Fort Smith, Part 2: Bowing

This lesson is part of the course Old-Time Fiddle with Bruce Molsky.

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Get deep into the roots of Southern Appalachian old-time fiddling. Bruce breaks down the melody, bowing patterns, rhythms, and embellishments of each tune he teaches so you can really learn to play like Bruce and the old masters he learned from.

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GREASY COAT

West Virginia fiddler Edden Hammons was recorded in 1947 by a collector named Louis Chappell. Hammons’s playing has a Scottish influence, with strongly detailed phrases and an old-fashioned style of intonation. You’ll learn his version of “Greasy Coat” in this lesson. “Greasy Coat” is in A E A E tuning, and Bruce starts by playing the tune through a couple of times, before breaking the melody down for you phrase by phrase. He also shows you how Hammons often played thirds and sevenths slightly flat, and trilled the third. You’ll learn the melody of both the A and B parts in this video.

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FORT SMITH

Fort Smith, Part 1: Melody

Fort Smith, Part 2: Bowing

Bruce shows you the bowing he uses for “Fort Smith” in this video. Most of it is played with a straight shuffle, but in the first anticipated phrase of the A part, you stretch the bow strokes out to match the rhythm of the melody, and there are a few other variations to the shuffle pattern as well. Bruce also shows you how to play the A part in the higher octave in this video, and shows you how can add some punch to the rhythm with some open string hits.

"Fort Smith" (Available to subscribers)

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