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@damfino -
Hey, thanx for introducing a very cool band & fiddler!
Aaron Jonah Lewis is a wonderful fiddler! See he also plays with the Corn Potato String Band and also plays classical finger style banjo! About Aaron Jonah Lewis says he's currently based in Detroit! Omg, that's only a 20-30 min drive on the expressway from me!
Aaron really burns up the fiddle here, with the "Russian Rag" by George L Cobb (American 1918 & 'new' version 1923).
How long really good fiddlers play their tunes, to get them known inside & out, has always been in the forefront of my mind.
My observations:
Many Irish tunes are simple enough to learn quickly. Good old Irish fiddlers played the same tunes for many years - I believe it's why the music seems to be part of their souls, even though it was probably done more to keep trad tunes alive.
I saw a video where Aaron played this rag somewhere else, 3 years prior - so, he's been playing it for a good number of YEARS. Sure, he's been playing since he was 5, but I still believe it's important to realize 'time played' is probably a big factor in memorizing and honing a complicated tune like this rag - may take months, or if me, maybe closer to a year. (lol)
🤔... wonder if Aaron Jonah Lewis played at one of the few "North American International Banjo Convention" (NAIBC) events I attended in Dearborn, years ago. This year is another, in just a little over a week away - maybe he'll be at this one! It's still in my home town and covid is no longer a concern! Wish I was in better shape & able to go (guess it's back to more torture with physical therapy).
- Emily
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He is a great musician. He usually posts about square dancing he would perform at, but I don’t know if that’s back yet since covid. I’m not far from Detroit, but far enough I don’t pay close attention, lol. But he’s pretty active on Instagram and TikTok, if you follow him on one maybe he’ll post about something local soon.
I was always disappointed, whenever Corn Potato String Band played nearby, it was either a snow storm or covid. So I’ve only gotten to see the Lovestruck Balladeers.
☆•*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆•*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆•*¨*•.¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆
World's Okayest Fiddler
☆•*¨*•.¸¸¸.•*¨* •☆•*¨*¨*•¸¸¸.•*¨*•☆
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@damfino -
Thank you so much!
I'm not in good enough health to go out right now, but maybe some time next year - I would like to hear him in person.
Finding more little surprises by him!
GREAT presentation, "An exploration of interesting veins in the roots of Old Time, Bluegrass, Ragtime and Jazz music."!
The title is deceiving - NOT a Banjo Concert! He plays the Fiddle & Banjo & talks about some great History on playing both, in this - from 2019 at the Hamtramck Public Library.
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I love ragtime and I agree that it suits the violin/fiddle perfectly. Another great genre to enjoy with our wonderful instrument. 😁
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Love Katy Adelson!
"Sponge" - New Orleans Rag! Btw, I'm sure there's more info on her website, but the links were no good for me.
I'm really only interested in what can be played on our bowed string instruments, but I still think it's important to know how/where/by whom & on what instrument some of this music was originally known.
Think the important aspects fall under 'music theory' - except maybe 'groove', you might have to learn to 'feel', but it's apparent that showmanship & attitude figures in pretty heavily for ragtime, too!
There's definitely something magic about THE LION!
William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Berthololf Smith! - (pdf from jazzarcheology)
Willie "The Lion"
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I have a very good book entitled Ragtime for Fiddle and Mandolin. It has 100+ tunes from many old string band groups, transcribed from original recordings by author Steve Parker. It’s at my Florida residence so I do not have the book in font of me, but my recollection is that the tunes are in standard notation. The book came with a CD with all of the tunes. Highly recommended.
I learned Fiddlin Arthur Smith’s Sugar Tree Stomp from that book, with some help from the author's wife. Great tune, perfect for rockin on the fiddle.
The book also includes piano rags [Scott Joplin, et al] but I haven’t yet had the courage to even look at them.
Ragtime is interesting music with African-American roots, very rockin' syncopated grooves, and lots of artistry from both the roots players and the classical folks like Joplin.
Clearly, we need more ragtime, and fiddle is a great way to do it. I’ll do my part!
Strabo
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Strabo said
I have a very good book entitled Ragtime for Fiddle and Mandolin. It has 100+ tunes from many old string band groups, transcribed from original recordings by author Steve Parker. It’s at my Florida residence so I do not have the book in font of me, but my recollection is that the tunes are in standard notation. The book came with a CD with all of the tunes. Highly recommended.I learned Fiddlin Arthur Smith’s Sugar Tree Stomp from that book, with some help from the author's wife. Great tune, perfect for rockin on the fiddle.
The book also includes piano rags [Scott Joplin, et al] but I haven’t yet had the courage to even look at them.
Ragtime is interesting music with African-American roots, very rockin' syncopated grooves, and lots of artistry from both the roots players and the classical folks like Joplin.
Clearly, we need more ragtime, and fiddle is a great way to do it. I’ll do my part!
Strabo
That would be great @Strabo! Unless Eliabeth Cotten is considered ragtime, I dont know any ragtime tunes. And I think she was considered piedmont blues from some guitar type books i have.
what would be a couple of tunes that are considered entry type tunes to that style?. I know for instance in old time and Irish there are some standard sorta starting tunes. I was wondering if same goes in ragtime. Or a few names that you think are more beginner.
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@Strabo & @ABitRusty -
I am SO EXCITED to see interest in this topic!
It's ALL about the RHYTHM - just listen to them!
There are a few fiddle video tutorials on the 1st page of this thread, but if you watched the Luther Caldwell video (the one-armed fiddler, post #15), he only needs to play single notes, except for one spot he plays 4 doublestops (which would still sound okay played as root notes). What's important - he's got the rhythm!
