Old Time Fiddle Tunes

LINKS

Recordings

• Slippery-Hill - Original recordings of old time tunes printed in various sources, compiled by Larry Warren
• Canote Brothers String Band Class - Learn-by-ear versions of OT tunes
• The Virtual Gramophone - Historic Canadian Sound Recordings
• Field Recorders' Collective - Classic recordings available for purchase on CD
• Berea Sound Archives - Audio and video collections at Berea College documenting Appalachian history and culture
• John T. Huddle Collection - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Bruce Greene Collection - audio field recordings of Kentucky fiddlers
• Gordon McCann Ozarks Collection
• Henry Reed Collection - Library of Congress
• John Salyer - 1940's recordings from Berea Sound Archives
• Cyril Stinnett Recordings - from Slippery-Hill
• Dr. Dosido's Fiddler's Reunion - Classic midwestern recordings compiled by Paul Tyler
• Jehile Kirkuff Recordings - the legendary blind fiddler from Northeastern PA (1907-1981)
• Old Town School of Folk Music - Fiddle Tune Archive

Tune Indexes and Historical Information

• The Traditional Tune Archive - Index of North American, British and Irish traditional music
• The Session - Community resource dedicated to Irish traditional music
• Useful Links for Quebecois Music - Lisa Ornstein's list of resources for Quebecois music and dance
• North Atlantic Tune List - Dance and Fiddle Tunes from around the North Atlantic
• Fiddle Resources on the Web - by Mickey Koth, Yale
• JC's ABC Tune Finder - Searchable index of tunes in text, ABC, Postscript, PDF, GIF, PNG, and MIDI formats (PDF is easiest to read)
• Fiddle Hangout - Fiddle resource with forums, marketplace, lessons, and media

Sam Bayard Collections

• Hill Country Tunes - Historic 1944 collection of tunes from Western PA fiddlers, including Sarah Armstrong
• Dance to the Fiddle, March to the Fife - Instrumental tunes in Pennsylvania, 1982, 628 pages
• Penn State Special Collections Library - Field recordings 1948-1962

Other Collections

• Dear Old Illinois- Midi files of traditional music of downstate Illinois
• Across the Fields - Book of traditional Norwegian-American dance music from Wisconsin
• Australian Traditional Music Archive - A searchable collection of tunes with documentary material and recorded examples

Old-Time Sheet Music

• Jim's Roots and Blues - Transcriptions with chords of OT, Bluegrass and Celtic music
• Tater Joes - Banjo and fiddle transcriptions with chords by Mark Wardenburg and Ken Torke
• FiddleTunes.net - Fiddle tune transcriptions with chords by Brian Wood and Alan Kendall
• Pete Showman's Tunes Page - Sheet music with chords and MIDI files of OT tunes
• The Young Violinist's Favorite - by Albert S. Bowman 1891

Celtic Sheet Music

• The Groton Session - Irish traditional music notation and recordings from Ayer, MA
• Ceolas - Celtic PDF, GIF, ABC, and MIDI formats with good background history
• The Session - ABC notations of Irish traditional tunes contributed by members
• O'Neill's Music of Ireland - The 1850 Collection
• Ryan's Mammoth Collection - 1050 Reels and Jigs, The 1883 Collection copyright Elias Howe
• Allan's Irish Fiddler - 120 Tunes collected by Hugh McDermott
• The Complete Works of Turlough O'Carolan - transcribed by Chris Gilb
• Inishowen Traditional Music Archive - Interactive audio recordings and notation

Chords and Music Theory

• Jere Canote's Guitar Tablature - with recordings from the Canote Brother's "String Band Class"
• Pegram Jam Chord Chart Book - by Kirk Pickering of Pegram Tennessee
• Chord Shapes - Chord patterns for mandolin, guitar, banjo, uke, ...
• Folk Guitar - Guide to playing backup guitar for OT music, with chords for lots of traditional tunes
• Bass Runs in Bluegrass and OT Music - Stash Wyslouch
• Modal Tunes in Old Time Music - by John Lamancusa
• Dorian, Mixolydian, Oh My: Modes in a Nutshell - by Jonathan Lay

Free Instructional Resources and Videos

• Erynn Marshall - Free OT fiddle, mandolin and guitar lessons
• Rayna Gellert - Free OT fiddle videos, with tunes played slow and fast
• Michael Ismerio - OT fiddle videos for purchase with some free previews, emphasis on bowing patterns
• Patti Kusturok's 365 Days of Fiddle Tunes - Free, traditional Canadian fiddle music from a wonderful fiddler
• FiddleVideo.com - Online fiddle lessons with some free previews, from Kevin Burke, Casey Wills, Hanneke Cassel, Patti Kusturok, Andre' Brunet, Niall Murphy
• Free Fiddle Lessons - Julia Plumb's excellent and free instructional videos for New England and Canadian tunes

Events, Festivals and Workshops

• SWOT - Southwest Old Time String Band Gathering, Tucson AZ
• String Gathering - A great weekend that celebrates traditional acoustic music, in Baraboo WI
• Bluff Country Gathering - Four days of traditional music, dance and singing in Spring Grove, MN
• Indiana Fiddlers' Gathering - Three days of performances, workshops and jamming in Battle Ground Indiana
• Sugar Maple Music Festival - Two-day outdoor festival in Madison that celebrates traditional music and dance
• Clifftop Music Festival - Annual gathering of Appalachian string players in Clifftop, WV
• Fiddle Hell - Music camp for a wide variety of fiddle styles, Westford MA

Music Software

• Audacity - Free sound editor, great for slowing tempo without changing pitch, or for correcting the pitch of old recordings
• MuseScore - Free music notation software
• ABC - Free text-based music notation system and the de facto standard for folk and traditional music
• Finale - Music notation software
• BPM Finder - Measure the tempo (beats per minute) of tunes