jack_beuthin - Posted - 12/29/2017:  08:30:41

Jack Baker recently started a forum discussion on the subject of "What is Round Peak Style." This has prompted me to try something that I have wanted to do for a while in relation to that question.  I have tabbed out three clawhammer versions of "Breaking Up Christmas" (an iconic Round Peak tune) and have aligned the three versions serially (in the pdf), so that one can make a note-by-note comparison, measure-by-measure (note: print both pages of the pdf and lay them side-by-side to properly align the tab).

Go to my Tabs page to access both the printable tab (pdf) and midi file (tef). The pdf is also attached here.

banjohangout.org/tab/browse.as...p;v=22878

The first version is "melodic" and is based on a close (not exact) rendering of the fiddling of Tommy Jarrell.  This one is straight-up melody line with no "ornament" notes.

The second version is "Round Peak" and is based largely on listening to recordings of Fred Cockerham.  It has the typical spare melody line with lots of "Round Peak" ornaments.  An important note: if you listen to various recordings of source players like Cockerham, Jarrell, etc, they varied the way they played a tune quite a lot.  There is no singular way that these source players, or anyone else, played a tune. So with this caveat, my rendering is an attempt to capture the "essence" of the playing, not an exact transcription.  Also, I have thrown in variations on my Round Peak version based on playing by Kevin Fore and Tom Collins.  Both play a Cockerham-ish version, but with their own variations thrown in.

The third version is based on the playing of Hilarie Burhans.  It is a fine clawhammer version, but neither "melodic" in the extreme, nor "Round Peak" in the extreme.

If you are interested enough to study this tab, my suggestion is to look at which and how many melody notes are played in the "Cockerham" and "Burhans" versions, as compared to the first, melodic version.  Then look at the ornament notes in the versions, and note how they are executed (hammer, slide, pull-off, brush, aspo, etc).  Hopefully this will yield some insights.

My source materials--

Jarrell (banjo) and Cockerham (fiddle) recording at Slippery Hill:

slippery-hill.com/recording/br...christmas

Jarrell (fiddle) and Cockerham (banjo) recording in Blanton Owen Collection at UNC-Chapel Hill (SFR Audio Open Reel 16008, Side 2 starting at ~6:30). Note: this whole collection is worth the listen. Fred does some banjo "banging" that is definitely not what we tend to associate with Round Peak music, but there it is.

dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/coll...uppress/0

Tom Collins YouTube:

youtube.com/watch?v=-OfA5qSVJLM

Kevin Fore YouTube:

youtube.com/watch?v=CoCDjlBFFME

Hilarie Burhans YouTube:

youtube.com/watch?v=FDT9EynFvto

Edited by - jack_beuthin on 12/30/2017 11:46:49

Brooklynbanjoboy - Posted - 12/29/2017:  08:40:13

A lot of hard work. Thanks! Something to think about.

BrooksMT - Posted - 12/29/2017:  09:25:09

Thank you Jack. Very helpful (and I agree with Lew, you put in a Lot of work on this, which I appreciate).

jack_beuthin - Posted - 12/29/2017:  09:41:55

Thanks guys. But as Lew would say, this was Hard Play. What's retirement for if you can't scratch those itches that been bugging your for years, and in some cases, decades?

And there is nothing definitive in any of this--just food for thought, and fun playing.

Edited by - jack_beuthin on 12/29/2017 09:42:50

Jimbeaux - Posted - 12/29/2017:  12:51:26

Interesting. I've been described as having a Round Peak sound, but that's probably just due to my primarily infuences. Anyway, I gave a small local workshop recently and used Breaking up Christmas to show some typical characteristics of T. Jarrell and F. Cockerham's styles. It is a really good tune for diving deep and learning how to improvise, and explore some common Round Peak (as per modern perception) techniques.

hweinberg - Posted - 12/29/2017:  13:06:50

More kudos for the fine work, Jack. It reminds me that I have seen tunes tabbed out for banjo with the source listed as, for instance, "Tommy Jarrell, fiddle" as in the late Stephen Parker's Clawhammer Banjo String Band Favorites, which I think is a pretty good collection. But the banjo arrangement isn't necessarily the way Tommy would have played it on the banjo or the way Fred would have accompanied him -- it's something closer to his fiddling. Your illustrations were very helpful.

banjo bill-e - Posted - 12/29/2017:  14:41:25

I enjoyed this thread, Jack.
Thanks,
Bill

Round Peak Banjos - Posted - 12/30/2017:  11:26:55

quote:

---

Originally posted by jack_beuthin

Jack Baker recently started a forum discussion on the subject of "What is Round Peak Style." This has prompted me to try something that I have wanted to do for a while in relation to that question.  I have tabbed out three clawhammer versions of "Breaking Up Christmas" (an iconic Round Peak tune) and have aligned the three versions serially (in the pdf), so that one can make a note-by-note comparison, measure-by-measure (note: print both pages of the pdf and lay them side-by-side to properly align the tab).

Go to my Tabs page to access both the printable tab (pdf) and midi file (tef). The pdf is also attached here.

banjohangout.org/tab/browse.as...p;v=22878

The first version is "melodic" and is based on a close (not exact) rendering of the fiddling of Tommy Jarrell.  This one is straight-up melody line with no "ornament" notes.

 

My source materials--

Jarrell (fiddle) and Cockerham (banjo) recording at Slippery Hill:

slippery-hill.com/recording/br...christmas

 

---

Jack, On this recording from Slippery Hill, it is actually Fred Cockerham on Fiddle and Tommy Jarrell on Banjo and as far as I know proper credits were never given for this tune.  This County C-2702 recording of Breaking Up Christmas was released in 1992 on the Tommy and Fred, Best Banjo and Fiddle Duets cassette/CD. 

Kevin Fore

Edited by - Round Peak Banjos on 12/30/2017 11:34:21