There are so many rag piano scores! For violinists, it's easiest if you can find the scores that have a vocal melody line (with lyrics) - just play that, but Ragnar Hellspong has a wonderful Ragtime site with ONE HUNDRED piano scores that can be viewed/heard/downloaded - some have a simpler melody line, otherwise we can pick out the melody amongst the chords (I know, PITA), but easier if you can already play by ear.
ABitRusty, what app/software would be best/easiest for turning one of the Hellspong's PDF scores into a Violin or Viola score?
https://ragsrag.com/vp/vp.html (from post #10 - ABitRusty)
I think I might've mentioned Megan Lynch Chowning in a Texas Style thread.
She has MANY RAGTIME FIDDLE VIDEOS! Her hands & bowing can be clearly see, so slow them down & learn by ear/watching! Megan Lynch Chowning - Fiddlestar Rag playlist
Sheet music & other helpful info at https://www.fiddlevideo.com/
I didn't see the "Ragtime for Fiddle and Mandolin" book on amazon, but Steve Parker's site has it - along with a few others, including a "Clawhammer String Band Favorites" that has 3 Rags.
Thank you strabo, like that the Fiddle book comes with a cd!
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Yes, the book comes with a CD. That makes the syncopated rhythms easy to follow. Lots and lots of good tunes in that book.
Below is a small sample of the notation. Note that it was transcribed by author Steve Parker.
Of all the music books that I have, this is one of my favorites. It was quite obviously a labor of love by Steve. And Steve's widow Sue is extremely gracious and helpful. I’m happy I bought the book and supported these fine folks.
Strabo
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@Strabo -
THANX!
That IS nice notation! It really helps to show the syncopation.
...killing me to order yet another book, but this will definitely get some good use.
We'll have to have a Ragtime Party... a ways down the road. 🤗
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thank ypu gor the sheet music @Strabo
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I did not want to compromise Steve and Sue’s copyright, but I did want everyone to get a glimpse of what’s in the book -- hope that’s OK.
Strabo
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@Strabo -
I believe you can consider it a 'sample' since you didn't show the entire piece.
...but you can remove it if you feel uncomfortable - I ordered it.
Really appreciate that you let us see the quality of the arrangements!
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@Strabo -
Did you see the "Red Apple Rag" video tutorial I posted in the "How About a Fall Tune" thread?
It's a good fiddle view with a slowed down version by Jesse Maw.
I was able to play it tonight, but I had to slow the video down even more (plus I had to play it an octave down for my strings). I'll need a couple more days to get it memorized well, then longer to get it up to speed.
You might want to try it! 🤗
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Thanks for reminding me about that video, Emily. It’s a very good tune and I’ll put it on my list to learn!
Traditional Tune Archive credits Fiddlin’ Arthur Smith for this tune. His Sugar Tree Stomp is one of my favs.
Arthur Smith was obviously a very good fiddler, very famous, and very influential. Here’s an interesting article about him: fiddlin-arthur-smith.
Your video has now sparked my curiosity to discover more about Arthur and his music. I’ll never be as good a fiddler as Arthur, but at least I can learn to play some of his music!
Strabo
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Love this topic! I used to love to play Scott Joplin's Ragtime music on piano when I was a teenager. I absolutely love syncopated rhythms and swing. I found some easy Frank Sinatra tunes on the Tomplay app that I can play. Now I'll have to go searching for some beginner Ragtime for newbies. That should get my old fingers moving, lol.
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I’m also a big fan of ragtime music. he fiddle takes great advantage of ragtime’s syncopation and swing! Currently working on Charles Johnson’s “Dill Pickles Rage”, written in 1907 I think.
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@Strabo -
I had meant to ask you how your Dill Pickle Rag was coming along, then got busy with Fiddle Hell!
I had taken a quick look back at the Dill Pickle tutorial (post #3), but think it's much more difficult than the "Double Chocolate Insomnia Rag" I've been having fun with (just need a bit more practice to get it up to tempo 🤗) - makes me feel like people at a party, laughing!
So... how are you getting along with the Dill Pickle?
Btw, I thought it was hilarious I found notation for it at The Session (of all places! 🤣) - thrown in as a Barndance. I did buy the Ragtime Tune Book you recommended, though!
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@ELCBK
I continue to make sort-of-steady progress on Dill Pickles Rag, thanks for asking.
It’s an interesting tune to learn. It has that great catchy ragtime syncopation and is reasonably well known, a good diversion from the many reels that we hear at OT jams. Everybody likes it.
It’s one of those tunes that’s good to work on little-by-little -- easy to break into chunks, simple enough that it’s fun and rewarding to practice. This is not one of those things that’s a hard and unmusical grind to practice. Each section of DP Rag sounds good all by itself.
It’s a three-part tune, two parts in G and one in C. The B part has some intonation and string-crossing challenges that are good for me to work on. They're probably no big deal for better players, but at my level they make for an interesting learning opportunity. And the B part can be dressed up and made to really rock when up to speed.
On this tune, my strategy of learning a tune on two-tracks -- fiddle and mandolin -- seems to work really well. It’s a good tune with either instrument, each presenting distinct challenges and different final products. It’s also an opportunity to keep my mando skills somewhat up to snuff.
Ragtime had its roots in classical music but became wildly popular around the turn of the century. DP Rag was composed in 1907 by Charles L Johnson, an accomplished multi-instrumentalist who was classically trained from a young age, but had a strong attraction to popular music. I understand that he published hundreds of songs. I’m just an amateur musician -- far, far below Charles’ level -- but I do have some classical experience and my focus is mainly on more informal music. So I appreciate the classical-popular linkage.
This is probably much more of a response to your question than you expected, but one of the benefits of this forum for me is the opportunity to hear others’ perspectives and reflect on my own. Once again, thanks to Fiddlerman!
Strabo
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