Please note this is an archived topic, so it is locked and unable to be replied to. You may, however, start a new topic and refer to this topic with a link: http://www.fiddlehangout.com/archive/3005/2
Page: 1 2
Peghead - Posted - 03/12/2009: 05:51:03
P.S. (assuming you've given it your best shot and checked all the existing resources)
FiddlinCol - Posted - 04/08/2009: 06:59:15
A few years ago I sat in with a bluegrass jam in the high country in Nth Victoria.
First time in that situation but it was made easier by the main dude calling the tune as a 1415, or a 1645.... whatever. Before the play. Made it easy because after once through, just a matter of catchin' the phrase.
About 5 years ago I had my dream come true whereby I toured the States with a band.
The highlight was jammin' with a country band in Brooklyn.
I played pedal Steel with the touring band but sat in with the USA band on fiddle.
One of the guys would signal the band by holding out his fingers to indicate to the
band ....What chord..1 finger tonic.. 4 fingers sub Dom...5 Dom.
Call it the number system with a visual cue.
Looked like an intersection cop. 
The band was flawless. Every change perfect!
WooHoo!
Col.
"A man thats got nothin to say is a liar!"....Ole Roadhog, Lester Moran.
"The Dude abides"....The Dude.
coelhoe - Posted - 04/08/2009: 07:10:02
Col: One of the bands I play with is a CW group, and if some one brings in new material, it is a pretty simple matter to say in advance that the song is a (for example) 1 4 1 5 with the bridge 4 1 2 5. Most vocals are quite predictable. Fiddle tunes on the other hand, especially hornpipes, are not so predictable. For example, take "Blackberry Blossom" with its 1 5 4 1 4 1 2 5 first phrase. It takes a few times through to get it right.
I'd love to see the hand signals for a Major 7th.
Dennis
"Not being able to play very well is a good substitute for not having good taste." -Eddie Adcock
FiddlinCol - Posted - 04/08/2009: 08:06:16
Prob have to take me shoes off
"A man thats got nothin to say is a liar!"....Ole Roadhog, Lester Moran.
"The Dude abides"....The Dude.
ucalldatmusic? - Posted - 04/08/2009: 15:26:41
While playing bass or guitar, I can and do call chords regularly.
But with fiddle I get tongue tied. I am hoping it is because I am still new to the fiddle.
Anywho, what I do instead is...
Before I launch the tune, I tell everyone the key and any unusual chords and where they fall.
Then just before the unusual chord rears its ugly head, I let them know, this is the place to play it. It works most of the time.
And I don't even try something like Blackberry Blossom unless there is someone there playing chords that already knows it.
We know we're in for a bumpy ride when I tell them the next tune has a certain chord in it and then have to show them how to play the chord.
It's all good!
Jeff
www.ucalldatmusic.com
jefferylong - Posted - 04/14/2009: 20:59:56
I can usually hear the I, IV, and V chord changes and can call them out to my guitar picker, or in my case I usually don't have a guitar picker, but rather a banjo and bass picker. I sometimes have to think about the IV and V chords. It's easier for me to do in the key of G, but I'm getting better in D and A now that I've taken up the fiddle since most of the tunes I find and play are in either D or A. Apparently very popular keys amoung fiddlers.
Jeff
jefferylong - Posted - 04/14/2009: 21:05:07
quote:
Originally posted by coelhoe
This first time or two for a new guitarist, I'll sing the melody while I'm playing it on the fiddle, but not singing any words but rather the chord names. Or just the chord names on the beat. This is not something I worked at, it just happened that way.
But for some more complex arrangements (Blackberry Blossom, for example), you have take the guitarist aside and go through it slowly the first time or two.
Dennis
"Not being able to play very well is a good substitute for not having good taste." -Eddie Adcock
I do that myself. D-little-D-little-D-then to A, etc. That's the way an old fiddler use to teach me fiddle tunes. He'd sing out the chords, but one thing that always helped - instead of waiting until the actual beat of the chord change he would usually let me know the change is coming with something like "then up to g", or "now down to A". . . something like that. He was pretty good at that. Sounded silly as everything but it really helped.
