​I'm guessing about one million Homo sapiens of all strains live within sixty miles of me.  About ten thousand would say they listen to bluegrass or Irish music.  About one thousand play some form of either, the majority merely strumming a guitar (out of tune) and saying, "Yep.  That's good enough."  About two hundred would be able to tell you what Old Time music is.  A few hundred thousand know a little about country music, and ten thousand have an acoustic guitar and can play "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to Be Cowboys."  Before the wave of Okies and Arkies in the 1930s there was NO country music in California.  

​So if I were to demand that folks play "Soldier's Joy" in a manner such as Elmer Klanksdipper played it back in the 1920s, using an upside down and flattened out California shuffle, there wouldn't be many who'd want to play with me.  

​Careful how you draw that fence around what you will and won't play.

(All the aforementioned figures and statistics have been verified by the IMSUM foundation)

Humbled 

Those are some great statistics.

"Good fences make good neighbors."

BTW, there's been plenty of "old time" music in the Golden State since at least the time of the Gold Rush. "Put's Golden Songster," minstrel shows, fiddlers, banjo players, more.

Edited by - DougD on 08/02/2012 11:13:33

I bet I can play Soldiers Joy as fast as anyone, but I have not the foggiest idea what a California Shuffle or who Elmer Klansdipper from the 20's is.

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Originally posted by Mandogryl

I bet I can play Soldiers Joy as fast as anyone, but I have not the foggiest idea what a California Shuffle or who Elmer Klansdipper from the 20's is.

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 ...oh my.  A sheltered life.

Not to worry. There have been plenty of folks who went on to become fairly respectable fiddlers without knowing the real history behind it all.

Yeah, fences are good, but...be careful the'yre not too high, too strong, and don't have a sufficient number of gates and or styles. Cross pollination is not always a bad thing, and it's probably inevitable anyhoo.

​What's that?  The IMSUM Foundation?  Well...it's the I Made Sh...Stuff up Myself Foundation, a source for most of my facts and figures.  

Keep in mind that 78.34%  (or is that 93.72%??) of all citred statistics are made up on the spot!

quote:

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Originally posted by Mandogryl

I bet I can play Soldiers Joy as fast as anyone, but I have not the foggiest idea what a California Shuffle or who Elmer Klansdipper from the 20's is.

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​Oh it's not the fastness o' the tune, Mandogyrl, nor the fog o' the coast which makes the California Shuffle so special; indeed, once one learns how to flatten out and turn upside down the pattern, 1, 2, 3, 0, 2, AND combine it with the Klanksdipper bow hold--then one has something not only profound and beautiful but special as well.

​Elmer Klanksdipper was one of the great innovators in the California Auldt Time scene, (Wikipedia IMSUM), who with his creative bowing made the men and women dance and the children stop crying.   

​

whatevs - no matter what you play there'll always be someone there saying your not playing the right stuff or your not playing it the way they like etc etc 

Do what you want to

Try  playing classical.

 My colleagues in the PIDOOMA* agree.

*Players Innocently Defending Old Opry Musicology Association

Most likely a left coast pigeon-hole effect, or tunnel hearing. Tell Elmer I said hello. And where can I send a donation for the foundation too?

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Originally posted by Humbled by this instrument

 

​So if I were to demand that folks play "Soldier's Joy" in a manner such as Elmer Klanksdipper played it back in the 1920s, using an upside down and flattened out California shuffle, there wouldn't be many who'd want to play with me.  

​Careful how you draw that fence around what you will and won't play.

 

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 So..........if you don't stand for something,  you'll fall for anything.  Someone has to have a vision for the musical direction.

IHACWYTA

I'll play anything once, but never the same way twice.

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Originally posted by notlwonk

IHACWYTA

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I Have a Cat With Yellow Teeth Actually?

Ibuprofen Helps Alleviate Crisis When Your Tendons Ache.

If that ain't it, no clue, me.

I totally agree with this. I started on classical and thus still play alot of it, but absoloutely love fiddling and dappling around in different kinds of music. If I can play it, I want to. Sadly there are many peers of mine that don't feel quite the same way. : ) They see no point in fiddling, and some don't even consider it "real music". 

I myself want to try even perhaps some jazz (It'll prolly be a while before I can learn enough theory to be able to, though). Never burn your bridges!! ; )

quote:

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Originally posted by Mandogryl

I bet I can play Soldiers Joy as fast as anyone, but I have not the foggiest idea what a California Shuffle or who Elmer Klansdipper from the 20's is.

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Don't feel bad.... I live in California a couple of hours from Humbled, and I don't have the foggiest notion about them either!

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Originally posted by Humbled by this instrument

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Originally posted by notlwonk

IHACWYTA

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I Have a Cat With Yellow Teeth Actually?

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 Actually my cats teeth are not yellow. What I was ssaaayyiiiing was...... I haven't a clue what your talking about.

That was written 2 days ago and took my a bit to remember what I was talking about

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Originally posted by Humbled by this instrument

quote:

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Originally posted by notlwonk

IHACWYTA

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I Have a Cat With Yellow Teeth Actually?

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 Dental work in order??

quote:

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Originally posted by mad baloney

whatevs - no matter what you play there'll always be someone there saying your not playing the right stuff or your not playing it the way they like etc etc 

Do what you want to

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I was thinking along these lines last night. I was playing a few Doc Watson tunes, and thought - you know, I bet there were probably a few folks around back in those early days when Doc first started flatpickin fiddle tunes, who didn't think too kindly of this fella and what he was doing to do to their music.  Wonder if they ever changed at all...

Fence?  I've built a wall.  Good thing I like solos.  I'm allergic to cats. They probably wouldn't like my style anyway.

I don't know about that, tony. I can't think of anybody with that attitude. It was pretty hard not to like Doc, either as a musician or as a person.

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Originally posted by DougD

I don't know about that, tony. I can't think of anybody with that attitude. It was pretty hard not to like Doc, either as a musician or as a person.

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With a certain amount of disappointment, I confess, I never met the man. But there is no reason to doubt that everything I have heard about him is true. He was loved and admired by most everyone that knew him. And I'm sure that anyone who had the good fortune of meeting him - regardless of what they may have thought before hand - walked away with a high opinion of the man.

So, I'm not doubting or discounting your personal experience. But - those attitudes do seem to have a fair number of folks representing them these days. And I can't imagine that sort of thing being a recent development - if anything - perhaps it was worst then than now. There is a part of me (aware of human nature) that would be surprised if there weren't any folks with those kinds of thoughts about Doc and how he was playing his guitar at one time in the past - early in his playing career. But - you're right - it's speculation - I wasn't there.