Today working again on O! Susanna , it sounds very different now than how I made it sound 5 years ago. It was one of the first old time tunes I got to know, I adored it as a very young kid and still do today <3
Edited by - Quincy on 10/05/2025 07:03:56
Today I'm trying to add a bit of the playing of a very young girl performing Pretty Little Girl to what I could pick up from the Norman Edmonds version so far. I found this tune yesterday.
NCnotes - That exchange with the publican seems ominous. Apparently he likes having Irish style music in his joint, but pipes are not everyone's cup of tea.
Brings to mind the old definition of a gentleman as "someone who can play the pipes, but chooses not to."
Or this comment attributed to Oscar Wilde: "At least there is no smell."
Maybe flute or whistle will be better in your situation!
Doug, yes we are very happy to have a space to play….so pipes are put away for now! Hopefully I will get to hear him play pipes at one of the house sessions.
( Interesting quote about “gentlemen” …hehe.)
That’s quick learning, Anja! I also watched the clifftop video of them playing it :-) …so now that tune is stuck in my brain!
My Bucket's got a Hole (in it)
Frankie & Johnny
Wild Mountain Thyme
Blues in A
Slow Blues in C
Alot of this was piano (not just a keyboard) backing
(Take a weekend and learn to play a piano. You'll be glad you did)
quote:
Originally posted by NCnotesDoug, yes we are very happy to have a space to play….so pipes are put away for now! Hopefully I will get to hear him play pipes at one of the house sessions.
( Interesting quote about “gentlemen” …hehe.)
That’s quick learning, Anja! I also watched the clifftop video of them playing it :-) …so now that tune is stuck in my brain!
Yes it is very catchy isn't it! I need more tunes like this one. Made a video recording today and satisfied - that is: for now. I'll turn back to it later on.
It was a good idea for me a while ago to start to focus on Kentucky and West Virginia tunes in the first place, but later on I want a bit of the obscure taste of Paul Kirk as well. There is this tune on my car radio usb stick called Black Mountain Rag but I cannot see the name of the performers but each time I have heard it I hit the back button. Maybe a good next one, I hope it's in my reach!
farmerjones, re "Wild Mountain Thyme" - was just singing and playing this on guitar today! Trying to work up the courage to do it at session just for the surprise factor (they think I only fiddle), hahaha.
Yep Anja, hitting the back button is a sign you gotta learn that tune! (For me, one was John Carty's "Drunken Landlady"...I kept repeating that track while driving around, and finally I thought - just gotta learn to play it! I found that the learning goes fast after listening to it so many times...:-)
My wife says a few days ago, "it's been a while since you've added a new one eh?" lol
It sure has! Nothing has grabbed me...
I should follow farmerjones and learn some blues!
Edited by - Erockin on 10/07/2025 10:05:31
Oh lordy ..."Drunken landlady" lead me to here then on to explore the whole "Shane Cook" fiddle thing...Wow!
It's after midnight and I already turned back to Pretty Little Girl with my strongest mute and playing as quiet and as soft as I can. This brilliant young girl is showing me the way, especially on how to weave the different parts together instead of playing them separated. I love to see how a tune can grow!
About piano and other instruments: yesterday I followed the suggestion of my good online friend in Kentucky and ordered myself a Jew's harp. I'll have to figure it out in the woods on my dog walks. Maybe this Pretty Little Girl tune is a good one to start to add a Jew's harp to it *hopeful*
Edited by - Quincy on 10/07/2025 15:23:00
quote:
Originally posted by pete_fiddleOh lordy ..."Drunken landlady" lead me to here then on to explore the whole "Shane Cook" fiddle thing...Wow!
Pete... omg! Such insane joyful playing 
Fergal may have met his match, LOL.
quote:
Originally posted by QuincyThis brilliant young girl is showing me the way, especially on how to weave the different parts together instead of playing them separated. I love to see how a tune can grow!
Could you post a link to the Clifftop video of the young girl playing Pretty Little Girl? I see other people here seem to be watching that too, but I can't find a link to it in this thread. Thanks!
Pretty Little GIrl w/ Bruce Molsky at Clifftop -
https://youtu.be/naCLCHMjOiM?si=TKLSpUyEnxJmVB7H
and Shane Cook crazy good fiddlin' with dancing!
https://youtu.be/M2qRYgUqlyc?si=BcGe71LYmo4k9cCw
quote:
Originally posted by Brendan Doylequote:
Originally posted by QuincyThis brilliant young girl is showing me the way, especially on how to weave the different parts together instead of playing them separated. I love to see how a tune can grow!
Could you post a link to the Clifftop video of the young girl playing Pretty Little Girl? I see other people here seem to be watching that too, but I can't find a link to it in this thread. Thanks!
