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My obsession with
old-time fiddling began
in the late 1960s while
I was working on my
Ph.D. in mathematics.
I was apprehensive
about telling my father
Paul Rolland about my
interest in fiddling, but
he turned out to be very
open-minded about it
and encouraged my
musical growth in that
direction. An outgrowth
of our discussions was that he began writing a violin method based on folk fiddle
tunes. He asked Norman Burgess, a Canadian violinist and fiddler, and me to provide
authentic tunes to work with and he planned to organize them into an effective
pedagogical sequence. The project was temporarily shelved while his major work
The Teaching of Action in String Playing book and film series was being completed.
His unexpected death in 1978 summarily ended the fiddle tune project. During the
1970s and 1980s I began fiddling professionally, and taught lots of fiddle students. I
organized fiddling classes for adult students through university continuing education
programs in Tucson and Tempe, Arizona as well as many private fiddling classes for
children in various parts of the Phoenix area. Over the years, I developed and honed
a classroom teaching method that has been very successful. This past April, I gave
four workshops on American fiddling at a conference for German classroom string
teachers in Trossingen, Germany. In addition to wanting to learn about American
fiddling in general, their special interest was in learning how to incorporate fiddling
into the German string classroom curriculum. Most of the teachers taught the
German equivalent of elementary and middle school aged children. I prepared and
gave them materials (described at the bottom of this article) suitable for that age
group, and showed them how to present and teach the materials effectively. In this
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article I'm going to give you these materials and describe this method for teaching
fiddle tunes to string classes that has worked so well for me over the years. You can
use the materials and method as an adjunct to your normal classroom curriculum in
which you teach the fundamentals of good string playing.
I want my students to be able to play the tunes from memory. I like to teach by rote
with the aid of transcriptions as a reference for both students and teachers using
both standard notation and tablature in my teaching depending on the circumstance.
Sheet music can help students who can read gain immediate playing access to the
tune, but students need to understand from the outset that if they are reading, they
aren't fiddling. Experience has taught me that students who learn by ear generally
can memorize more quickly than students who depend on reading. Using sheet
music gives the reading student immediate access to the notes and a reference they
can fall back on if they forget a note or phrase. I sometimes start beginners off with
a form of tablature so that they can "read" the notes immediately. Tablature simply
tells the student what finger to use and what string to put it on. This serves as a
temporary device that I sometimes use as a reference guide until students know
how to read standard notation. You can decide what works best for your situation.
Reading vs. not reading is not a key issue for me personally, because my real job
as a fiddle teacher begins after the notes are memorized, when we can focus in
on elements of style, nuances of bowing dynamics, getting the kids to create that
unique "fiddle" sound. What is at the core of my message for classroom teachers
is that I want the student to get very familiar with the melody by repeated listening
and playing, and having the group play in unison regardless of instrument. I want
the students to be able to hear the tune echoing in their head. I encourage that by
giving them a CD of my playing of the tune fast and slow, and also by asking them
to sing the tune along with me, an old technique that Celtic musicians call "lilting."
When working with young kids and simple versions of tunes that have lyrics, we
sing the tune together, and gradually they absorb general things about the melody
such as whether it goes up or down at a certain point. If no lyrics are available, I just
combine syllables / words like "doo," "doot," and "doodle" to express the melody
and rhythm of the tune.
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BEFORE THE FIRST CLASS:
- I select tunes to teach that are permissible (i.e., no copyright issues) and are
suitable to the skill level of the students. If it's a mixed class also involving viola,
cello and bass, I select tunes that would have reasonable unison sounding parts
for the lower instruments. I usually teach fiddle tunes in their original keys, but
occasionally need to transpose keys for pedagogical purposes.
- I write the tune down using Finale's PrintMusic transcription software and
insert / mark bowings, dynamics and chord changes. Since I play by ear and
improvise freely, having the transcriptions prevents me from changing the notes
and bowings that I teach from one session to another. I use Finale's automatic
transposition feature to create unison parts in first position for viola, cello and
bass if needed. The unison feature of this method creates a "wall of sound" that
strengthens the students' awareness of the tune and helps them find the correct
pitch. I carefully adjust the parts for the lower instruments to eliminate awkward
octave jumps and to maintain continuity in phrasing. If a unison note for a lower
part is troublesome and awkward, and if transposing a larger section of the
melody up or down an octave isn't practical, I substitute a harmony note from
the underlying chord. Unison melody parts for the bass sometimes work out
well, but sometimes are awkward and sound muddy, especially with faster
tunes. In the latter cases I have the bass players use a pizzicato and alternating
"boom-chick" bass line that follows the chord changes. This bass part will
sound much better on faster pieces, and it helps to underpin the melody with
simple bass lines. When appropriate, I teach the bass players how to "slap" the
bass. Even very good bass players tend to approach that style for the first time
with extreme caution, and I have to demonstrate it on their instrument and coax
them to "whack it really hard!"
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- I make a digital recording of myself playing the tunes at normal and
practice speeds.
- I import the digital files to my computer and burn a CD of all the tunes for the
course at both speeds. I arrange the tracks in the order I plan to teach the tunes
so that students can listen to all the tunes in order at normal speed, followed by
all the tunes at practice speed.
- If circumstances allow, I send the digital sound files to the students over the
internet so they can begin to listen to them ASAP and perhaps can even burn
their own CD on their computers.
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TEACHING THE FIRST TUNE TO THE CLASS:
- I hand out the sheet music for the tunes and CDs to the students who could not
burn their own copies in advance of the class.
- I teach the fi rst tune as soon as possible. If I’m teaching students who are
complete beginners to their instrument, obviously suffi cient time must be spent
teaching absolute basics of handling the instrument, how to hold it, how to use
the bow, how to make a good sound, etc. But my goal is always to get them
started working on a tune as quickly as I can.
