Celtic Gems contains 103 of the most played and loved melodies from the Celtic tradition including 40 reels, 40 jigs, 10 slip jigs, 3 strathspeys, 2 Irish hornpipes and 8 airs and waltzes. Tunes of similar style are grouped with melodies that work well in sets, or medleys. Stylistic bowing and ornament ideas as well as suggested chord changes are included to give options in interpreting the tunes. The online audio recording of each tune includes the fiddle melody with guitar accompaniment. Includes access to online audio.

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.

As part of the Mel Bay Encyclopedia Series, the purpose of this book is to offer fiddlers direct access to the gems of the genre. Composers represented in this volume span a three hundred year period including works by: Patrick MacDonald, Adam Craig, Capt. Charles Duff, Simon Fraser, Robert and Joseph Lowe, Robert MacIntosh, William Marshall, and J. Scott Skinner. Ms. Rideout's original compositions are also included. the tunes are listed in order by key signature to enable the fiddler to put sets together for performance, competition or session playing. This book contains extra marches and strathspeys unique to Scottish fiddling. the end of the book is dedicated to solo numbers consisting of piobaireachd (pibroch) and slow airs. the Scottish Fiddle Encyclopedia is an essential tune book for musicians interested in developing a deeper appreciation for genuine traditional Scottish fiddle music.

Presents 140 of the most frequently played tunes in old time fiddle contests as well as the most popular bluegrass, square dance and country tunes heard throughout the United States. the performance length arrangements of contest tunes include standard as well as challenging variations on hoe-downs, rags, polkas, show pieces, and waltzes complete with suggested accompaniment chords. This encyclopedia of fiddle tunes and variations spotlights American popular fiddle music as played by the great fiddlers of our time.

Play of a Fiddle gives voice to people who steadfastly hold to and build on the folk traditions of their ancestors. While encountering the influences of an increasingly overwhelming popular culture, the men and women in this book follow age-old patterns of folklife and custom, making their own music and dance in celebration of them. Shedding new light on a region that maintains ties to the cultural identities of its earliest European and African inhabitants, Gerald Milnes shows how folk music in West Virginia borrowed rhythmic, melodic, and vocal forms from the Celtic, Anglo, Germanic, and Af.

Inspired by the Celtic circles of ancient Scotland, Bonnie paints a musical picture through time, joining the heavens and earth to the cycles of everyday life. Performed on Scottish fiddle with gold medal piper Eric Rigler on the Great Highland bagpipe, Scottish smallpipes and uilleann pipes. Also accompanied by guitar, Celtic harp, viola da gamba, hammered dulcimer, bass and bodhran. Includes North Highland tunes from the Patrick McDonald Collection, 1784, pipe marches, strathspeys, jigs and reels, laments and traditional favorites.

From the author’s preface: “This book was conceived four years ago, almost to the day, at a time when I was teaching fiddle and mandolin in New York City. It was my idea then, with my students in mind, to compile a book of the most often played, most important and most interesting fiddle tunes from the various Celtic and North American traditions. The tunes were chosen by cataloging a large number of recordings by tune title. A tally was taken to find out which had been recorded most often. This established a foundation of material that could not be left out. To this list I added the names of other pieces which had not been recorded as frequently, but which I knew were played regularly and with respect. I admit to sprinkling the collection with a few lesser known tunes which happen to be personal favorites, but I am sure they will hold their own when placed next to the old war horses of the fiddler’s repertoire. . . . Although I started out with my students in mind this book has turned out to be the book that I’ve always wanted and I hope that it will serve the advanced player as well as the beginner.”

The South has always been one of the most distinctive regions of the United States, with its own set of traditions and a turbulent history. Although often associated with cotton, hearty food, and rich dialects, the South is also noted for its strong sense of religion, which has significantly shaped its history. Dramatic political, social, and economic events have often shaped the development of southern religion, making the nuanced dissection of the religious history of the region a difficult undertaking. For instance, segregation and the subsequent civil rights movement profoundly affected churches in the South as they sought to mesh the tenets of their faith with the prevailing culture. Editors Walter H. Conser and Rodger M. Payne and the book’s contributors place their work firmly in the trend of modern studies of southern religion that analyze cultural changes to gain a better understanding of religion’s place in southern culture now and in the future. Southern Crossroads: Perspectives on Religion and Culture takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach that explores the intersection of religion and various aspects of southern life. The volume is organized into three sections, such as “Religious Aspects of Southern Culture,” that deal with a variety of topics, including food, art, literature, violence, ritual, shrines, music, and interactions among religious groups. The authors survey many combinations of religion and culture, with discussions ranging from the effect of Elvis Presley’s music on southern spirituality to yard shrines in Miami to the archaeological record of African American slave religion. The book explores the experiences of immigrant religious groups in the South, also dealing with the reactions of native southerners to the groups arriving in the region. The authors discuss the emergence of religious and cultural acceptance, as well as some of the apparent resistance to this development, as they explore the experiences of Buddhist Americans in the South and Jewish foodways. Southern Crossroads also looks at distinct markers of religious identity and the role they play in gender, politics, ritual, and violence. The authors address issues such as the role of women in Southern Baptist churches and the religious overtones of lynching, with its themes of blood sacrifice and atonement. Southern Crossroads offers valuable insights into how southern religion is studied and how people and congregations evolve and adapt in an age of constant cultural change.

You asked for it and you got it! More tunes to play at festivals and jams or just sittin' at home with a friend or two. 62 more tunes with both basic and advancedstandard notation lines with suggested chords as well as a mandolin tablature line to get you going in the right direction and playing these old-time favorites. As in Old-Time Festival Tunes for Fiddle and Mandolin (MB21023BCD), you will find some of the tunes to be straightforward while others promise to be genuine finger twisters! The book revisits some of the author's old favorites and some time -tested standards. Includes access to online audio. The accompanying audio includes each tune on both fiddle and mandolin, with a separate CD for each instrument. There is also a clawhammer banjo companion to this book titled Old-Time Favorites for Clawhammer Banjo (MB30224BCD), which shares the same basic standard notation line in this volume

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