I am learning about making new web pages with Wordpress, so don’t be surprised by occasional changes in appearance of this BLOG and other similar places I maintain. The cool thing is ALL the content remains the same, it is just a superficial change really. Tell me what you think! -m :-)

Hello fiddlers! I just released a double CD (150 minutes) of 35 old-time fiddle tunes. I played each tune (on the fiddle) three ways: (1.) very slowly and simply; (2.) at a moderate tempo but with double-stops, drones and other ornaments; and (3.) up-to-tempo (but generally not too fast!).  On the CD, I have essentially included a book which includes PDFs of the tunes written out with bowings (and other style points) along with the chord progressions and a detailed discussion of bowing, phrasing and ornamentation used on the recording.  In this discussion, I cover bow-rocks, 3-1 bowing, Nashville shuffle in various formats, ghost bows, anticipations, using drones, double stops, alternate tunings, mid-bow pulses, slides, dissonances and more.  While this effort was designed for fiddlers, these CDs should serve as a source for anyone who wants to build their repertoire and practice learning tunes by ear. I selected some very common and easy tunes (for more beginning players) but also quite a few less typically played tunes.  I recorded mostly “festival” versions of the tunes in the most typically played key. If you want more information on the CDs, please email me directly or check my website.   www.kenkolodner.com I put sound samples of the three formats along with a PDF of one tune on the website. Also, if you know anyone who might be interested in this recording, please forward this link. Thanks! - Ken Kolodner

Here is a list of the tunes: Barlow Knife; Big Scioty; Booth Shot Lincoln; Charles Guiteau; Charleston Gals; Chinquapin Hunting; Devil in the Strawstack; Elk River Blues; Flop Eared Mule; Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss; Grey Cat on an Old Tennessee Farm; Hangman’s; Hell Among the Stallions; Home with the Girls in the Morning; Journey to the Heartland; Julianne Johnson; Little Star; Liza Jane; Mike in the Wilderness; Needle Case; Puncheon Floor; Quince Dillon’s High D; Ragtime Annie; Richmond; Road Dog; Roscoe; Sally in the Garden; Sandy Boys; Shady Grove; Shove that Pigs Foot A Little Bit Further in the Fire; Single Footin’ Horse; Spotted Pony; Washington’s March; West Fork Gals; Whiskey before Breakfast

Ken has played fiddle with the open band “Your Friends and Neighbors” (Monday Nights on the Commons in the Summer) when visiting Ithaca, which is more often these days as his son attends Ithaca College now. MORE INFO and to ORDER http://www.kenkolodner.com/fiddlerepertoire.html

In addition to the web-based interface, there’s software such as MarsEdit which can be used to write/edit posts offline (not everyone is connected 24/7!). This post, for example, was made using MarsEdit 2.2.

Setup for these can be pretty easy. For example, in the current version of MarsEdit, one clicks the + button in the lower left corner to add a new blog, enter the name you want to remember it as (i.e. “Mike’s Music BLOG”) and the url where it’s located (i.e. http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusicblog/), and then enter your name and password when prompted. That simple!

Drawbacks of offline composing: More setup (but just a little) required than using the web interface. Not available on any computer you haven’t installed it on.

Advantages: Uploading images or other media can be easier, dealing with multiple blogs is a lot easier. Depending on your tastes, the interface may be nicer. Best of all, if your wireless connection gets dropped, you don’t lose your post when you hit the submit button!

This is going to be really fun when you guys start hitting the “publish” button! I actually set this up at first figuring it was an easy way to get started on the RSS feed idea [ see very first post for some info on RSS http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusicblog/?p=1 ] But I was new to Wordpress and BLOGs in general. Now, I realize this is an ideal setting for a collaborative website. It is very easy for me to set any of my friends up as authors. Now I am super excited about this space being used to promote everybody’s favorite musical endeavors. So please write! Write about whatever you are currently excited about - and it can be short! Anything even remotely related to music will work. Actually it is better to write short blurbs and come back and write more later - also be sure to link to your websites if you have them.  Take a click on the menu item “Write for this BLOG” http://canaaninstitute.org/mikesmusicblog/?page_id=107 to see how to get started.