I don't know if this is at Clifftop but this is her performing :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slql_eTUysA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvSRLea2_9k
And this is the first video I saw of her:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrTjSqHpapA
She is so incredibly. She deserves nothing but the very best <3
NC Notes, the fiddle is top, but that is an amazing dancer as well! Nice link :D Now I can't stop watching.
More D tunes with emphasis on the A chord: "Cricket on the Hearth" (Because there's been one singing in the garage), "Forky Deer," "Old French" (One of the first tunes I learned, which I understand is neither old nor French). "Billy in the Lowground" is usually a C tune, but the Lowe Stokes recording of the version I know is in concert D, and I've been wondering if that's how he actually fingered it. Seems to work, but I keep falling into "Quince Dillion's High D Tune" from Henry Reed (and the closely related "High C# Tune"). So I moved on to his "Schottische in D" and then a few times through "Texas Quickstep."
Edited by - DougD on 10/08/2025 06:00:00
Lol, I notice Bruce is often surrounded by young ladies, as is that wacky cello player who's name eludes me at the moment, from Crooked Still. I believe the "young girl" is Tatiana Hargreaves. Allison deGroot is a magician on the banjo.
Two different people, Billy. The links Anja posted are of a much younger person than Tatiana.
Anja I enjoyed watching the pretty little girl playing “pretty little girl” :-)
(And her parrot wandering around free in the back, too :-D
Doug yep learned "Cricket on the Hearth" when Peggy was doing her online tune-learning thing, that was fun. I like "Billy in the Low Ground"... started playing it on viola so I could get a C-drone...
Hmm at Clifftop, how would you even get into a jam with Bruce Molsky? It doesn't seem like random players could wander along and sit in! Maybe this was more like a gig?
Music Updates:
Obsessed with Mike Rafferty / Willie Kelly albums lately. I am partial to that more spare, laid-back "Clare" style of fiddling... maybe part of it is that my flute friend plays in a style similar to Mike, so it sounds familiar. The maddening thing about Willie is that he does beautiful third-finger rolls and uses them a lot... (ugh, my least favorite thing to do! Especially since my third finger has been weak ever since the bike fall!)
.
Edited by - NCnotes on 10/08/2025 19:25:48
NCnotes - The description for that video said it was a CD release party, so it wasn't a random jam. I think most festival jams tend to be made up of people who know each other, but some are more open than others. Also, that video is ten years old, FWIW.
quote:
Originally posted by NCnotesAnja I enjoyed watching the pretty little girl playing “pretty little girl” :-)
(And her parrot wandering around free in the back, too :-DDoug yep learned "Cricket on the Hearth" when Peggy was doing her online tune-learning thing, that was fun. I like "Billy in the Low Ground"... started playing it on viola so I could get a C-drone...
Hmm at Clifftop, how would you even get into a jam with Bruce Molsky? It doesn't seem like random players could wander along and sit in! Maybe this was more like a gig?
Music Updates:
Obsessed with Mike Rafferty / Willie Kelly albums lately. I am partial to that more spare, laid-back "Clare" style of fiddling... maybe part of it is that my flute friend plays in a style similar to Mike, so it sounds familiar. The maddening thing about Willie is that he does beautiful third-finger rolls and uses them a lot... (ugh, my least favorite thing to do! Especially since my third finger has been weak ever since the bike fall!)
.
RE 3rd finger rolls: I often shift up and do a 2nd finger roll with stronger fingers. It works well sometimes, and sometimes makes for easier bowing. But not always...just a thought
Lately, I don't have titles per se.
I make a 1-5 loop @ ??bpm.
Or a Polka, or a 1-5-1-4-5-1 @ xxxbpm.
Or the dreaded 12bars at xxxbpm.
If the C fiddle is at the top, it's in C.
Sure, I dumped a couple on Sound-off.
Dire Wolf
Deep Elem Blues
Jamestown Ferry
Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down
Deal
Buckaroo
Old Dangerfield
Mary's Kitchen
Amie
Althea
Still playing the guitar and have been exploring fiddle tunes on it. Also very obsessed with the Telecaster stylings of Redd Volkaert.
Need to book a bluegrass gig so I've got something to do with my fiddle.
Red Volkeart
Danny Donato
& Luke McQuery, all played for Don Kelly.
Nashville icon. Don retired during covid, but
Kelly's Heros still play on at Robert's.
May your Tele journey continue!
Edited by - farmerjones on 10/10/2025 20:01:50
Redd player for Merle for 5-6 yrs. He makes me giggle, the way he plays, the note choices etc.
I can't believe how much I missed playing guitar. I really have to be conscious of how I'm holding the pick so as not to aggravate my arthritis, but otherwise it just feels like hanging out with an old friend. I'm not joking, it makes me a little misty to put it into words.
