The Historic District

Seeing Phil's beautiful old violin reminded me of this poor old relic that's been in the back closet since I could remember. I never saw it while my mother was alive, and my dad couldn't remember where he came by it, my oldest uncle thought it might be familiar but didn't know why.

Pretty, ain't it?

I've never seen one with a scroll like that. So beautiful! Who was the maker?

No name or labels.....it is older than 1920 because my grandma would have remembered anything later, needs some glueing, I am hunting up some other body who can repair it so I can play it.

Well, between Phil, Neighmond and Southernlady I think we'll be hearing The Devil went Down to Georgia. In the very near future.

Such fun! I get concert violinists upset because I play around with all those odd tunings that are good for a certain key or two but no account for some others. I particularly like sawmill and Deadman tuning because we play lots of things in D.

Southern Lady, do you play old time fiddle?

Now that one has some honest wear. It's definitely an old one, back "Before Gas and TV". Fiddle players are in hot demand in my circle of musicians. We have plenty of flat pickers, mandolin players, a few bass players, and banjos, but fiddlers are few and far between. My cheap Chinese fiddle sits in the corner collecting dust alongside a few electric guitars, a mandolin, and an old guitar that I need to get out and play before the weekend.

I hear you on finding someone to do repairs. The closest place to me now is Pikeville, Kentucky. And that's quite a drive. There are some guys closer but they're more likely going to do more damage than good. I know of a good fiddle shop in West Virginia but that's a wee bit of a commute for you.

Neighmond wrote:Southern Lady, do you play old time fiddle?

I do, all the time... on my radio, that is.

I mostly play for my church's services and for weddings when begged to, so my main style is classical/traditional. I've not had a big opportunity to fiddle much, but the bluegrass guys at my church have called me in to play with them a couple of times (we're just mostly a bunch of country people). I felt like I picked it up pretty quick. I prefer the fiddle style of playing, to be honest.

I've never fooled around with the different tuning, but I've thought about trying it on my spare violin. I'm glad you mentioned the different methods.

Thanks for posting that. What a beautiful scroll, I bet there isn't another like it. It's interesting to hear the stories of others here into music. I think I got turned off music in grade school because well I sucked.. but looking back I think I really didn't get any good instruction. If I did maybe I would have felt better about trying it more. They made us play the recorder. I remember trying to hide behind my desk so they couldn't see that I had absolutely no idea where to put my fingers. Makes me wonder if I could have looked upon it so differently if I was at least a little inspired rather than embarrassed at that age.

I never could read round notes, I can fake it by ear pretty well, and read both system of shape notes, but that about sums it up.