KentFolk Review

SCHOTT MUSIC

American Old Time Fiddle Tunes

98 Traditional Pieces for Violin
By Pete Cooper
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www.kentfolk.com

Now this book and CD are a delight - essential to those who play the folk fiddle, I would think, but a honey jar of wonders for those like me who are fascinated by the well known English and Celtic tunes that have migrated and transmogrified, the tunes that have been written over the waters, but also very much by those tunes that the Americas have preserved but we have lost. One wonders at the history of "Doney Gal" (61) - presumably a corruption of "Donegal" ?

The tunes start with such well known ones as "Flop-Eared Mule" (1) and "Turkey in the Straw" (3), and include other well known ones such as "Cluck Old Hen" (73) an "Jack o' Diamonds" (76) but there are others that I have loved for some time scattered through the collection : "Beaumont Rag" (91) (I first heard this from Neti Vaan, on one of her visits to Kent from New Orleans), "Glory in the Meeting House" (83) (familiar from the playing of Ben Paley), Blackberry Blossom (32) (a tune Saskia Tomkins is partial to) as well as "Midnight on the Water" (94), and the tune here titled Raleigh and Spencer (97).

There are too many other great tunes to list, but a few that that struck me particularly in this collection were
"Pig Ankle Rag" (10),
"Shenandoah Falls" (48),
The duet "Wild Rose of the Mountain" (49),
"Falls of Richmond" (75),
"Lady Hamilton" (81),
"New Money" (84),
"East Tennessee Blues". (90)

American Old Time Fiddle Tunes - By Pete Cooper - 98 Traditional Pieces for Violin

The 80 page booklet (in English, French and German) gives the tunes in stave notation, with extensive notes on regional and other playing styles : "Kentucky fiddlers play differently again, in a fluid, pulsing style, often with 'jumps' ahead of the beat, to bring out the intrinsic syncopation of the tune."
The tunes are split into sections, depending on the tuning - some such as Cotton Eyed Joe (6, 21, 67) appear in more than one tuning.
Each section is preceded by an open string playing to aid setting the fiddle tuning.
The playing of the tunes is as clear and authoritative as one would expect from such a fine player as Pete Cooper, who has a long history of teaching fiddle. The bowing ornamentation and syncopation specific to particular tunes are added as needed.

Beau Webber - www.KentFolk.com - 2010-01-20


The covering letter that came with the book and CD :
Pete Cooper plays, teaches, composes, records and writes about fiddle music. He is best known for his tutorial books and his folk collections published as part of the Schott World Music series. His unusual fluency in different styles - English, Irish, Scottish, Old Time, Swedish, Eastern European - has been described as 'chameleon-like'.

In his new book, Pete Cooper presents a rich collection of 98 Old Time fiddle tunes from across the USA. All pieces are grouped by key, as played in sessions, and include bowing and chords. The introduction and notes on the individual tunes provide explanations of non-standard string tunings, bowing techniques, and regional playing styles. A CD of all the tunes, performed by Pete Cooper, accompanies the publication, which is suitable for grade 3 and above.

Other Pete Cooper publications in the Schott World Music series:
Eastern European Fiddle Tunes, Irish Fiddle Solos, English Fiddle Tunes.

Price: £10.99   /   €17,95   Order number: ED 13236

SCHOTT MUSIC LTD.
48 Great Marlborough Street
London W1F 7BB, U.K.

Your contact for further information:
Annet Ferguson
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7534 0744
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7534 0749
annet_dot_ferguson_at_schott-music_dot_com


