Gray Eagle

[blueridgemandolin]

You can order it from Hershel at this website, I got it from him a couple of years ago. He may have some of them at Roanoke Fiddlefest, He usually does
http://www.herschelsizemore.com/
Dan

[blueridgemandolin]

I got mine directly from him, He's a great guy and very friendly and helpful.
Dan

[farmerjones]

i found out Traveler, Robert E. Lee's horse was of the Grey Eagle bloodline.
Grey Eagle was born in 1783, and was reported to be a horse of great speed & game.

[tree]

So Grey Eagle was a race horse? I never gave the title much thought, but that's cool to know. I've also read somewhere that the fiddle part for Uncle Pen was sort of "borrowed" from Grey Eagle.

I'm coming along with the C and D parts on my own, and if I don't get Herschel's exact version it won't be a great tragedy for me. After all, I'm not trying to be Herschel (I just really like his version of the song). I'll probably misplace a note or 2, figure out my own fingering, and maybe even find a phrase I like better my way (I've already stolen some of Bobby Hicks's licks from his pass through the B part, that was worth the entire price of admission - there were 2 really good lessons for me in that little bit of plagiarism).

The value of learning it by ear is that you get to make it your version, after all is said and done. For me, that wouldn't be anything original, just the stolen bits that I like.

[blueridgemandolin]

Don't know what happened to the post I Made, But you can do a search for Hershel Sizemore and go to his website and order the book straight from him. I call him and went by his house and picked it up as I live in the area. He is a great guy and very friendly, He will be at the Roanoke Fiddlefest and usually has some of the books with him.
Dan

[tree]

I just ran across a nice version of Grey Eagle from Wayne Benson on the Triggs mandolin web site:

http://www.triggsmandolins.com/yahoo...le.6173927.m4a

[Ivan Kelsall]

Well,our colleague on here sent me his now un-used Herschel Sizemore TAB book & sure enough i was playing part of the B part incorrectly,sticking an extra note in where it shouldn't be. It sounded ok,but made the fingering (for me) a bit tricky. The big trouble is,i now have to un-learn what i was playing.This is the period where i get stuck between the way i used to play it & the way i should play it.
I try to learn a tune note for note by ear 'if i can',if i can't i'll settle for 95% accuracy. I always think to myself when playing a tune actually composed by a player ie. Herschel Sizemore's tune "Rebecca",that if he walked into a room while i was playing it,as long as he could recognise his own tune,then i'm doing ok,
Ivan

[Mando Smash]

[tree]

Nice clean pickin'! I might have to steal your tag on the end for myself . . .

[Rob Gerety]

Great stuff! Love it.

[Mando Smash]

Have you guys heard this one yet? My Favorite! Dawg & Sam


http://fluffyfacio.tripod.com/greyeagle.htm

[Steve Cantrell]

I play with some old time fiddlers, and they seem to only play two parts. I wonder if the four parts is just a bluegrass thing, or if that's just the way it is done around here.

[Ivan Kelsall]

That's really nice playing & a lovely version of the tune - i like it very much indeed. I suppose with a tune such as 'Grey Eagle',there's no 'definitive' version ('preferred' ones maybe). I like Herschel Sizemore's version of it so that's what i play. I suppose i could work on my 'own' personal version of it,but i'm not too sure that anybody would care to listen to the outcome - i'm not that good yet !,
Ivan

[re simmers]

Ivan,
We mandolin pickers would notice, but everyone else would say, "you sure can play foggy mountain breakdown."

Herschel is top notch and Bush, too. But, Joe Clark's version is just fantastic. Timing is great, notes are clear, good dynamics, sounds like the song was made for Joe on the mandolin.

Bob

[wsugai]

Alan - I'm looking for a very simplified tab for Grey Eagle and it seems like you've done the research. Is there a source for Joe Carr's versions (he tends to simplify things nicely) or any of the other simple tab versions? I don't consider the Bush and Sizemore version to be simplified, and Pete Martin's tab version follows Sam Bush's recorded version, so that's also out. Maybe Tim O'Brien's? Thanks in advance. -Wayne

Like all Acutab works, it is two staves, notes above tab. Niles' books, the same. Tiny Moore book, the same. The 3 Mel Bay Jethro books, the same. I prefer this format, as

1) can double-check for tab inconsistencies,
2) good, continual sight note reading practice

Can also do notes or tab only and have plenty of books in tab only - Twin Mandolin Workshop, Joe Carr Merlin book, Ray Legere Common Denominator, Dave Peters, others; same for notes only. It's all good.

[Randy Smith]

Good stuff. DVD ordered. This is the next tune on my list. Grey Eagle's in C init?

Key of A.

But in 1992 Missouri State Old Time Fiddlers Association issued a cassette of legendary fiddler Cyril Stinnet, *Grey Eagle in C* (MSOTFA 103). I don't know if the tape's still available, but anyone interested in hearing a nice take on this tune might try writing the Association about the tape (at P.O. Box 7423, Columbia, MO, 65205 ); or asking about it on Fiddle-L or fiddlehangout.

[blueridgemandolin]

I think you can order his book from his website

http://herschelsizemore.com/

It is on there at $15.00 Know he had them a couple of years ago as I got one from him at Roanoke Fiddle Fest
Dan