"They were stabbing me with brilliant
white streaks, spikes of light perfectly
connected with one another. The
fiddle was answering with long
screams of brilliant brownish-red
tones that ran all up and down my
spine. It was like bein' in a Model A
Ford truck goin' hell-bent for leather
down a crooked mountain road with
no brakes whatsoever on a beautiful
sunny day while nobody gives a damn
for nothin'. ...the free-est, most
excitin' music I ever heard in my life."
John Hartford
white streaks, spikes of light perfectly
connected with one another. The
fiddle was answering with long
screams of brilliant brownish-red
tones that ran all up and down my
spine. It was like bein' in a Model A
Ford truck goin' hell-bent for leather
down a crooked mountain road with
no brakes whatsoever on a beautiful
sunny day while nobody gives a damn
for nothin'. ...the free-est, most
excitin' music I ever heard in my life."
John Hartford
Quote from his eulogy for Benny Martin,
describing how at 14 he first heard Martin
playing Flint Hill Special on the radio.
John adamantly proclaimed the original
Foggy Mt. Boys' recording "to this day the
best phonograph record that was ever
made by anybody, anywhere!" He also
claimed that during the broadcast, he
tried to climb inside the radio. John's
article on the great Benny Martin
appeared in Fiddler Magazine, Fall '99.
describing how at 14 he first heard Martin
playing Flint Hill Special on the radio.
John adamantly proclaimed the original
Foggy Mt. Boys' recording "to this day the
best phonograph record that was ever
made by anybody, anywhere!" He also
claimed that during the broadcast, he
tried to climb inside the radio. John's
article on the great Benny Martin
appeared in Fiddler Magazine, Fall '99.
favorite lyrics sites
favorite musicians
favorite time wasters
Download the M3 of Flatt & Skruggs'
Flint Hill Special with Benny Martin on
fiddle for just $0.99. right now V
Flint Hill Special with Benny Martin on
fiddle for just $0.99. right now V
Kat's Bluegrass Fiddle - tools for fiddlers
| a fiddler's source for tips, tools, learning and fun |
| Kat Trax: more web tools and fun |
| Online Sources for Tunes and Instruction |
| Walking in my Sleep - Kenny Baker recorded the tune on "Portrait of a Bluegrass Fiddler", which seems to be out of circulation. I learned this tune from Doug Tanner of the Gypsy Wranglers. Listen (mp3) sheet music |
| Cattle in the Cane mp3 A slowed down version played by Jim Moss. Check out his great site with free dLs of tunes and lessons. |
Finale Note Pad turns notation into
audio.You have to type it in but you get
an audio file you can play to hear the
tune, learn it by ear and share with others.
audio.You have to type it in but you get
an audio file you can play to hear the
tune, learn it by ear and share with others.
favorite free software
| Dave Brinkman's Fiddle Tune Database No tunes or sheet music but an exhaustive list of where to find tunes and fiddlers in books, on CD, cassette you name it. When you find what you're looking for, search for used and new copies at Amazon. I'm "amazed" at the search results I've gotten there. Truly exhaustive resource. |
| More Tools for Learning Tunes |
| Fiddler Magazine past issues have lots of notation for fiddle tunes. A better list of the tunes in past issues is on Dave Brinkman's site, below. You still have to buy the paper copy, but they're chock full of tunes. |
| Stacy Phillips, that prolific transcriber of american fiddle greats, has tons of sample transciptions of his numerous books on fiddle and dobro on his site. He also has tunes sprinkled through the back issues of his fiddlle e-zine for Mel Bay pubs.Fiddle Sessions. Check out "Learning by Ear vs. by Reading Music or Tab" and "Playing Slowly" for great technical tips. |
| Clinch Mt. Backstep also in Jack Tuttle's Bluegrass Fiddle Collection. He doesn't post the pdf onine so get the book. Even if you learn by notation, best listen to this tune alot as it is "crooked", meaning, it has an extra beat just to throw you off! Download it to your personal tune library for only 99 cents: >>>> |
| Bluegrass Stomp Jack Tuttle, a CA based instructor with a great website. He generously gives lots of free music notation, such as this tune. Be sure you visit Jack's site and get his amazing Bluegrass Fiddle Collection book. |
| Notable Quotes |
| A lesson subscription to Bluegrass College is quite reasonable. They also offer free lesson samples and free sheet music to some of the most popular bluegrass tunes in the Fiddle Fake Book. |
Audacity Sound Editor record and edit
favorite fiddle forums
Slowing it Down - Some musicians seem to be able to pick up on a tune by ear effortlessly. Most of us need to listen and
listen to "get it ". Thanks to the miracles of technology your computer provides several ways to slow down audio
recordings for learning tunes by ear. Both Windows Media Player version 10 and Apple's QuickTime version 7 are able to
slow down music without changing pitch. Most people have these programs already on thier computers.
Windows Media Player 10 : load the track you want to learn, select "View" at the top nd under "Enhancements", select
"Show Enhancements". Then go to the "Now Playing" tab, and slider to slow the piece down.
QuickTime 7: load the track, on the Window menu select "Show A/V Controls". There is a "Playback Speed" slider in this
window.
There are other software options that can do more. Like Transcriber and The Amazing Slow-downer. You can also
purchase a stand-alone recorder playback device, which I'm in the process of investigating, so more on that later.
listen to "get it ". Thanks to the miracles of technology your computer provides several ways to slow down audio
recordings for learning tunes by ear. Both Windows Media Player version 10 and Apple's QuickTime version 7 are able to
slow down music without changing pitch. Most people have these programs already on thier computers.
Windows Media Player 10 : load the track you want to learn, select "View" at the top nd under "Enhancements", select
"Show Enhancements". Then go to the "Now Playing" tab, and slider to slow the piece down.
QuickTime 7: load the track, on the Window menu select "Show A/V Controls". There is a "Playback Speed" slider in this
window.
There are other software options that can do more. Like Transcriber and The Amazing Slow-downer. You can also
purchase a stand-alone recorder playback device, which I'm in the process of investigating, so more on that later.
| Stuart Duncan rules! See him Soppin' the Gravy on YouTube |