a fiddle tune

[mandolirius]

I really wrote this one for the fiddle. I don't play but I know a few folks that do. BTW, I tried but I'm a lefty who plays right. I thought I'd have a leg up but when I picked it up, I naturally grabbed the bow with my left hand. My right hand didn't know what to do so I wasn't going to have much of a headstart. Besides, the posture felt really awkward and uncomfortable. I concluded I wasn't meant to be a fiddler. Really, I don't know how you fiddlers do it. Anyway, here's "The New Plow":CD2E1900_0.mp3

[Young Will]

Awesome!!!............I really like that.
I've been really impressed with the talent on this site...........I'll try not to drag it down.

I've been playing fiddle for a few years now and I still don't know how they do it either.

[mandolirius]

Awesome!!!............I really like that.
I've been really impressed with the talent on this site...........I'll try not to drag it down.

I've been playing fiddle for a few years now and I still don't know how they do it either.

[jnikora]

Hey Mandolirius,

Have you put it into Tabledit?

[Mike Bunting]

And the hits keep on coming! And another good one, sounds like a modern fiddle tune with that nice arrangement.

[mandolirius]

Hey Mandolirius,

Have you put it into Tabledit?

No. In fact, I'm not even sure of what that is. I've never been a tab user.

[Mike Black]

Very nice Michael. I like how the A part digs down and plows out to the celebration in the B part.

[mandolirius]

And the hits keep on coming! And another good one, sounds like a modern fiddle tune with that nice arrangement.

Thanks Mike. The arrangement was the thing I liked best. It's hard to present fiddle tunes in interesting ways. That's not to say there's anything wrong with just playing the tune, but good arranging is important if you're doing all instrumental music.

[thejamdolinplayer]

nice pickin man, did you do all the instruments?..

[Ed Goist]

Really nice job. Very enjoyable.
Excellent playing throughout, and, as others have pointed out GREAT arrangement.
Top shelf stuff.
That's the 2005 Randy Wood, right?

[mandolirius]

nice pickin man, did you do all the instruments?..

Just the mandolin.

[mandolirius]

Really nice job. Very enjoyable.
Excellent playing throughout, and, as others have pointed out GREAT arrangement.
Top shelf stuff.
That's the 2005 Randy Wood, right?

No, that's the Givens.

[David Rambo]

Sounds great! Thanks!

[mandolirius]

Very nice Michael. I like how the A part digs down and plows out to the celebration in the B part.

That's a very interesting way to put it Mike, considering what I was doing when I wrote it. I was watching TV with the sound off. It was something I often did because I can't do repetitive stuff without some sort of minor distraction. It was a good technique, for me.

The program was a documentary on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about an aid program for farmers in Nicaragua. A bunch of older, used farm equipement had been collected over a period of months and then shipped down to Nicaragua. Once it was there, a group of retired Saskatchewan (Canadian province) farmers volunteered to go down there and show the peasant farmers how to repair, maintain and operate these old tractors and such. Right about the time I figured I had the tune where I wanted it and was starting to think about what to call it, I looked up at the screen and there was this young Nicaraguan sitting at the wheel of a tractor plowing a field with mechanized help for the first time. The look on his face could easily have been called one of celebration. Actually the whole scene was really moving. Some of these prairie-hardened, grizzled old Canadian farmers had tears in their eyes just caught up in how much their efforts meant to these dirt-poor Nicaraguans. There was no doubt that what they'd done was going to make these people's lives a lot easier.

Anyway, that's how I got the idea to call it The New Plow. I've written close to 100 tunes and I have to say, naming them isn't always easy. Sometimes it is. For example, camping by a river or something, I might name a tune I'd written after it. But if you're just sitting in your living room it can be hard to figure what to name a tune. I actually keep a file of good names now, because I figure I may need them some day.

