President Garfield's Hornpipe - Writing a variation to the melody

Hello there!

I've been having a blast for the last 5 weeks taking online classes from Mr. Dominick Leslie. He's not only a great player, but also a very good teacher!

I wanted to share this week's assignment: Learning President Garfield's Hornpipe melody and writing a variation. It's been a challenge to try to find a balance between mantaining the original melody enough so you can still here some of its main motifs while, at the same time, adding not only embellishments but also some ideas of my own...

All in all, a very fun exercise and I'm guessing that an awesome way to improve one's abilities that can ultimately be transfered to improvising.

Hope you enjoy it!

Isaac

Wow! Good work there, Isaac!

I like the swing variation in the A part and the B part goes everywhere: cross-picking, minor key, etc. Very cool. Nice to see that you are are not afraid of B-flat. I have been digging lots of B-flat tunes lately. Hey, Kenny Baker and lots of my favorite Missouri fiddlers like it.

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Originally Posted by HonketyHank

Wow! Good work there, Isaac!

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Thank you! By the way, Rob, I've been using your ebook as a reference guide for my mandolin since I started playing -around 6 years ago. It's been an invaluable source of practical information. Thanks for that!

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Originally Posted by Jim Garber

I like the swing variation in the A part and the B part goes everywhere: cross-picking, minor key, etc. Very cool. Nice to see that you are are not afraid of B-flat. I have been digging lots of B-flat tunes lately. Hey, Kenny Baker and lots of my favorite Missouri fiddlers like it.

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Good ears! That's why I think writing a variation to a fiddle tune -versus improvising- is a great exercise. I force myself to think which musical elements I want to be using to give it more "colour", so I go back to my musical toolbox to see what could fit in there. And this is one of the perks of having an actual class with a teacher and some other students, as opposed to "pace-yourself courses" that I've taken before: I have a due date when I have to show what I've been working on, so I actually work much more. Obvious, but true -for me, at least.

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Originally Posted by Isaac Casas

Thank you! By the way, Rob, I've been using your ebook as a reference guide for my mandolin since I started playing -around 6 years ago. It's been an invaluable source of practical information. Thanks for that!

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Well said! But I am not Rob.:):disbelief::) I just think every player should have a good idea of how their mandolin works and how it can be adjusted, even if they do not plan on doing those adjustments themself. Especially us Newbies who may have a just-bought mandolin that badly needs a setup.

Back on topic: I agree about variations vs improvising even though I am not a competant improviser. I use Tabledit a lot to help me figure out just how I want to depart from a given score or tab sheet and make my own way of playing a tune.

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Originally Posted by HonketyHank

Well said! But I am not Rob.:):disbelief::) I just think every player should have a good idea of how their mandolin works and how it can be adjusted, even if they do not plan on doing those adjustments themself. Especially us Newbies who may have a just-bought mandolin that badly needs a setup.

Back on topic: I agree about variations vs improvising even though I am not a competant improviser. I use Tabledit a lot to help me figure out just how I want to depart from a given score or tab sheet and make my own way of playing a tune.

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Oh, sorry, I assumed you were him by your footer! :)

Nice playing & nice to see you here Isaac!

Hope you're doing all ok there.

Greetings from Amsterdam, Flip