This book is a definitive documentation of Cape Breton-style fiddle music. Techniques specific to the style are touched on and many sets (groups of tunes - listening tunes, dance tunes, or a combination thereof - performed in a specific order) are included. Presented are the melodies, chords, and guitar tablature. 120 pages.

This book is a definitive documentation of Cape Breton-style fiddle music. Techniques specific to the style are touched on and many sets (groups of tunes -listening tunes, dance tunes, or a combination thereof - performed in a specificorder) are included. Presented are the melodies, chords, and guitar tablature

Introduces the intricate fingering and bowing skills used by traditional Cape Breton fiddlers and offers a variety of fiddle sets with guitar tablature.

Over 425 reels, jigs, set-tunes, waltzes, marches, strathspeys, and airs transcribed from the playing of traditional fiddlers make this a must have title

This affordable 5 1/2 by 8 QWIKGUIDE offers 43 traditional fiddle solos in standard notation with chord symbols. Selections include: Arkansas Traveler; Back Up and Push; the Blarney Pilgrim; Beaumont Rag; Bill Cheatham; Billy in the Lowground; Blackberry Blossom; Bonaparte's Retreat; Cotton-eyed Joe; Cripple Creek; Down Yonder; Dill Pickle Rag; Drowsy Maggie; Durham's Bull; Eighth of January; Fisher's Hornpipe; Fire on the Mountain; Garry Owen; Haste to the Wedding; Jolie Blond; Maidens Prayer; and more. the attached CD contains performances of all the tunes in the book.Also available in Japanese from ATN, Inc.

In this generous collection, Nova Scotian fiddler Bill Guest presents standard notation of easy to intermediate-level traditional tunes, some of his own more complex original compositions plus works by twenty-one of his Canadian fiddling contemporaries. The collection offers approximately 120 dance tunes including: waltzes, hornpipes, jigs, polkas, two-steps, airs, breakdowns, reels, swing tunes, and a few 4/4 melodies for slow dancers. “The Irish Washerwoman” is presented in 3 versions with different time signatures, and five selections are arranged as duets. The salient feature of this book, however, is the enjoyment and multifaceted musical perspective gained from playing the work of so many fiddlers from across the vast commonwealth of Canada.

Alexander MacDonald guides us through his family’s mythic past as he recollects the heroic stories of his people: loggers, miners, drinkers, adventurers; men forever in exile, forever linked to their clan. There is the legendary patriarch who left the Scottish Highlands in 1779 and resettled in “the land of trees,” where his descendents became a separate Nova Scotia clan. There is the team of brothers and cousins, expert miners in demand around the world for their dangerous skills. And there is Alexander and his twin sister, who have left Cape Breton and prospered, yet are haunted by the past. Elegiac, hypnotic, by turns joyful and sad, No Great Mischief is a spellbinding story of family, loyalty, exile, and of the blood ties that bind us, generations later, to the land from which our ancestors came.

This meticulously researched anthology presents detailed biographies and transcriptions, including bowing, ornamentation, and accentuation of 39 fiddle tunes as played by 25 Newfoundland fiddlers from locations throughout the island. For unparalleled authenticity, the author’s live field recordings of each tune are available online, offering a unique perspective of the various types of tunes and techniques favoured by past and present Newfoundland fiddlers. Newfoundland, a former British colony, possesses a rich and varied cultural heritage due to its history of unique settlement patterns. Beginning in the 16th century, European migrants from Ireland, Scotland, West-Country England, and France settled on the island, bringing with them their various cultural practices, including their fiddles! This collection provides insight to the backgrounds, geographical locations, and musical preferences of the individual players, and how music-making and the role and status of Newfoundland fiddlers have evolved over time. The tunes included here vary from original compositions and revival collectors’ treasures, to reinterpreted versions of timeless Irish, Scottish, and French tunes. Together, they form a part of the modern-day Newfoundland fiddling tradition. This book will delight fiddle players and any musician who wishes to further enhance their repertoire and technique, or simply learn more about the island of Newfoundland and its music. Includes access to online audio.

"My goal in life has been the same from the beginning: to become a Cape Breton fiddle player. And if you were to ask someone on the street who Ashley MacIsaac is, I think probably quite a few would describe me as just that -- although some would probably insist on tacking on a few extra things, like crazy Cape Breton fiddle player, or gay Cape Breton fiddle player, or stoned Cape Breton fiddle player -- or crazy-gay-stoned Cape Breton fiddle player. I can't complain though, as long as they add the fiddle player part." So begins this often hilarious, often brutally honest autobiography. Celtic-punk musician Ashley MacIsaac hails from the tiny village of Creignish on rural Cape Breton Island, the Eastern-most region of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia -- one of the most remote and impoverished regions on the continent. This being said, Cape Breton is also the home of a vibrant Scottish and Celtic music scene known to fans of this style of music the world over. Famous as a child, MacIsaac was, by 17, living in New York City, working with composer Phillip Glass, and earning $1,000 a week -- a long way from Creignish. By his mid-20s, MacIsaac had appeared on The Conan O'Brien Show (famously scissor-kicking in a kilt during his performance to reveal exactly what a Scotsman does wear underneath), had toured North America with the Chieftains to standing ovations and rave reviews, and had several major label releases with sales in the hundreds of thousands. His image of a combat-booted, kilt wearing Celtic punk -- as comfortable with a Ramones song as with a traditional reel -- was widely recognizable. From this point things begin to unravel. An unfortunate sequence of interviews andappearances had thrust his unconventional sexuality into the public eye and also -- highlighted by bizarre and unpredictable public behavior -- his addiction to crack cocaine and his penchant for marijuana. He bounces through various record labels -- each one less prominent than the last -- flirts with bankruptcy, insults audiences, loses his house to fire, and is arrested for marijuana possession. By the summer of 2000 he hits bottom. Broke, suffering from severe substance abuse, and unmanageable -- he has literally been spit out of the industry that used him up by the age of 26. This book spells out MacIsaac's tale with bleak humor and equally bleak honesty. The result is a riveting read. Today Ashley MacIsaac is on the mend. A new record deal and an upcoming new release, an autobiography set to be published, and tour plans for North America for spring '03 all signal a return to the vibrant creativity of his past.