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Building A Traditional Tune Repertoire

by Wendy Anthony

Welcome! ... This is a new column about Building a Traditional Tune Repertoire. Each issue will focus on learning a traditional tune. Starting with the basic melody, we'll look to see what techniques are used, and where to add some variety, or that special lick.

Building a repertoire of commonly played tunes can help you feel comfortable and welcomed in many playing situations. Find out what popular tunes are played in your area. Even more practical, for eclectic musical tastes, is to learn tunes which can also be played in different styles. If the rhythms and jamming protocols of a music style are new to you, a familiar melody will be a good place to start!

Definitions of an Important Tune will vary, depending on Who you're talkin' to, as well as Regional or Personal Preferences. The traditional way to learn these tunes was by listening to other players, so, many versions of each tune will often exist. My goal will be to suggest tunes most likely to be played across different regions, while exploring some possible variations.

Traditional tunes often start out as fiddle tunes. They adapt very well to the mandolin, because both instruments use the same tuning. As you play more fiddle tunes, you'll start to recognize some common finger patterns in each key, such as simple scale sections or arpeggiated chord exercises. ... Fisher's Hornpipe is a good example of this ...

The Tune:

Fisher's Hornpipe is a traditional dance tune, and a popular fiddle competition tune, documented in manuscripts dating back to the late 1700's. Recently, it became even more popular among bluegrass mandolin pickers, as a result of two young, lightning-fingered mandolin players ... first Chris Thile, then later, Josh Pinkham. This tune is appropriate to play at a Bluegrass jam, a Celtic session, a Fiddle jam and/or an Old-Time jam ... how's that for versatility!

Techniques:

• Overview of Tune: This version of the melody is a repetitive series of broken arpeggios, bridged together by 3-note scale runs. With the Mandolin so logically tuned in fifths, you can easily walk your way up and down arpeggios, while moving between strings and key changes. Note that some of the same fingering patterns are used in different keys on different strings.
  
  
• Arpeggios: are individual chord note intervals (built using 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the major scale), played one-at-a-time, right after each other. Look for parts of these patterns in the tune.
  
  
  
  
• Pick Stokes: A typical fiddle tune is full of 1/8 notes. Alternate Down/Up/Down/Up for the entire tune. Note: As the Intro begins on beat 3-1/2, start with Up/Down/Up, making you poised and ready for the Down-stroke at the beginning of the first full measure. If you use triplets in the intro, you could Hammer-On the middle note, starting with Down/Up, or pick all three notes Down/Down/Up.
  
  

Variations:

Once you get the feel for playing the melody, you can start to be creative and vary the tune:

1. Insert an extra note: Between arpeggio notes, use 1/16 notes, or Triplets (three 1/8 notes played in timing of two 1/8 notes).
   
   

   

2. Substitute another note: For example, try something bluesy (from Chris & Josh).
   
   

   

3. Ending lick: Find a special lick to replace the final measures (also from Chris & Josh). Use your 2nd finger for the slide.
   
   

   

4. Another Style: Celtic Hornpipes have a strongly accented first beat (ONE-two-Three-four). This bouncy rhythm is played with a distinctive swing to the not-quite-dotted-1/8-almost-triplet notes.