Fiddlewidget

The Widget as an Arranging Tool

Sailor's Hornpipe--a duet for banjo and bassoon

A couple years ago, the ETSU Bluegrass Dept offered a course in arranging, taught by Dr. Phillip Rhodes,a classical composer from Western North Carolina. I added the class late, and the first day I showed up, Dr. Rhodes was asking everyone what they had chosen as their class project. Not wanting to sound unprepared, I told him I wanted to write a duet for banjo and bassoon. I thought that would buy me a little time to decide what I really wanted to do, but he jumped at it so quick I was kinda locked in.

It turned out one of my students had a big sister who was first chair bassonist in the ETSU orchestra. Here's a clip of me and Virginia playing Sailor's Hornpipe, un-mixed, warts and all.Hornpipe Duet I sort of got lost during part of the backup, listening to Virginia play that horn, but you can tell how it goes. If you're interested in how we put it together, read on: Widgetizing an arrangement