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Honorary tenured advisor
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Found this on YouTube. I thoroughly enjoyed this video full of rich history, excellent fiddle music, and great visuals. Thought I would share it.
A lighthearted documentary history of the fiddle tunes and syncopated rhythms that make up American “roots” music and gave birth to today’s pop music too. From pre-historic Europe and Africa to today’s Fiddler’s Festivals and beyond, this music gets bigger every year but also stays true to its origins.
Jim
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Thanks for posting.
Its always said that the old fiddlers were imitating bagpipes. What if, and just my thoughts..they were actually trying to get the sound that a Hardanger produces? There was also a large population from the Nordic countries that came to the U.S. so possibly they didnt have access to their previous instrument and used a fiddle to get the same feel...Or possibly they just hit some open strings and thought Hey that SOUNDS GOOD? I wonder if maybe its over thought on where it came from when discussing traditional music sometimes. But, I like investigating tune origins and stuff so video is interesting.
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Check out at around 5:00 in and at around 9:00 in this video. Especially around 5:00. doesnt it remind you of "mountain " old time type music. Really wasnt familiar with Norwegian folk music till @hp posted a link a few weeks back. It was a...hey..wait a darn tootin minute here.. Moment.
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@ABitRusty I never thought about the hardanger angle. That might be something to look at a bit closer.
On the video, a definite yes on the old time mountain music similarities.
There is the old saying that there is nothing new under the sun, and I think that probably pertains to music down through the centuries as well. There has been such migration around the planet over the centuries, most music has elements (sometimes hard to see/hear) from many other times in many other parts of the world.
When I was teaching in the South Bronx, I worked with an excellent media teacher. He had an exercise where he would play a brief harmony, melody, rhythm, beat, etc., and ask the kids what song was it from. Of course the kids would respond with a popular song they knew. He then would have a few examples of other songs that contained the same element...a chant, a show tune, a song from another culture, etc. That would blow the kids away.
Jim
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@MoonShadows. Yes! I do share their child like wonder in it all. Especially being new to it. I like to refer to it as "geekin out" 
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LOL! @ABitRusty
I see I have 2 emails from you. I'll take a look!
Jim
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MoonShadows said
LOL! @ABitRustyI see I have 2 emails from you. I'll take a look!
yessir! Ill talk your ear off!
So I sent a link to Butler university online documents. They have a paper about all the stuff in the video. Not everyone wants to read 58 pages of Appalachian old time history but its out there if you want it. Not sure about posting anything other than youtube videos here. Jim I sent you the pdf version.
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Got it! Just need to read it. Perhaps I'll get some time today...I'll get back to you.
Jim
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Alright then. Sounds good.
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GregW said
MoonShadows said
LOL! @ABitRusty
I see I have 2 emails from you. I'll take a look!
yessir! Ill talk your ear off!
So I sent a link to Butler university online documents. They have a paper about all the stuff in the video. Not everyone wants to read 58 pages of Appalachian old time history but its out there if you want it. Not sure about posting anything other than youtube videos here. Jim I sent you the pdf version.
Can't upload the thesis here. Too large. If anyone wants to read it, you can download it from my website. I also wrote a brief synopsis: https://fiddlingforolderfolks......dle-music/
EDIT: I added two YouTube videos to this blog post just now.
Jim
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MoonShadows said
Found this on YouTube. I thoroughly enjoyed this video full of rich history, excellent fiddle music, and great visuals. Thought I would share it.A lighthearted documentary history of the fiddle tunes and syncopated rhythms that make up American “roots” music and gave birth to today’s pop music too. From pre-historic Europe and Africa to today’s Fiddler’s Festivals and beyond, this music gets bigger every year but also stays true to its origins.
Figured I'd snoop in this genre a bit... yeah, IT'S ALL CONNECTED!!! 🤗
Back when this was 1st posted, I couldn't view this OP video & didn't know how to find it, but I can see it NOW!
Giving this thread a bump up - worth taking a look if you haven't already seen it!
Darn it, got me interested in MORE tunes. 😳
@MoonShadows -
Thank you for sharing this!
- Emily
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A good series to watch is the Ken Burns documentary on country music. Doesnt trace anything back to India but its pretty well put together and connects a lot of dots. @elcbk you should watch if you havent seen it already!
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@ABitRusty -
You're killin' me!
Something specific you want to recommend?
...Country Music History is a quagmire I'm not ready to step into blindly.
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ELCBK said
You're killin' me!
Something specific you want to recommend?
...Country Music History is a quagmire I'm not ready to step into blindly.
🤣 you already have..thats sorta the point of the series.
nahhh.. nothing specific. just a good historical record with commentary by actual participants.
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@ABitRusty -
But there are MANY Country Music documentaries by Ken Burns!
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only know of the one. if you have more post.. id like to see them. probably one of the better documentary directors..imo. that series had 8 or 12 episodes i think when it ran on PBS..i think it was
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I did a YT search & my eyes glazed over - need to wait until I'm ready to tackle another deep dive. 😵
Appreciate you pointing me in that direction to help me tie things up - I WILL get there, cause I also want to know about connections to Jazz/Blues & Rock in Country music. Found this Compendium of Country Music Definitions, Sub-genres, Terms, Eras at savingcountrymusic.com - talk about a rabbit hole! The music lines get more blurry everywhere I look... ALL genres have WAY too many sub-genres for me to keep track of. 🙄
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ELCBK said
I did a YT search & my eyes glazed over - need to wait until I'm ready to tackle another deep dive. 😵Appreciate you pointing me in that direction to help me tie things up - I WILL get there, cause I also want to know about connections to Jazz/Blues & Rock in Country music. Found this Compendium of Country Music Definitions, Sub-genres, Terms, Eras at savingcountrymusic.com - talk about a rabbit hole! The music lines get more blurry everywhere I look... ALL genres have WAY too many sub-genres for me to keep track of. 🙄
Oh I dont know about the pointing in any direction.. i just think the stories and some of the earlier personalities were interesting. The 1st two or so episodes are the ones that link the "mountain music" to people that linked on down the line. Also liked the episodes with merle haggard conway twitty...that bunch. BUT as this topic goes if you find the 1st two or so i think that has the material i was thinking of.
Its more specific type stories instead of general statements like the music came over with immigrants. Thats probably stated in it but it gets specific about how and when the older music transformed into bluegrass/country with commentary/interviews...
speakin of music...probably time to play some.
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