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FiddlerPaul71 - Posted - 12/26/2021: 07:12:15
Old-Time TOTW #183 is Cousin Sally Brown from the playing of Marcus Lafayette Martin (2 August 1881--20 March 1974) of Macon Co., NC. He was the son of Nathaniel Rowan Martin (1857-?) and Rachel C. Morgan (1839-1915), who was born in TN. Martin married Callie D. Holloway (1895-1956) on 24 December 1911. (source for above: Ancestry)
In addition to fiddle, Marcus played banjo, harmonica, dulcimer, and was an accomplished ballad singer. He learned most of his tunes and technique from his father, who was also a fiddler. In later years Martin said that his father "could play the sweetest you ever heard." Marcus often played unaccompanied for square dances in his youth. (above information from Blue Ridge National Heritage web page)
Martin was recorded by various collectors in the 1940s. He more or less stopped playing by the early 1960s. He cross tuned quite a bit and also employed low tuning. He is tuned to about 415 Hz in his recording of Cousin Sally Brown done in 1942 (found on Larry Warren's Slippery-Hill.com at slippery-hill.com/content/cous...y-brown-0slippery-hill.com/content/cous...y-brown-0). Martin generally tuned his fiddle low.
For me, fiddle tunings are about mood and tone color. It really all depends on how I'm feeling and what sound journey I want to take with my fiddle and the people playing with me. When I'm playing with larger groups of people, people who do not have much experience with low tuning, or people who do not feel comfortable with low tuning, I tune to the keys in which most play (GDAE, ADAE, and AEAE). In my travels, though, I have found that people are curious about low tunings/cross tunings and really enjoy trying them. Tuning to A 415 can really make your fiddle open up and sing. We recently had a discussion about low tuning in Paul Kirk's Old-Time TOTW group on Facebook.
Joining me are friends Stephen Rapp on banjo (Kent, OH) and Sean Fen on guitar (Wooster, OH)
Old-Time TOTW is able to continue through your support. If you'd like to be a part of this journey, join my Patreon at: patreon.com/paulkirkpatreon.com/paulkirk
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Stephen Rapp's YouTube channel: youtube.com/user/rappstephenyoutube.com/user/rappstephen
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