Has anybody on here tried to decipher Mazy Todd's bowing? It's a pretty difficult process, because most recordings he is on feature multiple fiddles. Here's "Tom and Jerry" for example: slippery-hill.com/content/tom-jerry-0
Old time. Pretty straight forward. Definitely not the fotmulaic shuffle nonsense going around these days.
Seems pretty shuffle-y to me.
L L SS SS L L SS SS / 2 2 11-11
If one were to compare it to modern bowing, I'd say the notes doesn't have the swooping swell that the "hand circle" bowers make and is far less bouncy than those that tend to exaggerate the bounce. To my ears, both of those features stand out in modern old time. Like it or not, patterns exist in tunes.
I hear single strokes and sometimes a "shuffle" rhythm that matches the banjo. I've always found it hard to decipher the fiddling on these records because of the other instruments. Are you sure its only Mazy Todd? The discographies I've looked at list both him and Kirk McGee as "violins" on this May 9, 1927 session.
Both of them are on most of these UDM fiddle band recordings. I'm trying to figure out which fiddler is doing which thing. There are a lot more recording's of Kirk fiddling by himself (by which I mean without other fiddlers, nor necessarily without accompanists than of Mazy by himself, so it's easier to make an educated guess about what Kirk is doing than what Mazy is doing. My guess about Mazy''s bowing pretty much lines up with what you and Billy said. What are your thoughts on the accuracy of the Milliner-Koken trancriptions of these tunes and their usefulness in figuring out the individual parts?
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Originally posted by DougDI hear single strokes and sometimes a "shuffle" rhythm that matches the banjo. I've always found it hard to decipher the fiddling on these records because of the other instruments. Are you sure its only Mazy Todd? The discographies I've looked at list both him and Kirk McGee as "violins" on this May 9, 1927 session.
bow is going up and down, right? JK.. Sounds pretty rhythmic and I'd love to see sheet music to Guide me to playing like that.. and you are right.. hard to decipher!!! I don't play Tom and Jerry but it may be time for me to learn it.
Edited by - TuneWeaver on 06/21/2022 17:41:54
This recording was my first exposure to the tune as a kid. I had been playing the banjo for at least a couple of years before I remember hearing the contest-style and bluegrass versions.
There is sheet music of it in the Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes.
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaverbow is going up and down, right? JK.. Sounds pretty rhythmic and I'd love to see sheet music to Guide me to playing like that.. and you are right.. hard to decipher!!! I don't play Tom and Jerry but it may be time for me to learn it.
Edited by - soppinthegravy on 06/21/2022 21:52:05
quote:
Originally posted by soppinthegravyThis recording was my first exposure to the tune as a kid. I had been playing the banjo for at least a couple of years before I remember hearing the contest-style and bluegrass versions.There is sheet music of it in the Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes.quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaverbow is going up and down, right? JK.. Sounds pretty rhythmic and I'd love to see sheet music to Guide me to playing like that.. and you are right.. hard to decipher!!! I don't play Tom and Jerry but it may be time for me to learn it.
OK, I found the music and it isn't too difficult.. between the sheet music and some listening, I should be able to 'have' it in a couple of weeks..See you at Clifftop.
