Berea College Fiddle Page another amazing net resource! A large collection of original recordings by folklorists of Appalachian fiddle, banjo, ballands, etc. etc. Much of the collection can be purchased as CDs for a very modest fee! (Thanks to Sandol for tipping us off to this!)

Ed Hetzler's Tune Page hundreds of commonly played old timey tunes in MIDI format, (also has written notation for many tunes which is available if you join up for a modest annual fee.)

Canadian Virtual Gramophone is putting mp3 files of all the 78s recorded in Canada. Wo! That's primo stuff! Check out - The Melody Kings Dance Orchestra plays "Hey, You Want Any Codfish" composed by Fish, Ima and Herring, Ura in 1924; or, "Reel de St Tite" recorded by Ida and Sotere Mongrain in 1929 -- it's the tune we usually call "Old French"; or the tune we usual call "Onion Reel" recorded by the great Joseph Allard as "Reel des cing demiards"; also, tunes by Don Messer's Orchestra and many others... and the American equivalent is at Honking Duck -- great!

Recorded/Audio/MIDI online audio of many widely played old time, celtic, bluegrass tunes a nice set of simple MIDI tune files. plain but good for learning

Henry Reed Collection terrific tunes field recorded from Alan Jabbour's mentor. Library of Congress web site includes Alan's original recordings and transcriptions

John Lamancusa's site at Penn State more tunes in written and MIDI versions

Irish tunelist with written music and midi audio from Slowplayers.org with the most widely played Irish tunes from slowjam sessions around the country. And more Irish/Celtic tunes are at Ceolas.

And another gigantic tune collection in Britain

Fiddle (etc) Tabs! another Old Time fan who has created a major site with free tabs and midis for scores of tunes... is it public service, or just being an over the top devotee!

Index of Recorded Tunes

Boston Center English Country Dance Tune Samples

Fiddle Tunes from the American Revolution

Fiddle Fork - all fiddle all the time! -- over 1400 midi files of tunes plus numerous other interesting links...

Tinwhistles.com with runthru's of many tunes.

Midi Tune Book Barry Taylor's eclectic collection of airs, lyrics, fiddle tunes, etc from Scotland, Ireland, the USA and Canada

dance tunes for English Country Dance at CDSS-Hawaii (midi/gif/embedded abc)

Ceoltas Irish/Celtic tune collection -- lots of tunes and information about music on-line, also try the Sessioneer

FindTune at MIT - literally 10,000s of fiddle tune versions in ABC, or PDF(sheet music) format -- an awesome job of collecting and organizing by Boston musician John Chambers!!!

The Session - mostly Irish/Celtic tunes with both audio, ABC and standard notation transcripts. Quality varies!

Ed Hetzler's Tune Page hundreds of commonly played old timey tunes in MIDI format, also has written notation for many tunes

Henry Reed Collection terrific tunes field recorded from Alan Jabbour's mentor. Library of Congress web site includes Alan's original recordings and transcriptions

Natalie McMaster has a site filled with the sheet music for tunes from her CDs! I tried them out and for some reason they don't sound the same on my fiddle as when she plays them. Funny, must be the kind of string I use or something...

About sources for fiddle tunes...

Alan Jabbour is well-known to Rhode Island fiddlers after his fiddle workshops at URI and concert appearances around New England. Alan was for many years a very active champion of folk traditions at the Library of Congress.

When Alan was a student at Duke University in the 1960s, he met the aged West Virginia fiddler Henry Reed and collected more than 100 tunes from him. Many of these, such as "Over the Waterfall", "Frosty Morning", "Kitchen Girl", "Texas" and others, are now solidly entrenched in the folk repertoire. According to one story, the tune "Santa Anna's Retreat" was played by the Mexican forces as they retreated from the Americans during the 1848 war. Reed's mentor Quince Dillion, it is suggested, wasa fifer in the American Army there and brought the tune home. So, from the Mexican War directly to Reed to Jabbour to us... three steps, 160 years.

The Henry Reed collection at the Library of Congress contains Alan's orginal notebook transcriptions and online copies of the original tape recordings. These are wonderful to hear; they illustrate many points about fiddling, fiddle tune collecting and learning, and the folk process. The copies on this page show how carefully Alan tried to notate exactly what Henry was playing, but, as Alan would be the first to point out, they show the limitations of writing the subtleties of fiddle performance. The written page, no matter how skillfully and sensitively used, cannot truly present what is essentially a delicate and ephemeral creation.

