Fiddlewidget
Dear Old Dixie-- a 3rd Position Lick The tune:
Dear Old Dixie became a banjo standard when Earl Scruggs recorded it. It's a lot less well-known as a
fiddle tune, but it shows up enough in jam session environments that it's well worth learning.
Rather than try to post the whole thing, I'll just focus on a third position lick that Raymond McLain
showed me when I was learning it in an ETSU student band. It shows up in the third measure, where the chord
progression goes from the G to the C chord (from the 1 to the 4). Raymond is the only one I heard play it exactly like this, but
Paul Warren did something close to it, although fancier, with Flatt and Scruggs.
Here's the first 4 measures of the melody, keeping it as simple as possible:
OK, having the widgetized diagram of what's happening with this lick is helpful, but at some point
you need to start practicing it. Megan tried to give me some mechanical ideas,
like measuring the distance traveled by feeling the spot with the heel of my hand, and sliding each note separately
to get a feel for the intonation.
Being sure that you get a good tight hold with the shoulder rest is important, too. If the left hand is free to move, and not being used
to physically hold onto the fiddle, it makes this a much easier move.
So that's all there is to it, that and about 500 repetitions. Now, if you like, you can move on to see this same
idea used in a different chord in another song I Saw the Light sliding double stop Or return to the Higher Positions page. Available from nationally known music suppliers, or call Bruce Haney at (423) 349-6715
or
email at bfhaney@chartertn.net. |