Ms. Megan I am watching you on the Kenny Baker tribute. On the Baker tune "Denver Belle," you said you didn't know if Kenny wrote this or not. I am going to tell you what I read on the cover of one of Kenny's albums. The one where he told where all the numbers on the album came from. He said the only people he ever heard play Denver Belle was his people. The only other person I ever heard play the tune besides Kenny was Paul Warren. The first time I ever heard Denver Belle, It set me on fire to learn to play the fiddle. The fiddler was the late Ronnie Hopkins from northeast Mississippi and he could play very well. I did learn to play fiddle later and I learned the tune well enough to have people request me to play it. I love your version of the tune.Old age and disease has hindered my playing and I don't play much any more. Thank you for what you do and keep fiddling.
I really appreciate you sharing this - I'm sorry you aren't playing anymore and I wish you weren't facing those challenges. But we can keep loving and appreciating good music and Denver Belle is one of the best tunes. My best to you and your family in the New Year.
Hi, Megan! All of your fingerboard tricks and tips are so interesting to me as an older guy who's just trying to play fiddle tunes. I tended to be a little nervous about trying to play tunes in keys with the tonic in places "between the fingers," but there are so many great tunes in those keys that I'm warming up to it of late, especially Bb and Eb with that L1 and then then F and C with L2. I've been playing "The Moving Cloud" (F) and then medleying right in to "President Garfield's Hornpipe (Bb), and those two tunes sound great together. If I get into Fiddlestar Camp this year, I'll play them for you, heh!
This is actually a tricky subject. If you tune your low first finger to the lower open drone, your first finger will be too high compared to where the Eb, Bb, F fall in 12-tone equal temperament. And so if you are playing with guitar or piano accompaniment, you will sound out of tune. Double stops get real messy when the open string is the third degree of the scale - much better when the open string is a 5th or root. It's only an issue if you are playing with accompaniment though. Solo fiddling can sound fine.
Hi Glenn, while I appreciate the deep dive into tempered tuning, we're just over here trying to help fiddle learners get to know the notes and where they are so they can have some fun playing fiddle with their friends. :)
Thank you Megan. This is helpful. 👍
Ms. Megan I am watching you on the Kenny Baker tribute. On the Baker tune "Denver Belle," you said you didn't know if Kenny wrote this or not. I am going to tell you what I read on the cover of one of Kenny's albums. The one where he told where all the numbers on the album came from. He said the only people he ever heard play Denver Belle was his people. The only other person I ever heard play the tune besides Kenny was Paul Warren. The first time I ever heard Denver Belle, It set me on fire to learn to play the fiddle. The fiddler was the late Ronnie Hopkins from northeast Mississippi and he could play very well. I did learn to play fiddle later and I learned the tune well enough to have people request me to play it. I love your version of the tune.Old age and disease has hindered my playing and I don't play much any more. Thank you for what you do and keep fiddling.
I really appreciate you sharing this - I'm sorry you aren't playing anymore and I wish you weren't facing those challenges. But we can keep loving and appreciating good music and Denver Belle is one of the best tunes. My best to you and your family in the New Year.
Hi, Megan! All of your fingerboard tricks and tips are so interesting to me as an older guy who's just trying to play fiddle tunes. I tended to be a little nervous about trying to play tunes in keys with the tonic in places "between the fingers," but there are so many great tunes in those keys that I'm warming up to it of late, especially Bb and Eb with that L1 and then then F and C with L2. I've been playing "The Moving Cloud" (F) and then medleying right in to "President Garfield's Hornpipe (Bb), and those two tunes sound great together. If I get into Fiddlestar Camp this year, I'll play them for you, heh!
Oh yes! This is a great combo of tunes - awesome idea. And I want all the keys to get some love. They deserve it.
@@MeganLynchChowning Yeah...not G#, though. T minus 37 hours until registration for Fiddlestar Camp opens up....
This is actually a tricky subject. If you tune your low first finger to the lower open drone, your first finger will be too high compared to where the Eb, Bb, F fall in 12-tone equal temperament. And so if you are playing with guitar or piano accompaniment, you will sound out of tune. Double stops get real messy when the open string is the third degree of the scale - much better when the open string is a 5th or root. It's only an issue if you are playing with accompaniment though. Solo fiddling can sound fine.
Hi Glenn, while I appreciate the deep dive into tempered tuning, we're just over here trying to help fiddle learners get to know the notes and where they are so they can have some fun playing fiddle with their friends. :)