This is the reason why we need to listen and listen, and not take the skeletal versions of tunes in our various tunebooks too seriously. They are not the tunes.

Matt.

Written music suggests ONE way that a tune can be played, among the infinite variety of styles, personal idiosyncrasies and ephemeral sparks that make fiddling endlessly fascinating....Brody, Songer, Miller, Barnes and Thomson are each much too deep in the tradition to ever suggest that these are the "right"way... they are just, a way....

New England Repertory -- First published in 1983 (before computer set music notation, indexing and layout) now in an improved, revised edition that is clearer and easier to use. Over 150 traditional older tunes of New England contra and barn dances from a wonderful fiddler who has been living at the center of the New England traditional music scene for over three decades.

Another great source for serious contradance players is "The Portland Collection" by Susan Songer and Clyde Curley (ISBN 0-9657476-0-3) (www.theportlandcollection.com) -- this collection has some interesting notes on a lot of the tunes, and a lot of great newly composed tunes which are widely played, such as Larry Unger's "All the Rage" or Anita Anderson's "Bus Stop Reel".

The Barnes Book of English Country Dance Tunes of over 400 English Country Dance tunes is the standard play book for all English Country Dance in the USA. It contains a lot of terrific tunes, with notes by Peter Barnes on piano accompaniment. Can't do ECD without it.

Ryan Thomson has been travelling New England for years using the nickname "Captain Fiddle." He has produced an extensive series of handbooks for dance and folk musicians, including a manual for left handed fiddlers... but one of the most useful of his books is a handbook of guitar chords for accompanying fiddle tunes. It's published in a small handbook version and a larger music-stand format. You wouldn't expect to use it on the fly in a fast session of many tunes, but for a quick check before a set, and to find that elusive lost chord....

top ten recorded fiddle tunes on albums: Soldier's Joy, Salt Creek, Sally Gooden, Blackberry Blossom, Mississippi Sawyer, Red Haired Boy, Bile them Cabbage Down, Cripple Creek, Old Joe Clark, Bill Cheatham --

Fiddler Magazine world wide survey 1995 - the most popular fiddle tunes were: 1. Soldier's Joy 2. St. Anne's Reel 3. (tied) Old Joe Clark, Ragtime Annie 4. Arkansas Traveler 5. Ashokan Farewell 6. (tied) Cripple Creek, Liberty, Westphalia Waltz 7. Redwing 8. (tied) Fisher's Hornpipe, Mississippi Sawyer, Whiskey Before Breakfast 9. (tied) Faded Love, Golden Slippers 10. Tennessee Waltz 11. (tied) Devil's Dream, Over the Waterfall, Turkey in the Straw 12. (tied) Bill Cheatham, Boil Them Cabbage Down, Blackberry Blossom, Flowers of Edinburgh 13. (tied) Angeline the Baker, Midnight on the Water 14. (tied) Boys of Bluehill, Eighth of January, Flop-Eared Mule, Sally Goodin 15. (tied) Chinese Breakdown, Over the Waves, Sailor's Hornpipe 16. (tied) Down Yonder, Girl I Left Behind Me, Irish Washerwoman, Kitchen Girl, Leather Britches, Wildwood Flower 17. (tied) Billy in the Lowground, Cindy, Cotton-Eyed Joe, Forked Deer, Harvest Home, Joys of Quebec, Kentucky Waltz, Sally Ann, Salt Creek, Year of the Jubilo 18 (tied) Bonaparte Crossing the Rhine, Bonaparte's Retreat, Buffalo Gals, Darling Nellie Gray, June Apple, Miss McLeod's,Orange Blossum Special, Rock the Cradle Joe, Snow Deer, Staten Island Hornpipe, Temperance Reel, Under the Double Eagle

Lists of Tunes What are folks playing? Compendium 2003 Southern New England Fiddle Tune list of 200+ tunes commonly played

the RI Old Time Fiddlers Club Tune list, the Falmouth Fiddlers Tunelist from Cape Cod, MA and the Hartford Community Dance Fiddle Tune List in Connecticut, Fiddle Tunes Played at local sessions and here is a tunelist from Maryland, and a tunelist from a local RI Irish session at Patrick's Pub,RI, and the Irish Music Association page (Comhaltas) tune list for their Monday evening BOSS (Boston Original Slow Session)

Roaring Jelly MA Contradance Band Tune List for A Recent Dance 11/2003

A Recent dance 2004 in Concord Mass used these tunes:

