Famed Western Swing fiddle icon Johnny Gimble passed this week. He was 88. Mike Spears of iFiddle Magazine asked me to do a little tribute piece about Johnny. I tell of my experience playing his parts at a Bob Wills Festival. I hope you enjoy! It is a fun memory
Archive | By Ear
Learning by ear
Three D Major Jams
By fiddlejamman on May 5, 2015 in A-toodz, Bluegrass Fiddle, By Ear, By Feeling, By Key, By Sight, Country, D major, Folk Fiddle, Jammer Level, Jamming 101, Lesson List, Major Scale, Path Page
Here’s three jams that use the key of D… major that is. The third one isn’t really just a jam, but also a fiddle tune, but you can just jam over the whole tune if you want to… the whole song, back-ups and all is made out of nothing but
Three G Major Jams
By fiddlejamman on May 5, 2015 in A-toodz, By Ear, By Feeling, By Key, By Scale, By Sight, G major, Jammer Level, Jamming 101, Learning Methods, Lesson List, Major Scale, Path Page, Pop, Pop & Rock, Rock
G major is a go-to key not just for violin but cello and viola too. Here’s three good ones that should get you going nicely. Three different styles and tempos. Rarest Rose: sweet ballad, great jam to start with! G Jam: fun pop rock groove Raven’s Daughter:
Three B Blues Scale Jams
By fiddlejamman on May 5, 2015 in A-toodz, B minor, Blues, Blues Scale, By Ear, By Feeling, By Key, By Scale, By Sight, Double Stops, Jammer Level, Jamming 101, Learning Methods, Lesson List, Path Page, Reggae violin, Rock, Style Studies
B Blues is a good one on the fiddle too! simple EZ-Zone is 0-1-3 on the A & E strings. Just start and end on the B note to get started and you’ll be fine! B Gone: in the style of BB King’s “The Thrill is Gone.” B Tuff
Three Blues Tunes – Learning Path
By fiddlejamman on May 5, 2015 in A major, Blues, Blues Scale, Boogie Woogie, By Ear, By Feeling, By Knowledge, D major, E minor, Fiddler’s Tab, G major, Jammer Level, Jamming 101, Lesson List, Note Name – Finger Number, Path Page, Staff Notation, Style Studies
Nothin’ much beats the Blues if you had to pick just one thing to learn! Blues is the foundation that all popular music of the last 100+ years stands on! Join as a registered member to see more of this lesson! Nothin’ much beats the Blues if you had to
Old Time Fiddler’s Learning Path
By fiddlejamman on May 3, 2015 in By Ear, By Feeling, By Knowledge, By Sight, Fiddler’s Tab, Note Name – Finger Number, Old Time Fiddle, Staff Notation
For those who do not know much about this interesting style, Old Time Fiddling is generally from the 1800’s or earlier and often features alternative “open” tunings that can change from song to song. Its primary use as a single-instrument dance accompaniment requires players to have a deep sense of
Circle of Fifths Loop Track
By fiddlejamman on March 4, 2015 in A major, A minor, Ab major, Ab minor, Artist Level, B major, B minor, Bb major, Bb minor, By Ear, By Key, By Knowledge, By Scale, By Sight, C major, C minor, C# major, C# minor, Cb Major, Cb minor, Cornerstone Styles, D major, D minor, Db major, Db minor, Dorian Mode, E major, E minor, Eb major, Eb minor, F major, F minor, F# major, F# minor, G major, G minor, G# major, G# minor, Gb major, Gb minor, Gypsy Jazz Violin, Ionian Mode, jamming 103, Jamming 104, Jazz, Learning Methods, Lesson List, Major Pentatonic Scale, Major Scale, Master Class, MixoBluesian Scale, Mixolydian Mode, Music Mechanics, One-Room-School-House ORSH, Style Studies, V7b9 scale
Here’s a cool loop track that takes you all the way around the Circle of Fifths, each five notes away from the one before. Why is this a useful study? The Five (V) to One (I) cadence, or chord movement as been a dominant motion in music for the