Jeff
jefferylong - Posted - 04/14/2009: 21:10:50
quote:
Originally posted by jeffiddle
I've always had a problem calling out chords when playing fiddle, so I devised a work-around system that seems to help get new tunes off to a good start.
Fellow jammers coined it 'Jefflature', and tune details are outlined on a sheet of paper and placed where it can be seen by most people in the group. The chords are written with permanent marker and large enough to be read from a distance, and that seems to reduce confusion associated with what chords to play and helps the whole tune come together more quickly. On the same sheet, I write out the basic tune in mandolin tablature to serve as a memory refresher to me, and also for anyone else to learn from. Also I include tune sources and any other information that is useful.
Overall, the system works well, and I've learned many tunes using these sheets.
Jeff
I'd like to see one of your music sheets. Do you have any posted anywhere? I need something like that to teach these old fiddle tunes to my bandmates. They don't read music though, but can follow a chord progression. Interested in how you display the timing part of it. That's always been the hardest part for me. I've tried ABC Tab, Tabledit, Finale, but can't seem to come across something simple enough for them to follow - especially if it doesn't have words to the tune. The ones with words, I just write the chords up over the words and they pick up on that pretty quick, but a lot of these old fiddle tunes don't have any lyrics. Would appreciate any ideas you have.
Jeff
fiddlenbanjo - Posted - 04/15/2009: 00:53:07
I have no trouble doing this on the guitar. The fingers almost instinctively know where to go and when I do make a mistake they usually can recover. But on the fiddle this hasn't happened yet. I'm OK on 3 chord songs but songs with minors in them lose me in a hurry. Visualizing the minor arpeggios, and thus their double-stops, just hasn't clicked yet, even after several years. One thing that has helped of late is to think of every chord as a major chord and play the 1 and 5 of the chord, like a power chord. Then from there I can usually add the minor 3rd for color I I want to.
I call out chords to myself when practicing for backup on songs with lots of chords. It's hard for me to do, especially since you change chords on the beat but chop on the backbeat. For the same reason it's easier to tap my foot when playing a solo than when playing backup.
Edited by - fiddlenbanjo on 04/16/2009 01:20:03
jehanna - Posted - 04/15/2009: 08:26:36
This thread is a year old. Happy birthday??
Fiddlin is hard enough without worrying about chords.
If your bass or guitar can't hear well enough to figure it out give them dots, tabs or lyrics with chords.
If they can't read or hear I guess you are out of luck.
The devil went down to Georgia
the coyotes have moved here too
http://www.sebabluegrass.org
Joe Sites - Posted - 04/16/2009: 08:55:52
Benny thommason was a dear friend of mine and I actually saw him telling his wife what to pick up at the grocery store for him while he was playing Dusty Miller.
Joe Sites - Posted - 04/16/2009: 08:59:04
I even heard benny sing while he fiddled!!
Edited by - Joe Sites on 04/16/2009 09:02:15
eileenmclain - Posted - 04/16/2009: 23:12:48
quote:
[
Bee
Cee
Dee
Eee
Gee
Of course you learn to narrow it down, but sometimes its hard to tell in a loud jam session.
[i]
You don't have to worry much about how loud it is if you use the finger system. first finger up for 1 sharp in G(first string), two fingers for 2 #s, or D (second string), 3rd finger for 3#s (3rd string), and 4 fingers for E which has 4 sharps. Easy to remember when you just look down at your fiddle, and figure which string corresponds to the key. C is shown as either making a C with your first 2 fingers, or making a fist. The flat keys I have a harder time remembering, but I think F(one flat) is first finger pointing down instead of up, Bb (2 flats) is 2 fingers pointing down, the rest I don't remember. It sure makes it easy in the noise of a jam. Just show the fingers around to everybody, and start playing.Eileen from Oregon
Edited by - eileenmclain on 04/16/2009 23:15:54
Page: 1 2
