Fiddle Tunes in Tab Julie & Julia Start a Fiddle Blog Directory of Tunes

A Fiddler’s Quick Fix in the Morning

By on Friday, March 11th, 2011 | No Comments

One morning not long ago I woke up with a head ache. Maybe it was from staring at those little dots of music at orchestra rehearsal. Or peering at the little screen on my lap top.

I took some ibuprofen, (my drug of choice), and made coffee. As I waited for the coffee to brew I was trying to remember a Liz Carroll tune. There was something about it that haunted me. But, I wasn’t remembering exactly how the tune went or what album it was on.

As I continued trying to focus through my achy head and morning bleariness, suddenly a new tune popped into my head. I’m saying it was an instant download from the Grassapelli influence. It was just there.

I got out my fiddle and Edirol. By that time the coffee was ready, so I poured a cup. By the time I had played through the tune two times and recorded it, my headache was gone. Hence. Quick Fix.

Elan Chalford original fiddle tune, Quick Fix, in fiddle tab

And here is the fiddle tab chart in pdf.

Julia Delaney

By on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 | 1 Comment

Apparently I was mistaken about Margaret’s Waltz being an Irish tune. An yet, I’m going way out on a limb here and saying this is an Irish reel. Definitely sounds Irish.

I worked out a harmony part in twin fiddling for this, but you need to go into second position to pull it off. That’s one reason for not producing a tab chart. Maybe someday, in music notation.

Fiddle tab chart for Julia Delaney

Some of the bowing may seem a little odd. I arranged it so that the cross string bowing could be up bow on the E and down bow on the A. The bow technique feels more natural.

Here’s the pdf for Julia Delaney.

Liberty

By on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 | No Comments

With the 4th of July and Bastille Day approaching, we will be thinking of our personal liberty.

They say it’s not how much food you have on the table, or how many shoes in the closet that gives you liberty, it’s how free you are from the government poking its armed nose into your business. (Imagine a giant nose with rifles bristling from the nostrils instead of nose hairs.)

The fiddle reel celebrating personal freedom is Liberty. This is a straight ahead way to play it.

Liberty in fiddle tab

Fiddle Tab chart of Liberty

Liberty in fiddle tab

And in the printable version we have the Liberty pdf file.

Morpeth Rant

By on Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 | 5 Comments

Morpeth Rant is the tune you don’t play too soon after St. Anne’s Reel. The B parts are just close enough that you could drift back into St. Anne’s.

The variation I have is close to the way I play it. And it’s a little different from what you find in tune collections. I think this version has been influenced by what I call the Alachua group of Florida fiddlers.

I heard some of them playing the tune in a way that caught some good drone strings, and with a strong danceable rhythm. They say imitation is the sincerest form of theft, and I don’t doubt it. I bear testimony.

Fiddle tab chart for Morpeth Rant

Morpeth Rant in fiddle tab

Just a reminder: the initials D.C. at the bottom mean da capo. A term in standard music, it means go back to the top.

Here’s the pdf for Morpeth Rant.

Whiskey Before Breakfast

By on Friday, May 14th, 2010 | No Comments

For as long as I’ve been going to the Florida Folk Festival, this tune, Whiskey Before Breakfast, has been popular. It’s fun to play and offers lots of chances for variation.

Fiddle tab chart of Whiskey before Breakfast

Whiskey Before Breakfast fiddle tab chart

And the pdf of Whiskey Before Breakfast.

The Hunter’s Purse, an Irish Reel in Music Notation

By on Monday, February 8th, 2010 | No Comments

Even today a purse is not just a small bag for carrying money. It can be the prize in  a contest.

The hunter may think of his quarry as a prize. But a animal taken by the hunter may not fit into a small bag. The hunter’s purse may be the small bag he made out of the hide of his catch.

Purse also means to draw the lips together like the mouth of a purse with the strings tightened. This is what the hunter does when his game escapes.

An Irish reel

Also, here’s the Hunter’s Purse pdf.

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