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Don's
Fiddle Tune Arrangements
(Tabledit
Format) |
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What
exactly is a fiddle tune? A fiddle tune
is a melody that once you hear it, you can't seem to get
it out of your head until you can grab your banjo and learn
it yourself. A fiddle tune is a living cord connecting us
back to long ago generations, to feel deep in ourselves
just a fragment of feeling transmitted from across the ages
by some plain common folk, our ancestors otherwise long
forgotten. A fiddle tune is a kind of tune that has a lot
of music concentrated in just a little bit of space, and
in that respect it is to notes what poetry is to words.
A good fiddle tune you can play for a very long time and
not get tired of it. A good fiddle tune is a tune that you
can never quite play the same way twice, even when you want
to. A good fiddle tune will bring two or more people together
who might otherwise be enemies. Fiddle tunes all pretty
much sound the same, except they all sound different when
you finally hear them. A good fiddle tune will always be
remembered by somebody. And a good fiddle tune will make
you forget, for just an instant, that man is born to die.
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What's New on 4/20/08: New fiddle track for Frosty
Morning
What's New on 4/26/08: New easier arrangement
for Ragtime Annie
What's New on 5/3/08: New tablature for Bonaparte's
March
What's New on 5/10/08: New tablature for Yellow
Barber
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TABLATURE
LIST
If
you have difficulty opening the tabs, click here for detailed
download instructions.
MIDI...TAB...Abe's
Retreat (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Angeline
the Baker (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Angeline
the Baker, Easier Version (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Arkansas
Traveler (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Back
Up and Push (GDGBD, C)
MIDI...TAB...Barlowe
Knife (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Beaumont
Rag (GDGBD, F)
MIDI...TAB...Betty
Likens (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Bill
Cheatum (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Billy
in the Lowground (GCGCD, C)
MIDI...TAB...Black
Eyed Suzie (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Black
Mountain Rag (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Boatman
(GDGAD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Bonaparte's
March (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Bonaparte
Crossing the Rhine (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Bonaparte
Crossing the Rocky Mtns (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Bonaparte's
Retreat (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Buffalo
Nickel (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Cacklin'
Hen (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Campbells
Farewell to Red Gap (GDGAD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Chicken
Reel (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Child
Grove (ADGAD, D Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Chilly
Winds (GDGAD, Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Chinese
Breakdown (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Cindy
(GDGBD,G)
MIDI...TAB...Cluck
Old Hen (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Coon
Dog (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Cotton
Eyed Joe (GDGAD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Cripple
Creek (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Dance
All Night (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Drowsy
Maggie (ADF#AD, Em/D)
MIDI...TAB...Dry
and Dusty (ADF#D, D)
MIDI...TAB...Ducks
in the Millpond (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Ducks
on the Pond (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Ebenezer
(GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Eighth
of January (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Elzic's
Farewell (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Falls
of Richmond (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Flop-Eared
Mule (GDGBD,G)
MIDI...TAB...Fly
Around My Pretty Little Miss (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Forky
Deer (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Frosty
Morning (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Gaspe
Reel (ADF#AD,D)
MIDI...TAB...Girl
I Left Behind Me (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Golden
Slippers (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Golden
Slippers (GDGAD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Grasshopper
Sittin' on a Sweet Potato Vine (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Green
Willis (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Grey
Eagle (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Growling
Old Man and Woman (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Hard
Times (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Hell
Among the Yearlings (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Hogeye
(GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...John
Brown's Dream (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...John
Brown's March (GDGAD,G)
MIDI...TAB...Julianne
Johnson (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...June
Apple (GDGAD,G)
MIDI...TAB...Kitchen
Girl (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...La
Bastrange (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Leather
Britches (GDGAD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Liberty
(ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Listen
to the Mockingbird (GCGBD, C)
MIDI...TAB...Liza
Jane (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Liza
Jane, Easier Version (GDGBD)
MIDI...TAB...Lost
Indian (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Magpie
(GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Midnight
on the Water (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Mississippi
Sawyer (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Morpeth
Rant (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Nancy
(ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Old
French (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Old
Joe Clark (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Over
the Waterfall (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Quince
Dillon's High D (ADF#AD)
MIDI...TAB...Quit
Kicking My Dog Around (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Rachel
(ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Ragtime
Annie (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Ragtime
Annie, Easier Version (GDGBD)
MIDI...TAB...Red
Haired Boy (GDGCD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Rock
the Cradle Joe (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Rose
Tree (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Rosin
the Beau (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Rueben
(ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Sail
Away Ladies (GDGAD)
MIDI...TAB...Sally
Goodin (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Sally
in the Garden (ADGAD, D Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Sandy
Boys (GDGBD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Santa
Annas Retreat (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Say
Old Man, Can You Play the Fiddle (ADGAD, D Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Senaca
Square Dance (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Shady
Grove, Henry Reed (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Shebeg
Shemore (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Shenandoah
Falls (GDGAD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Ships
Are Sailing (ADGAD, D Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Snowflake
Reel (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Soldier's
Joy (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Spotted
Pony (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Spring
Creek Gals (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...St.