American Old Time Fiddle Tunes

98 Traditional Pieces for Violin
By Pete Cooper

CD Track List / Plages du CD / CD-Titelverzeichnis

No. Title Duration
First Tunes
1. Flop-Eared Mule 0:56
2. Ida Red 0:32
3. Turkey in the Straw 0:58
4. Grey Cat on a Tennessee Farm 0:52
5. Muddy Roads 1:08
6. Cotton Eyed Joe 1:23
D Tunes - 1 GDAE
1. Arkansas Traveler 0:56
8. Angeline the Baker 0:53
9. Eighth of January 0:48
10. Pig Ankle Rag 1:29
11. Yellow Barber 0:46
12. Martha Campbell 0:42
13. Josh and I 0:38
14. Lowery's Quadrille 0:57
15. West Fork Gals 0:44
16. Jaybird 0:56
17. Rock the Cradle, Joe 0:44
18. Mississippi Sawyer 0:44
19. Sadie at the Back Door 0:42
G Tunes - 1 GDAE
20. Peeler Creek Waltz 0:43
21. Cotton Eyed Joe - 2 0:27
22. Ladies on the Steamboat 0:24
23. Cumberland Gap 0:23
24. Elk River Blues 0:27
25. Cuffey 0:43
26. Possum on a Rail 0:42
27. McMichen's Reel 0:40
28. Katy Hill 0:22
29. Shortenin' Bread 1:49
30. Seneca Square Dance (Waiting for the Federals) 0:44
31. Ora Lee 0:50
32. Blackberry Blossom 0:43
A Tunes - 1 GDAE
33. Frosty Morning 0:46
34. Betty Likens 0:35
35. Kitchen Girl 0:43
36. Devil in the Strawstack 0:41
37. Hog-Eye 0:26
38. June Apple 0:48
39. Little Rabbit 1:01
40. Bill Cheatem 0:41
41. Yellow Gal 0:39
42. Grub Springs 0:42
43. Sally Gooden 0:29
44. Cherokee Shuffle 0:42
45. Elzick's Farewell 1:02
46. Sheep Shell Corn by the Rattlin'of his Horn 0:26
47. Salt River 0:43
48. Shenandoah Falls 0:53
49. Wild Rose of the Mountain 1:00
D Tunes - 2 ADAE
50. The Twin Sisters 0:54
51. Old Molly Hare 0:22
52. Green Willis 0:41
53. Sister Ann 0:53
54. Ryestraw - 1 0:32
55. Ryestraw - 2 0:39
56. Fisher's Hornpipe 0:44
57. Forked Deer 0:42
58. Robinson County 0:37
59. Belle of Lexington 0:43
60. Swannanoa Waltz 0:58
A Tunes - 2 AEAE
61. Doney Gal 0:56
62. Sweet Marie 0:48
63. Rosy Lee 0:39
64. Sweet Sunny South 0:34
65. Jeff Sturgeon 0:34
66. Breaking up Christmas 0:41
67. Cotton Eyed Joe - 3 0:29
68. Candy Girl 0:21
69. Chinquapin Hunting 0:34
70. Little Billy Wilson 0:54
71. Ways of the World 0:53
72. Little Girl with her Hair all down Behind 0:43
73. Cluck Old Hen 0:27
74. Ducks in the Pond 0:43
75. Falls of Richmond 1:02
76. Jack o' Diamonds or The Drunken Hiccups 1:28
G Tunes - 2 GDAE
77. Willow on the Lake 0:59
78. Chicken and Dumplin's 0:45
79. Flowers of Edinburgh 0:53
80. Shove the Pig's Foot a Little Farther in the Fire 0:46
81. Lady Hamilton 1:15
82. Lost Boy 0:43
83. Glory in the Meeting House 0:56
C Tunes and Rags GDAE
84. New Money 0:58
85. Wagoner One-Step 0:41
86. Katy Did 0:33
87. Tennessee Mountain Fox Chase 1:03
88. Billy in the Low Ground 0:44
89. Pike's Peak 0:44
90. East Tennessee Blues 0:48
91. Beaumont Rag 1:27
92. Taylor's Quickstep 1:03
DDAD Tuning
93. Coleman' s March 1:12
94. Midnight on the Water 1:22
95. Bonaparte's Retreat - 1 1:08
96. Bonaparte's Retreat - 2 0:56
97. Raleigh and Spencer 0:35
98. Queen of the Earth, Child of the Stars 1:31
Total duration 78:39