything to do with ME...lol...anyhow...here we go...I did it in FCFC ...
youtu.be/eFhcKliLlE0
NCnotes - Posted - 04/05/2022: 12:21:18
Sounds great, Peggy!
Got my foot tapping along...
PS It's only April 5, y'know...my daughter would be uploading at 11:54 pm on April 30...:-)
WyoBob - Posted - 04/05/2022: 15:24:11
quote:
Originally posted by RichJ
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggy
Overuse of emoji syndrome, hey? Lol...it's fun! I liked the verse about packing his rosin and bow too...makes us fiddler types all happy to sing about stuff like that!
I think we should start a new thread on a discussion of what kind of rosin John might have packed for that trip to KS. lol
I'd vote for Jade. You could set of a nuclear bomb on a cake of that stuff and it would survive. On second thought, it might not make it across Kansas
Note: Im not dissing Kansas. I grew up in Kansas City and, after moving to Nebraska, did a lot of cattle business in the state. My maternal grandparents lived in Horton, KS for 50 years and I visited there every summer when I was a kid. So, I didn't mean to denigrate Kansas. Just "Jade". A year after I bought a cake of that stuff, a diamond scribe couldn't scratch it. I pounded it into dust and used it to rosin new bows. It worked for that.
WyoBob - Posted - 04/05/2022: 15:28:53
Oh, and GHPeggy, I really liked the "Great and Mysterious Bob" thing but am going to consult my lawyers for a "patent infringement" suit. For many years, my wife thought that I was the "Great and Mysterious Bob". I figured I had the patent on that one
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/05/2022: 16:54:08
NC, I realize we're only in the first week of April. Yes, I remember how kids put things off...my daughter used to tell me at about 10:00 on a Sunday evening she needed some special kind of notebook for school on Monday morning...lol...like no problem, Mom...just join in with the teenage procrastination...lol. Well I gotta get a jumpstart or I'll go nuts or possibly just get too swamped to get to stuff later. I might do another one later on.
Wyobob...uh-oh...more copyright infringements from my side of the universe...lol...didn't know you were the real and original Great and mysterious Bob...lol...wow...must be a good story behind that one! And, well Jade is the one I don't have...I did, but gave it away to the first person who I could find that would take it from me...lol...not my favorite...yeah I think it would survive a nuke...lol.
pete_fiddle - Posted - 04/05/2022: 23:49:41
I keep mixing this tune up in my head with another one called "Pretty Red Lips", don't know why? they are not that similar..But maybe just similar enough to confuse me, (it doesn't take a lot).
Thing is, i can't play a tune unless i can sing it in my head. And "Pretty Red Lips" keeps getting in the way.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/06/2022: 06:05:42
Welcome to my world, Pete...lol...I get all kinds of tunes all mixed up in my head...so many are so similar, either in title, music, or both...I start out with one tune sometimes and if I'm not careful I end up three or four tunes out.
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/14/2022: 18:35:25
No rush; no pressure...but...tick tock, tick tock...
pete_fiddle - Posted - 04/15/2022: 03:23:50
Double tracked this one to beef it up a bit
groundhogpeggy - Posted - 04/15/2022: 04:27:23
Wow, Pete...that sounded Cool! A very joyous-sounding walk to Kansas! I loved the interaction of the fiddles. Thanks for submitting.
pete_fiddle - Posted - 04/15/2022: 04:32:48
Cheers Peggy!
NCnotes - Posted - 04/15/2022: 06:59:32
Everything Peggy said!
The "twin fiddling" is wonderful. :-)
(re "tick tock" - Over here...I opened my case and my A string was broken. So I went to music store, bought a set of strings, and changed the A...then I noticed G was unravelling...so I changed it...and while tuning up the G, I heard a loud CRACK - I looked and the bridge was lying on the floor in two pieces 
The leader of our session kindly referred me to her luthier. I pick up my violin on Monday...but now I have this weird anxiety about tuning and changing strings...)
DougD - Posted - 04/15/2022: 07:07:05
Just wondering - Was your bridge warped or leaning last time you checked it, or did it just decide it was time to quit?
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