Glory in the Meeting House, Part 1

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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GLORY IN THE MEETING HOUSE

Glory in the Meeting House, Part 1

Glory in the Meeting House, Part 2

Glory in the Meeting House, Part 3: Play-Along Track

Glory in the Meeting House, Part 1

Alan Lomax recorded a lot of great fiddlers on his 1937 trip to the South, including Eastern Kentucky fiddler Luther Strong, the source for this version of “Glory in the Meeting House.” It’s in the key of E minor, but in an unusual tuning: E D A E, with the lowest (G) string tuned down to E. Bruce starts by playing the unadorned and unaccented melody through, and then breaks the A part melody down, phrase by phrase. Bruce shows you a convenient fingering for “Glory in the Meeting House” in which you maintain a double stop with the first finger on the E and B notes throughout the tune.You’ll also learn a nice syncopated bowing for the first part of “Glory in the Meeting House” in this video.

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