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

Dancing Tables by Liz Carroll

By on Tuesday, April 5th, 2011 | No Comments

Dancing Tables, a jig by Liz Carroll, first showed up in a collection of Irish fiddle tunes. It was in Mel Bay’s Irish Session Tune Book.

I’ve used that often to see standard versions of popular tunes. The book includes favored variations, too. It has proven itself to be a good starting place for tunes.

Recently, Liz Carroll published her own Collected Original Irish Tunes. The way the tune is published there is a bit different from Mel Bay’s.

If you like her tunes it’s a great resource. The one I’ve been learning the past week or so is Fremont Center.

Getting back to Dancing Tables, here is the tab chart.

Fiddle tab chart of Dancing TablesAnd here is a pdf of Dancing Tables.

When I went to Amazon to get a link to the Mel Bay book, I saw the reviews were a little rough. And unfairly so, in my opinion. So I added my two cents worth. Below should be the link.

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.

Let Me Out

By on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 | No Comments

This is one of my original tunes with an Irish fiddle flavor. I have it in the Canine medley, which includes Little Begger Dog and Old Gray Fox.

One of my challenges is to find the happy medium between the way I play the tune with maximum ornamentation, and an accessible way for intermediate fiddlers.

Since I increase ornamentation the longer I play a tune, it is a matter of going back in time. How did I play the tune when I first put it on paper or recorded it?

I put a version or two of this on YouTube.com/grassapelli a while back. I’m not sure if it matches the tab chart. Tunes mutate when I’m not looking at them.

Of all the tunes I’ve written, this is one I enjoy playing more than most. I don’t know why. It just feels good.

Fiddle tab chart for Let Me Out

Let Me Out in fiddle tab

The better to print version: Let Me Out in pdf.

The Butterfly

By on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 | No Comments

If you saw the program of The Celtic Women, you heard this tune played by a cute blond fiddler who danced in a graceful way as she played. It’s a popular session tune, and usually played a bit faster than the graceful dancing way.

Fiddle tab chart for The Butterfly Slip Jig

The Butterfly 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.

Margaret’s Waltz

By on Friday, May 21st, 2010 | 2 Comments

Some fiddlers prefer to play this waltz in the key of A. Here you have Margaret’s Waltz in the key of G, where I’m used to playing it.

This is a pretty piece. It has migrated to American fiddling as well as any other tune from Ireland, not counting Red Haired Boy….and Devil’s Dream….and….well let’s stop there.

For waltzes, you won’t find another Irish one that is played more than Margaret’s. [Update: this is apparently not an Irish waltz. But, it is from the British Isles.]

Fiddle tab chart for Margaret's Waltz

Margaret's Waltz in Fiddle Tab

The pdf chart for Margaret’s Waltz.

Kilfenora’s Jig

By on Tuesday, May 18th, 2010 | No Comments

The first time I heard Martin Hayes it was a compilation disc of many fiddlers. His playing was totally magnetic. I went right out and found Under the Moon.

First the album, then the collection of tunes. Kilfenora’s Jig was really was irresistible I’ve been playing it long enough now that it has evolved a little.

The version of the tune here is close to how I play it.

fiddle tab chart for Kilfenora's Jig

Kilfenora's Jig in fiddle tab

And the pdf of Kilfenora’s Jig.

Swallowtail Jig

By on Monday, May 10th, 2010 | No Comments

One of the principles of music notation publishing is economy. Publish as much music as possible in the smallest amount of space. This principle was driven by physical constraints of material and human labor. It led to the use of repeat signs, target signs of several types, measure repeat signs, and more.

When I was putting together my book 43 Fiddle Tunes in Tab, I used these concepts to draw maps of tabs that were sometimes hard to follow. It gives me great satisfaction to straighten out some of these twisty pathways on this blog.

One such is the fiddle tab chart I made for Swallowtail Jig. There is one area in the B part that has stumped students repeatedly, (forgive the pun). In the chart below it is rewritten more intuitively.

fiddle tab chart for Swallowtail Jig

Swallowtail Jig in Fiddle Tab

And Swallowtail Jig as pdf for better results when printed.

Irish Washer Woman

By on Monday, May 3rd, 2010 | No Comments

About a decade back, I was playing regularly at retirement homes. The only jig ever requested was Irish Washer Woman.

I had noticed that many collections of American fiddle tunes included Haste to the Wedding. That being the only jig in a collection of hoedowns, you would think it a popular tune. No one ever asked for it.

One of my string colleagues reminded me why Irish Washer Woman is popular, especially with people just a little older than me. It was thematic in a John Wayne movie, The Quiet Man.

Playing Irish Washer Woman as often as I do, I got in the habit of abbreviating it I.W.W. This amused me also because the same letters stand for the now defunct workers’ union, International Workers of the World. People used to ridicule the organization saying the letters stood for “I Won’t Work,” or “I Want Whiskey.”

My last comment: I really play the tune in F when I do it with a medley that starts with Scatter the Mud, goes to Kilfenora Jig, then to I.W.W. But the rest of the world plays it in G. That’s what we have here.

The pdf of Irish Washer Woman.

Off She Goes in Tab

By on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 | No Comments

Here’s yet another jig with updated endings. That original idea was economical, but confusing. This way is the standard approach in music notation for endings and repeats. Let’s go with it!

And Off She Goes pdf.

In the present edition of 43 Fiddle Tunes in Tab, I have ornaments as inserted alternatives to certain bars. When I get that sorted out, I’ll post it.

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