Liberty"; "Aunt Mary's Canadian Jig"; "Dennis Murphy's Polka"; "Ryan's Polka"; Medley "The Girl I Left Behind Me", "Leather Away the Wattle O", "Reel de Montréal", Medley: "The Auld Grey Cat"; "Haste to the Wedding", "Timmy Clifford's"; "Bill Cheatham"; "Solomon Levi"; Medley "The Moon and Seven Stars", "One Horned Sheep"; "Athol Highlanders Jig"; Medley "Redwing" , "Snow Deer" ; Medley: "The Spotted Pony", "North Carolina Breakdown"

A recent sit-in dance called by Linda Leslie by the Falmouth Fiddlers in Falmouth, Mass 2004 used these tunes: D Over the Waterfall, D Whiskey Before Breakfast, D Arkansas Traveler, 8th of January,G Turkey in the Straw, D Ragtime Annie, D Liberty, A Bill Cheatum ,D Soldier's Joy,A Old Joe Clark, A Red Haired Boy, A Devil's Dream, G Red Wing, G Angelina the Baker, G Golden Slippers, D Jaybird , D Spotted Pony, D St. Anne's Reel, D/G Pays de Haute

Here is a list of tunes played at a recent session (2/00) of skilled Irish musicians in Massachusetts:

Jigs: Swallowtail Jig, Irish Washerwoman, Dusty Bob's, Fiddle Hill, Tenpenny Bit, Coleraine, Smash the Windows, Haste to the Wedding, Off She Goes, Banish Misfortune, Connaughtman's Rambles, Calliope House, The Cowboy's Jig, Planxty Fanny Power, Pipe on the Hob, The Broken Bow, Johnny William's Jig, The Kesh Jig, An Irish Lilt, Hide and Go Seek, An Irishman's Heart to the Ladies, The Kinnegad Slashers, The Kid on the Mountain, An Phis Fhliuch, Johnny William's Jig, Rocky Road to Dublin, Made in Ireland

Waltzes & Other: Wednesday Night Waltz, Planxty Fanny Powers, Emily's Waltz, Sidh Beag agus Sidh Mor, Star of the County Down, Rights of Man, The Butterfly, Sonny Brogan's Mazurka, The Perfect Wife.  Songs: Foggy Foggy Dew, Star of the County Down, Ireland's Green Shore, Colleen Malone, Barnyards of Delgaty, The Cuckoo, The Bard of Armagh, Bedlam Boys, Bonny Lass of Fyvie, The Maid on the Shore, Pills of White Mercury, Quare Bungle Rye, The Great Selchie

See the HCD Site for a very well organized listing of tunes cross-indexed, no less...

Alice Key of A, Auretti's Dutch Skipper, Bare Necessities Dm, Black Joke, Black Nag F , Childgrove Dm , Christchurch Bells, Come Let's Be Merry D ,Corelli's Maggot, Cumberland Square, Doubtful Shepherd G , Draper's Gardens G, Epping Forest F, Faithless Nancy Dawson, Female Saylor Bb, Freeford Gardens, Helena, Heidenroslein, Hit and Miss Em, The Hop Ground, I Care Not for These Ladies C, Indian Queen D, Irish Lamentation G, Jack;s health, Jack's Maggot D, Jamaica F, Juice of Barley Am, Kelsterne Gardens Dm, Knives and Forks G , Lilliburlero G, Lord of Carnarvon, Mrs Savage's Whim Bm, Morecombe Bay, Never Love thee More G ,Northdown Waltz, Nottingham Swing, A New Beginning Gm, Physical Slob, Picking Up Sticks Dm and D, Portsmouth G, The Queen's Birthday C, Queen's Jig D, Rakes of Rochester A, The Ragg, Rainy Day Waltz Am, Round about Our Coal Fire, Saint Margaret's Hill Gm, Sarah, Sellenger's Round G, Take a Dance Bm, Trip to Canterbury G, Trip to Kilburn Am, Trip to Paris, Well Hall F, Wood Duck Am, Wooing Mary, Yellow Stockings, Young Widow

