Bards Old Time Fiddle Tunebook Supplement/Blackberry Blossom

This resource is authorized to include instructional ("how-to") information not available on Wikipedia. Please help to expand that section below. thumb|The flower of a Blackberry plant. The fiddle tune "Blackberry Blossom", a fiddle tune in the key of G Major, Blackberry Blossom Sean Ray Studios 2010-08-15 http://seanray.com/2010/blackberry-blossom-2/ is classified as a "breakdown" and is popular in old time, bluegrass Building a Traditional Tune Repertoire Wendy Anthony http://archive.mandolinsessions.com/jun08/Anthony.html https://web.archive.org/web/20100116074101/http://archive.mandolinsessions.com/jun08/Anthony.html 2010-01-16and Celtic traditional circles. It is considered one of the best known fiddle tune of the twentieth century. History The tune Blackberry Blossom played by Emma Lee Dickerson and recorded by Barbara Kunkle 1974-02-09 Greenup County, Kentucky Reel-To-Reel Audio Tape http://www.aca-dla.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Berea43&CISOPTR=571&CISOBOX=1&REC=2 https://web.archive.org/web/20110929134537/http://www.aca-dla.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Berea43&CISOPTR=571&CISOBOX=1&REC=2 2011-09-29 has been added to many tune books - as many as 277, according to The Session, an online resource for traditional musicians. The Blackberry Blossom thesession.org 2633-9285 https://thesession.org/tunes/1365 The tune became popular as a tune recorded by "Fiddlin'" Arthur Smith and that version, according to Alan Jabbour, supplanted an earlier tune played by Sanford Kelly from Morgan County, Note: As an E minor tune. He ends the tune "that's the way that God made peace".|http://www.aca-dla.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/Berea43&CISOPTR=3533&filename=3534.mp3 which is now represented by the tune "Yew Piney Mountain". ref name=Jabbour BBB Transcript|cited=Wikiversity Ethnography of Fiddle|Fiddle tune played by Alan Jabbour at Berea College on 5-28-08, while participating in Berea's Appalachian Music Fellowship Program.c; Jabbour, Alan; Blackberry Blossom; Blackberry Blossom|Lecture and performance by Alan Jabbour|Madison County, Kentucky|Audio Compact Disc|On web Digital Library of Appallachia| Archives, Hutchins Library, Department of Special Collections & Archives. It is also called Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom, perhaps to distinguish it from the earlier version.The Fiddler’s Companion Andrew Kuntz 1996 http://www.ibiblio.org/fiddlers/BLACK.htm#BLACKBERRY_BLOSSOM_[2] Black BLACKBERRY BLOSSOM [2] Contradicting Jabbour, who clearly distinguishes the earlier version, is the account of Andrew Kuntz to the effect that "Betty Vornbrock and others have noted a similarity between 'Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom' and the West Virginia tune 'Yew Piney Mountain', a variant...also played by Kentucky fiddlers J.P. Fraley and and Santford Kelly". Culture: use in different genres Although the tune is closely associated with the old time/ bluegrass traditions of the United States, Note: The Digital Library of Appallachia has recordings primarily from Kentucky. http://www.aca-dla.org/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=all&CISOBOX1=%20Blackberry%20Blossom it enjoys the distinction of often being frequently played by traditional Irish musicians. In Irish music This is a partial list of covers by Irish musicians and bands. An Fhidil, Sraith 2 by Sean Keane, Kevin Burke, Paddy Glackin And Seamus Creagh Ireland's Best Session Tunes CD 1 by Waltons Recording Irish Dances by Various Artists Top Of Coom by Conal Ó'Gráda Traditional Irish Dance Music by All Star Ceilidhe Band Traditional Irish Dance Music: All Star Ceili Band by Joe Derrane Traditional Irish Music by William Sullivan Traditional Irish Tunes Played On The Tin Whistle (1/2) by Geraldine Cotter Traditional Music Of Ireland by Various Artists In Bluegrass According to Devon Wells, Blackberry Blossom, as a banjo tune, was brought to the public's attention as one of the earliest arrangements of Bill Keith. Exploring Blackberry Blossom - Part I: Simple Backup Devon's Banjo Homeplace 2011-04-02 http://banjohomeplace.blogspot.com/2011/04/exploring-blackberry-blossom-part-i_02.html Wells, a bluegrass teacher, asserts that the tune is a standard in the bluegrass banjo repertoire. Some of the older recordings archived at the Digital Library of Appalachia include: Davenport, Clyde Fiddle tune played by Clyde Davenport at the Berea College Celebration of Traditional Music on 11-03-84 Rawlings, Carlton Fiddle tune played by Carlton Rawlings and recorded by John Harrod in Bath County, Kentucky [1970s]. Higgins, Charlie Smithsonian Folkways Structure Like most traditional fiddle tunes, Blackberry Blossom has an A part and a B part; the former is in the key of G Major but the latter switches explicitly to the key of E minor. E minor is the relative minor of the key of G Major - it uses the same sharps and flats but its' modal center is E rather than G. This provides the tune with an unusual mood shift which adds complexity. According to Anthony, "The note played on the 1st & 3rd beat of the first 2 measures are the first 4 notes of the descending scale of G. Each of these notes is the beginning of a 3-note run, returning to to this base note, before moving on to the next note in the G scale. " Videographic documentation (various instrumentation) Fiddle and Guitar Doc and the Lady (Fiddle and Flatpick Guitar)Operation Smile ocncert|instumentation=(fiddle and guitar)|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqtqdQBaYjA|11/16/2007|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXdhej_q7sg&feature=related Fiddle Guitar and Banjo Inland Northwest Bluegrass Association in Spokane Washington. Every month the INBA has what they call a Bluegrass Thang Mandolin [Mark O'Connor)album =Markology|label= Rounder| Released: 24 Jul 2007| url=|http://www.last.fm/music/Mark+O%27Connor/Markology Fiddle & percussion- interpretive - (Carrie Rodriguez) Carrie Rodriguez performing live at the Rosendale Cafe in Rosendale, NY on January 3, 2008. Playing with Carrie are her band members Hans Holzen and Javier Vercher.|http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifAlMxMsckE&feature=related Twin fiddlin' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fse3uUd_EfY&NR=1 Electric violin/ rock band Collection of video links at World News website Instructional resources Played slow. References