[Ivan Kelsall]

Brilliant !! - I love the nice,easy going tempo,it's as tuneful as i could ever wish for & i really like your playing style - well done indeed. You've written close to 100 tunes - wow !. If i ever get the imagination to write one good one,i'll be well pleased,
Ivan

[mandolirius]

Brilliant !! - I love the nice,easy going tempo,it's as tuneful as i could ever wish for & i really like your playing style - well done indeed. You've written close to 100 tunes - wow !. If i ever get the imagination to write one good one,i'll be well pleased,Ivan

Thanks a lot, Ivan. The thing with writing tunes isn't (imho) so much about imagination. I think any of us who have learned to play lots of tunes will have enough ideas that they could write one, too. What stops a lot of people is not knowing what to do with those ideas.

I guess I could liken it to writing a novel. I am sure that most of us, at one time or another, have had an idea we thought would make a good book. So why don't we write it? Take away obvious impediments like time, work, family obligations and so on and let's assume the time is available. What stops people is not knowing where to start, how to organize ideas etc. Granted there are other necessities, like doing research etc. but I don't think that's what keeps people in the starting gate.

It's the same with tunes. The best way to start writing, as ridiculously simplistic as this sounds, is to start writing. That is, don't even concern yourself with the outcome. I've written lots of tunes I ultimately didn't keep. But even writing something that seems too deritvative of something else or whatever criticism you may have of it, is valuable. Once you've gone through the process of hearing a melodic idea, developing it into a theme, embellishing it somewhat, coming up with a B part or bridge that connects with the rest of the tune, you're on your way.

It may take a few times before you get a "keeper" and that's fine. The important thing is in your head and that's a sense of committment. You decide this is something you want to do, something important to you, and you'll get there, as long as you give yourself permission to muddle around, take some dead ends and just engage in the process without concerning yourself too much with the results, especially in the beginning.

[Mike Black]

Anyway, that's how I got the idea to call it The New Plow. I've written close to 100 tunes and I have to say, naming them isn't always easy. Sometimes it is. For example, camping by a river or something, I might name a tune I'd written after it. But if you're just sitting in your living room it can be hard to figure what to name a tune. I actually keep a file of good names now, because I figure I may need them some day.

I'm the exact same way with the tunes my wife & I write. The tune can come easy, but it seems forever to find a title. Sometimes it's actually easier to write the tune when you already have the title.

[Pete Summers]

Me like. Much.

[mandolirius]

I'm the exact same way with the tunes my wife & I write. The tune can come easy, but it seems forever to find a title. Sometimes it's actually easier to write the tune when you already have the title.

I notice you didn't include a smiley and I'm guessing that's because you're serious about that. I totally agree. Even something as seemingly insignificant as the title can be all you need to get started. Maybe it's a brain trick, I'm not sure.

[mandolirius]

Me like. Much.

Thankyou Pete, much appreciated. I posted another clip with the same band on the Bluegrass forum. It's a bit more uptempo.

[Mike Black]

I notice you didn't include a smiley and I'm guessing that's because you're serious about that. I totally agree. Even something as seemingly insignificant as the title can be all you need to get started. Maybe it's a brain trick, I'm not sure.

Yes, I was being serious.

For example...One of the tunes we wrote is called Cowely County Breakdown. Cowely County is were we go every year for a music festival. One time while driving there, we got to Cowely County and the thought came that we should write a tune called Cowely County Breakdown. It so happens that our vehicle did breakdown while we were there. So we had to write the tune. There is even a part where you can her the van break down. For us , I guess it's easier to noodle with a purpose.

[mandolirius]

Yes, I was being serious.

For example...One of the tunes we wrote is called Cowely County Breakdown. Cowely County is were we go every year for a music festival. One time while driving there, we got to Cowely County and the thought came that we should write a tune called Cowely County Breakdown. It so happens that our vehicle did breakdown while we were there. So we had to write the tune. There is even a part where you can her the van break down. For us , I guess it's easier to noodle with a purpose.

There you go! For Ivan, and anyone else who thinks they don't have it in them to write a tune, Mike's post illustrates something important - in order to write a tune you have to want to (pretty obvious) and you have to believe you can (less obvious). Use anything you can to inspire you, even a vehicle calamity.

[Mike Black]

Use anything you can to inspire you, even a vehicle calamity.