REHOBOTH JAM SESSION TUNE LIST 2/20/05

REELS All the Way to Galway D/ Arkanasas Traveller / Baghad Gus Em/ Bouchards D/ Been to the East G/ Bottom of the Punchbowl D/ Cheat Mountain D/ Crossing to Ireland Em/ Dedicado a Jos Am/C/ Farewell to Ireland Am/ Fisher’s Hornpipe / Gaspee Reel / Girl I Left Behind Me / Glise de Sherbrooke G / Goff Hall A/ Grasshopper Sitting on a Sweet Potato Vine/ Half Past Four A/ Jamie Allen G/ Keel Row / Little Beggerman A/ Off to California D Ragtime Annie D/ Reel de Montreal / Return to Milltown Dm/D/ / Road to Boston D/ Quarry Cross Em/ St. Anne’s Reel D/ Whiskey Before Breakfast /

JIGS Behind the Bush in the Garden Am/ Coleraine / Courtesan’s D mod / Kesh G/ Irish Washerwoman / June Bug Am/ Out on the Ocean G/ Rocky Road to Dublin/ Tripping Upstairs/

WALTZES/AIRS Ash Grove G/ Ashokan Farewell D/ Bonnie at Morn Am/ Evergreen Bm / Franconia D/ Griogal Cridhe G / Fiunary D/ Give me Your Hand/ Heindenroslein G/ Hewlett D/ / Josefins Dopvals F/ Le Gradlon / Let It Rain D/ Lover’s Waltz D/ Margarets/ A/ Planxty Fanny Power G/ Rose of Allenvale G/ She Left a Star D/ Southwind G/ Star of County Down Am/ Tombigbee G/ Ye Banks and Braes Am /

MARCHES Coleman’s / Doon the Brae Am/ March of St. Timothy G/ Macky Quacky G/ Muse of Bond’s Corner C/

POLKAS Barrel Polka / Doudelebska D / Sullivan’s /

HAMBOS/GANGLATS Ganglat # 2 G/ Ganglat #4 (Mockfjord) D/ Hargaluten Gm/ Schottis fran Idra D/ Trollspolska Dm/

Online music sources for traditional music consist of:

a) simple lists of tunes played at sessions;

b) files of printed music, usually .PDF files that can be printed out as neat pages of standard music notation;

c) files of "abc" noted music (see below for "abc");

d) tablatures - music notation that is written to show the fingerings, mainly for guitar, mandolin or banjo tunes;

e) sound files that play the tunes.

Many groups have posted lists of the tunes they regularly play at their sessions. This is a great idea because it lets you know what genre and level they play at, and you can see whether you want to join up or visit. Several of these are linked above

the .PDF format is a standard form for distributing all kinds of printed documents. Just download the files and your computer will pretty much do the rest. This gives nice printed sheet music.

The "abc" format is an alternative form of musical notation that was developed in the 1980s - 90s when computers were less efficient and .PDF files weren't available. It is easy to learn, flexible and efficient, so a vast number of tunes are online in abc format. For more info about how abc works and its many advantages, see ABC notation and other sources

Tabs online are mainly aimed at rock guitar players -- "Stairway to Heaven" etc. But there are scads of jazz, blues and bluegrass tabs as well. Google the tune you want. It's probably out there!

MIDI - midi files are not recordings of sound. They are codes that can order your computer to make sounds of a certain frequency, sequence, timbre, etc. This is highly efficient, so the files are small, but the result can be a very mechanical sound. This is OK if what you mainly want is to remind yourself how a tune goes. It's not easy listening! If you have a more elaborate MIDI keyboard or other device, the code can explain exactly what the sound should be like and you can get pretty decent music. Ed Hetzler's site and many others use MIDI files rather than actual audio recordings.

WAV, MP3 and Vorbis - You may have noticed that some audio music files on line are quite large (the .wav files) and some are much smaller (the .mp3 files). Wav is a full recording system within Microsoft Windows. It works well, but gives very large files. Mp3 is a "lossy" proprietary system for compressing audio recordings by chopping out the parts of the recording that are least likely to be missed, kind of like .jpg or .gif for pictures. The mp3 system belongs to Fraunhofer, who charge audio studios and artists significant fees for the privilege of using it.

OK, so that means if you want to actually record your music and put it on line, you have to either use big .wav files for free, or,in theory, pay for the privilege of using small .mp3 files. This could be quite annoying. An emerging alternative is to use the Ogg Vorbis encoding system. It is generally similar to .mp3 but gives slightly better sound in slightly smaller files, and it is not proprietary. Anyone can use it without charge. This technology seems to be spreading pretty rapidly, so in future we expect to use Vorbis files a lot. Link here for more information about Ogg Vorbis