Anne's Reel (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Staten
Island Hornpipe (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Stoney
Point (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Sugar
in the Gourd (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Tater
Patch (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Texas
(GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...The
Cuckoo's Nest (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Turkey
in the Straw (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Turkey
in the Straw (GDGBD, G)
MIDI...TAB...Twin
Sisters (ADGAD, D Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Waiting
for Nancy (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Walking
in the Parlor (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...West
Fork Gals (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...West
Virginia Gals (GDGAD, G Modal)
MIDI...TAB...Whiskey
Before Breakfast (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Wildwood
Flower (GCGCD, C)
MIDI...TAB...Wind
That Shakes the Barley (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Woodchopper's
Reel (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Yellow
Barber (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Yellow
Rose of Texas (ADF#AD, D)
MIDI...TAB...Yew
Piney Mountain (GDGAD, G Modal)
TOTAL
TABS: 119
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The
tabs in the Banj'r collection are in the TablEdit
format, and are opened through TablEdit's TEFView tab
viewer. The viewer is available free from the Tabledit
website. The easiest way to download is to left click
on the file link, and use the File Download dialog box.
However, with some system configurations, this function
results instead in a display of the file in ASCII text
or htm format. In that case, to download one
of the tabs listed at the right, just right click on
the link, and select "Save Link As" or "Save
Target As" from the drop down menu. Make
sure you include the ".tef" file extension
when you save.
One
of the most useful features of TEFView is that it is
virtually a full function MIDI software package. TEFView
contains most of the playback control features available
in the MIDI format, some not found in basic players
like Windows MediaPlayer or WinAmp. Taking full advantage
of this, each tablature arrangement in this collection
has been written with a guitar and bass accompaniment,
and sometimes fiddle, clawhammer banjo, or lead guitar.
. Through the MIDI Options window, you can speed up
or slow down the tempo, or change the relative volume
of each instrument, or temporarily turn off an instrument
altogether, by unchecking the checkbox next to the title
of the instrument track. Thus, you can turn the banjo
voice off, and practice playing along with the MIDI
accompaniment. The MIDI Options window can be accessed
through the icon on the toolbar, or through the Play
Menu selection on the Menu bar.
When
you open TEFView, the tablature will be scaled to a
particular note, either a 1/16th or a 1/32nd note. I
have found generally that the tunes in 2/4 and 3/4 time
are best viewed at the 1/32nd scale, while the handful
of 4/4 tunes are best viewed at the 1/16th scale. The
scale can be reset from the Display Menu item on the
top Menu Bar. The time signature is located in the upper
left corner of the tablature.
Tab
is merely a technique, a relatively efficient one, for
communicating how one musician has decided to render
a certain musical piece. The
goal is not to learn to sight read. Instead, you should
memorize the arrangement as soon as possible, internalize
it, changing it as little or as much as you want to
suit your own taste and style.
This is not classical music, where the composer's notes,
written down on paper, must be taken as gospel, not
to be altered.
Once you have memorized the arrangement, you should
continue to practice by playing along with the MIDI,
but don't follow the tab itself unless you forget part
of it. You don't want to play forever with a music stand
in front of you, whether real or virtual.
When
you work through a tab, you essentially "get inside
the picker's head," and see how he or she chooses
to solve a particular musical problem. As bluegrass
style five string banjo is still primarily a type of
pattern picking, as opposed to the more linear approach
of other instruments and other types of music, there
is ultimately an immense variety of solutions to that
"problem" presented by a particular phrase
of melody. So as you study the work of other pickers,
through tab, by slowing down a recording, or by any
other method, you should be selective, borrowing the
sounds you like best, and substituting a different approach
for the others. In the end, assuming you are putting
in the effort, your arrangements will reflect your own
musical tastes better than any other picker, and you
will essentially be your own favorite banjo picker.
Tab
also functions as a memory aid. Trust me on this- that
becomes more important as you get older. More than once
I have worked out an intricate arrangement, only to
find a few weeks later that I have completely forgotten
how I did it. After doing that a number of times, I
started transcribing my arrangements as soon as they
had pretty much settled down. There is nothing more
ridiculous than having to slow down your own recording
to half speed in order to figure out how you picked
something, to motivate you to make an accurate transcription
at the start.
I
cannot overemphasize how useful it is to practice along
with the MIDI playback. I practice with the Tabledit
files for most of my practice time. While there is obviously
still a very big difference between using Tabledit and
actually playing with other musicians, it is still a
great learning and practice tool, and I think as time
goes on and more material is published this way, it
is going to speed up the learning curve considerably
for new bluegrass pickers.
I've
read arguments that Tabledit is not as effective in
developing smooth, even timing as a metronome. That
may well be true in the early stages of learning, when
it is best to use the metronome with one tick for each
note, to guarantee an absolutely smooth roll. But in
the long run, I think Tabledit is the best learning
tool to come along since Earl himself. The whole MIDI
playback capability also shifts the "tab as a crutch"
dynamic, since as you gradually speed up the tempo,
you are forced to rely more on your memory and ear,
and less on the tab itself.
If you write
tab, I strongly recommend acquiring the full software
package. It is easy to use, creates great printed output,
and has a very well organized and complete set of MIDI
tools. All of the MIDI files used as background music
on these web pages were created from the Tabledit
program. Customer support by Keith Saturn (the American
rep) and Matthieu Leschemelle (the program's author,
on those rare occasions when Keith doesn't know the
answer) is timely and excellent. Their website is www.tabledit.com.
While the TEFView viewer can be used free of charge,
I highly recommend upgrading to the TablEdit software
package for anyone who intends to transcribe arrangements
for five string banjo.
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| (c)
copyright 2007, 2008, by Donald J. Borchelt, all rights
reserved.
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