Indian and the Woodhen

Key of G
Form: AAAB

This is a tune from Manon Campbell. The recording is short, and he doesn't play it consistently with the extra beats, so I had a hard time figuring out exactly what he was going for.

I also have a field recording of David Lynch playing it. In that recording, he plays the A part four times through instead of three, and he reverses the phrases in the B part.

In Jeff Todd Titon's Kentucky Fiddle Tunes book, his transcription shows the A part played three times, and the two phrases of the B part to be identical. This transcription is closer to the recording on Slippery Hill.

So, I had to take a bit of creative licence with this one. I hope my end result is what Manon Campbell intended. I settled on AAAB, with the phrases in the B part reversed from the David Lynch recording.

Here's my arrangement/transcription:

Guitar Backup:

64 bpm:

82 bpm:

100 bpm:


Backup + Melody:
82 bpm:

Chadwell's Station

Key of G
Form: AABB

This is a tune from A Collection of Violin Tunes Popular During the Early 1800's, also known as the Hamblen collection. I got it from the Canote Brothers.

It's tricky in that the B part contains most of the A part, so if you don't know it's AABB, you might think it's AABA'BA', which gets confusing. It's a slower tune, so I'm not including a practice track for 100 bpm because that would be too fast.

Here's my arrangement/transcription:

Guitar Backup:

64 bpm:

82 bpm:


Backup + Melody:
82 bpm:

Duck River

Key of D
Form: AABB

This is a Kentucky tune, known via John Salyer (Slippery Hill). There, you can listen to his recording from 1941.

Here's Mary Jane Epps and Michele Lanan fiddling this tune:

Here's my arrangement/transcription:

Guitar Backup:

64 bpm:

82 bpm:

100 bpm:


Backup + Melody:
82 bpm:

Farewell Princeton

Key of D
Form: AABB

This is a tune from Clyde Davenport. It's crooked in the B section.

Here's Emily Schaad playing it at the 2012 Clifftop fiddle contest (she won, btw):

Here's my arrangement/transcription:

Guitar Backup:

64 bpm:

82 bpm:

100 bpm:


Backup + Melody:
82 bpm:

Joe Bane's

Key of G
Form: AABB

An Irish Tune (shout out to Kacie!).

Here's Charm City Junction playing a lovely arrangement:

What's cool about this group is that you have Brad Kolodner; and old-time banjo player, Patrick McAvinue; a bluegrass fiddler, Sean McComiskey; an Irish accordionist, and Alex Lacquement; an everything bassist coming together and making music despite their different backgrounds. This approach really embodies the spirit of American fiddle music, which arose from a synthesis of many different European and African inputs.

Here's my transcription/arrangement:

Guitar Backup:

64 bpm:

82 bpm:

100 bpm:


Backup + Melody:
82 bpm:

Folding Down the Sheets

Key of D
Form: AABB

Hey, let's listen to Rayna Gellert play this tune (at 2:39):

We can also listen to Joe Herrmann and Adam Hurt play it (at 2:34):

Don't you wanna just pick up your fiddle (or trombone or kazoo or whatever you want) and play it too?!

Would it be easier if you had a guitar playing friend to play along with you while you learn it?

I can do that for you (in a virtual disembodied sort of way)!

64 bpm:

80 bpm:

100 bpm: