ok...so this happened at a session yesterday...5 of us...we always take turns picking tunes...the first time my pick rolled around I choose "Five Mile' from Clyde Davenport...and one of the fiddlers busted my chops for so frequently picking that tune...so I made like a duck....let that roll off my back...and the tune went well...some background...in between sessions this group will sometimes e-mail tunes back and forth...some tune that one of us wants to try at a future session...the usual drill is to send the notes and a recording...so I did that recently with "Mace Bell's Civil War March"...one of the fiddlers responded with "bonaparte crossing the rhine"...just that text...ok...so I picked the Mace Bell tune when my turn came up again...and the same fiddler who busted my chops for always picking the same tunes...and I now am picking a tune that has never come up at our sessions...he hijacks my selection by going off on a very well researched dive into the roots of the tune and then he insists on playing bonaparte crossing the rockies...yeah...a related tune...maybe...and the effort to play the tune crashed and burned...I was playing Mace Bell and he was playing some second cousin once removed or sumtin...such a mess that my guitar friend commented..."well, that tune is a jam buster"...no it ain't...I love all the folks who do all those deep dives into a tune's roots...thank you for your efforts...but I don't wanna play those variants...but rather the one I am suggesting...really no excuse...I gave him the notes...and he can site read/play...and a good source recording...I hate session drama...thanks for letting me vent...I seem to be doing a lot of that here lately
Session drama. Too many players like to fancy themselves musicologists and they forget that fiddle music is accessible social music and it's meant to be fun.
Don't let yourself be shamed for picking the same tunes. That's called having a preference. Many of the legendary old fiddlers settled on playing only a handful of tunes that they refined and perfected over the years, we're talking about fiddlers like Manco Sneed and John Summers.
There is a possibly apocryphal story that Tommy Jarrell referred to a visitor who knew 500 tunes but couldn't play a single one.
Lots of thoughts... I'll just say this:
There's a reason most successful bluegrass bands don't include a fiddler as part of their standard lineup.
Edited by - KCJones on 01/29/2025 10:42:21
...ellipsis...
Hey Joe I just realized you're in Blue Mounds! I used to be in Mazo. Ever go to the Spring Green jam at the general store? Good times there, it can get a bit big and skills vary but I've never heard any static like what you're describing and it's a good place to find new people for a smaller invite-only group. How about Gandy Dancer festival? We do an organized jam there and typically have a few of the main stage acts lead the way, one year we got to jam with Henhouse Prowlers and those guys are some of the kindest you've ever met.
Edited by - KCJones on 01/29/2025 11:35:04
I play vr games and they have a button you can press when you stated the game and annoying children, political hacks, filthy mouths, arrogance etc interrupts your fun. Its labelled "kick".
Maybe you need a "kick" button or sign that says "no drama zone".
One of the major reasons why I dropped out of “Jam Sessions” and festivals about thirty years ago and now only play with those I know and get along with.
Music is supposed to be an enjoyable experience and a form of communication and fun. Not a lesson or a competition. Unless of course you are taking a lesson or performing in a competition.
Some folks just like to let others know just how much they think they know. Best advice I can give you already took. Just let it roll off your back like water on a duck and leave it to someone else to get annoyed and start the drama up.
It seems to be a trait with most of the fiddler's I've known: they think they are the greatest and everybody wants to listen to them play something for hours on end (well, several minutes anyway).
We had a fiddler like that in our group. He hogged the spotlight, took breaks when he wasn't supposed to, tried to boss everyone else around and run the jam his way.
We got around that by slowly one,by one, leaving the group and starting another one in another room. Pretty soon it was just him and a few hangers on listening to him fiddle.
I developed a dislike for fiddlers.
LOL, I'm looking forward to Nashville's "Breaking Up Winter" in March...fiddlers everywhere!
To me, it is the fiddler who tends to learn the most tunes. Mandolin players obsess over their favorite dozen, banjoists want everything too fast, bass players are too loud, guitarists get bored and start playing jazz chord substitutions.
Give me that fiddlin' encyclopedia and I'm happy.
The original tune (a pipe march) is The Battle of Waterloo. Bonaparte Crossing the Rockies and Mace Bell’s are the same tune.
Sessions are weird… there are so many psychological / ego factors at play when a group of musicians get together that it’s rarely smooth sailing. For example, I used to play fiddle regularly with an ex-Pat American banjo player at a session in Highbury (London), and then one day another American banjo player showed up, and he ended up threatening to punch him in the head. Go figure.
Anyway, if you call a tune, you play the tune, and if someone wants to sabotage it then just stop playing and enjoy the inevitable embarrassment/panic/shame that will ensue on their part. Of course if they exhibit none of these things then you can assume they have zero self-awareness and pity them instead. Either way, you win.
quote:
Bill...that is what that fiddler told me...and I understand that the 2 tunes may be related...but I don't see...or hear...that they are the same...here are links to sheet music for the two tunes...
Bony crossing the Rockies...https://tunearch.org/wiki/Bonaparte_Crossing_the_Rocky_Mountains
Mace Bell's...http://www.taterjoes.com/Warehouse/Fiddle/Am_MaceBellsCivilWarMarch.pdf
Mace Bell's is far less notey...uses no minor chords at all...just cause someone says they are the same don't make it so
Originally posted by Bill RogersThe original tune (a pipe march) is The Battle of Waterloo. Bonaparte Crossing the Rockies and Mace Bell’s are the same tune.
quote:oh...and the Battle of Waterloo...again...sim...not the same...not the same as bony xing the rocks even...tho fairly sim...https://tunearch.org/wiki/Battle_of_Waterloo_(1)_(The)
Originally posted by Bill RogersThe original tune (a pipe march) is The Battle of Waterloo. Bonaparte Crossing the Rockies and Mace Bell’s are the same tune.
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