- I like to begin a teaching session by playing the tune for the students at
performance tempo at least 2-3 times, always starting with the reference
(written) version, then often launching into more advanced versions
and variations.
- If the students can read well, I have them sight-read through the tune a couple
of times. Then I tell them to turn the page over so they can’t see the notes and
we work on it by rote. When they get frustrated because they can’t fi nd certain
notes, I allow them to “cheat” for a moment and check the sheet music. If the
students can’t read or choose to learn strictly by ear (many do!) I respect their
limitation or choice and teach strictly by ear.
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- In teaching the tunes, I try to play much and say little. I rely on demonstration
and sound to convey the message. I teach tunes in short passages that can be
a note at a time, a few notes at a time, or a short phrase at a time, depending on
their skill level. I play the passages for them on the fi ddle or piano at a slow
tempo and then we all play it together. I want to give them a very clear and loud
example to follow, and with large classes I sometimes resort to amplifying my
fi ddle or playing the tune fortisissimo on the piano or keyboard with each hand
playing the tune in octaves. We repeat this several times until I can hear that
most students have acquired those few notes. Then I teach the next note
passage the same way. Then I link the two passages together and we repeat
that until most are successful at reproducing the notes. I continue that way until
we can get through a major phrase. Most fi ddle tunes follow an AABB format,
so after learning the A part, we tackle the B part. After students can get through
the B part, we play the whole tune together in unison at a slow tempo. We
repeat the tune a half dozen times or so, increasing tempo with each repetition
of the tune until it can go no faster without falling apart. It’s a pretty intense
workout. It is amazing to see the order come out of the chaos. Trust me, it will.
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ADDING NEW TUNES IN SUBSEQUENT CLASSES:
After the first tune
session most of the
students will have the
first tune stored in
short-term memory.
The next task is to
move the tune to
long-term memory. I
encourage the students
to listen to the tunes on the CD as much as possible and practice what they learned.
That's one of the great benefits of the CD and the transcriptions. Some students
will work at it at home, and others will just wait for the next class experience.
Therefore, I begin each new tune learning session by having students review the
more recent tunes. I move things along pretty quickly at rehearsals. I know this is
a gradual learning process in which repetition over time is a key factor, so I don't
let myself get bogged down in a search for perfection. Periodically I'll devote class
time to reviewing older tunes so that students will retain those as well. At the end
of the semester we give a "concert" by playing all of the tunes and invite family and
friends to attend.
To help you to get started using the method, I would like to share a dozen tune
transcriptions arranged in unison for violin, viola, cello and bass, as well as digital
sound files for each of the tunes played at normal and practice speeds.
The tunes I prepared for use by the German classroom string teachers at the
Trossingen conference (and now by extension, for your use) are listed below in the
order I would teach them in: "Boil The Cabbage Down," "Soldier's Joy," "Cripple
Creek," "Old Joe Clark," "Over The Waterfall," "Drunkard's Hiccups aka Rye Whisky,"
"New Britain aka Amazing Grace," "Red River Valley," "Put Your Little Foot,"
"Spotted Ponies," "Animas Valley Waltz," and "Jawbone." Most of the tunes follow
the AABB format. NOTE: four of the tunes have more elaborate arrangements.
"Boil The Cabbage Down" starts with a simple beginners version using only quarter
notes and half notes— a version more like the way one would sing the lyrics with
some syncopation (dotted quarter notes and eighth notes), a simple beginner's
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version using the shuffl e bow pattern, a more difficult shuffl e stroke bluegrassy
version using drones and double stops, and a "romp" through the tune using
elements of Texas and contest styles of playing. This arrangement was done for
the personal benefit of the teachers, so they could try out different ways to play the
tune. "New Britain" (the melody of "Amazing Grace") moves through the keys of F,
G and A. It's a good way to introduce the concept of transposing to students. "Red
River Valley" is another exercise in transposing and moves through the keys of C, D,
G, and A. Finally, "Soldier's Joy" starts with a simple beginner's version using only
quarter notes and half notes, a slightly more difficult version using half, quarter and
eighth notes and a fairly standard fiddler's version.
I hope you will find the method and materials useful. You can download the digital
sound recordings and Finale files for the score and parts at the following url: http://
www.mediafire.com/?7ch0a6s9csd1r. I encourage you to try them out and give
me your feedback by sending an email to peterrolland@cox.net. By the way, the
method will work equally well with tunes of your own choosing, but then you will
need to generate your own customized materials, namely written transcriptions and
sound recordings to distribute to the students."
If you contact me at peterrolland@cox.net I will send you the urls to get free
downloads of the Finale files and the digital sound files. I encourage you to try
them out and give me your feedback. By the way, the method will work equally
well with tunes of your own choosing, but then you will need to generate your
own customized materials, namely written transcriptions and sound recordings to
distribute to the students.
Peter "Doc" Rolland received his early training on the violin
was from his father Paul Rolland, a founder and president of
ASTA. In his 41-year career as a fiddle teacher and professional
entertainer, Doc has purveyed Arizona's fiddling and cowboy
music traditions to audiences in the United States, Canada, and
Western Europe. He is an Arizona State Fiddle Champion and
three-time National Certified Division Fiddling Champion, and he
has trained many fiddle champions and professional performers
through private and class instruction. Northeastern Music Publications, Inc.
publishes his folio of fiddle tunes and cowboy songs arranged for school orchestra.
He is also the sole distributor of the DVD of Paul Rolland's film series "The Teaching
of Action in String Playing" (www.paulrolland.net), and he directs the Rolland Fiddle
Camp (www.peterrolland.com)
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