Shuckin the Brush - Fiddle (Tuning ADAE: key of D)
kenkolodnerI love how the A part is super repetitive but driving and the B part explodes! According to fiddler Paul Kirk, this driving tune is a composition of Texas fiddler "Luke" Thomasson (11/13/1874 – 10/7/1924). I use “ghost bows”, Nashville shuffle and, briefly, 3-1 bowing and 4th finger unisons. This tune seems to have become more of a standard in old-time circles. Tuning the G string to A makes the A part much easier to play.
Here's What You Get:
$15 (Sheet music PLUS video lessons you can watch over and over, and play-through videos to practice along with)
Videos Included
- Slower
- Medium
- Faster
- A part
- B part
***Videos can be streamed, downloaded, or viewed in the Gumroad App on mobile devices. Watch your email for instructions after purchase***
The Sandbridge Old-time Fiddle Video Project
For the last few years, I have run a 3.5-day old-time fiddle retreat for intermediate level players in Sandbridge VA – The Sandbridge Old-Time Fiddle Retreat. We hold the workshop in a couple of beautiful oceanfront houses. We focus on a variety of bowing systems to create a solid groove, left-hand techniques (chording, slides, ornaments, 4th finger unisons etc), altered tunings, chord theory and more. For all the tunes, we prepare summary videos and provide written transcriptions with all bowings and notation of the left-hand techniques. I am pleased to now make many of these recordings available for everyone. The scope of material presented for each tune is comparable to several private lessons.
Topics covered in most of the videos include the following:
- Basic melody broken down phrase by phrase
- Bowings for all phrases
- Bowing ideas include 3-1 bowing, Nashville shuffle, bow pulses, ghost bows, bow rocks
- Rationale for bowing
- Altered tunings include ADAE, ADAD, AEAE, AEAC#
- Description of all chording
- Left-hand techniques
- Discussion of the chord progression
- Variations
- Written transcriptions with bowings and chords
- Practice tracks along with a play-through of the full tune
See also Ken’s book Old-time Fiddle Style (Mel Bay, 2010)
Thank you for your support - I hope you enjoy the tune! Please do not share your purchased music and videos.
© 2019 Ken Kolodner/All Rights Reserved. Recorded at Fenchurch Studios, Baltimore MD for the Spring 2019 Sandbridge Old-Time Fiddle Retreat (Sandfiddlers)