Some music resources
This page is a living list of links to resources I have found useful for trad music. I'll be adding here regularly. Please feel free to email suggestions for this page and I'll add them.
Note that there is a link that will allow online discussion about the page if you are signed in. Fell free to comment there also.
-- Bill
[NEW!] The Canote Brothers Teaching Page
Lots of tunes we like, in MPEG format so they will work with he Amazing Slow Downer (tm). Included are a number of Greg's originals in Calico Tuning (AEAC#)
From the page:
"Ahoy Stringbandoleros!
Here you will find png or jpeg images of the banjo tab for each tune, as well as sound files of each tune played at a reasonable pace by Greg (fiddle), Jere (guitar) and Candy (banjo). Recordings were made with the knowledge and consent of the musicians for non-commercial use only. All content is licensed under Creative Commons"
Friends of Old-time Banjo website
This group is one of the main reasons I started my jam -- I couldn't get enough of their jams so I added more. Many members of this group frequent my jam. Here's the description of the group from the site.
"We love old time music and we love banjos -- to play them, listen to them, look at them, talk about them! In 2004 we formed Friends of Old Time Banjo (FOB) to create opportunities to play old time music in a low-key, supportive atmosphere where we could grow as old time banjo players."
These folks (and the site) are wonderfully organized -- check out how they make deluxe trips to the festivals.
Kirk has a similar jam in Pegram TN, and has put together a wonderful website. He has recorded references of many of the tunes at a slow tempo that you can download and use for practice. here's the initial description from his site:
"If you're an Old Time musician like us, you should feel right at home with the music you find among these pages. The purpose of the website is to inspire the discovery, teaching and learning of traditional fiddle tunes available from the bottomless well of American music. We hope playing this music will touch your soul as it touches ours."
The Fiddler's Companion website
Andrew Kuntz has created and maintains "A Descriptive Index of North American and British Isles Music for the Folk Violin and Other Instruments"
Here's his introduction:
"Since 1996 the Fiddler's Companionhas been a popular internet resource for those interested in the body of traditional music usually associated with the violin, generically called 'fiddle tunes'. Primarily dance music, the genre also encompasses listening music and music written for specific occasions. The Fiddler's Companion is used by musicians, investigators and writers as a research aide, a source for information and lore, for general interest and just for the fun of browsing."
The Digital Tradition Folk Song Database at the Mudcat Cafe
Here's an except from the page:
"With about 9000 songs in the Digital Tradition Database, you're sure to find what you're looking for. And if you don't find what you're looking for in the DT, trybrowsing, or posting to our Forum. Odds are your question will be answered within hours."
Old-Time Key of C Fiddle Tunes
Larry Warren posted this list of fiddle tunes in the Key of C, with sound clips. Over 200 tunes in all, including more than 25 waltzes. Well worth exploring!
From Warren Wilson College: "The Digital Library of Appalachia provides online access to archival and historical materials related to the culture of the southern and central Appalachian region. The contents of the DLA are drawn from special collections of Appalachian College Association member libraries.". Rayna Gellert and John Herrmann play a number of tunes that we do -- excellent examples along with a wonderful chance to hear the real thing.
Website created and maintained by David Lynch of Asheville, NC. Many interesting links to organizations, events, people...
Friends of Old Time Banjo Tune Talk
A Wetpaint site launched by Leslie Plant, of Friends of the Old-time Banjo fame, which means it's really easy for people to come and add what they know to the site. You can browse the site like any normal website - but you can also post comments, upload photos and videos, create new pages, and edit pages that are already there.
Traditional Music and Spoken Word Catalog from the American Folklife Center
This catalog enables you to research via the Internet the 34,000-card catalog of ethnographic recordings made for the Archive of Folk Song (now the Archive of Folk Culture in the American Folklife Center) at the Library of Congress. You can search by tune or song title, performer, place of recording, and more. The keyword searchability makes this even more valuable than the card file in the Center, and you can research this from anywhere there is an Internet connection. What a great resource!
If you find this useful, I'm sure the staff at the AFC would love to hear about it. folklife@loc.gov.
Above from Julie Mangin -- Thanks Julie!
Pauline Lerner recommended this website -- note that it contains Quicktime movie lessons with strategies for learning and practicing technique -- always a good things to have! Thank you Pauline! Here's a short description form the site:
"Violinmasterclass.com was created for violin professionals, teachers, parents, and students at all levels to enhance the study of playing the violin. This site provides information that was until now available only to those able to audition into the world's foremost violin studios, such as the classes of Dorothy DeLay, Ivan Galamian, and Carl Flesch. Violinmasterclass.com is underwritten by the Dorothy Richard Starling Foundation in support of the teaching and performance of the classical violin. The Starling Project Foundation, Inc., the host of violinmasterclass.com, is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Access to this site is free of charge."