Publisher's Synopsis
The island of Cape Breton & its close neighbor, Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada are home to two of the oldest, strongest, and most vibrant fiddling traditions in North America. Cape Breton gave rise to a professional Celtic-based fiddling scene to rival anything coming out of Scotland & Ireland. Prince Edward IslandÆs traditional fiddlers developed lively, idiosyncratic styles every bit as musically compelling as anything youÆll hear on archival recordings of iconic American old-time fiddlers from the Appalachians. This book features 136 tunes from these two distinct but related fiddling traditions, collected by the author directly from master fiddlers, and arranged note-for-note for clawhammer banjo with as much flavor and nuance as possible. Theseásettingsáof reels, hornpipes, jigs, marches, strathspeys, airs, and other fiddle tunes are all eminently playable and fully benefit from the authorÆs half-century of experience playing banjo, arranging for banjo, writing banjo instruction books, and researching fiddle-music traditions.HereÆs what youÆll find in this volume.136 fiddle tunes arranged for clawhammer banjo in clear tablature Over 40 musical examples & exercises Instruction on basic and advanced techniques Fingering diagrams & detailed fingering suggestions A systematic approach to playing up-the-neck A thorough treatment of playing triplets, grace notes, and other characteristic ornaments in clawhammer Guides on how to approach playing various kinds of fiddle tunes A framework for understanding the modes encountered in fiddle music Historical notes on the tunes and musical traditions Biographical information on source fiddlers 169 audio illustrations available online Note: Most audio illustrations for the tunes in this book are drawn directly from the authorÆs CDs, áDevil in the Kitchen, Frails & Frolics, Island Boy, áandáNorthern Banjo.
