Flannery's Dream, Part 1: Melody

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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FLANNERY’S DREAM

Flannery's Dream, Part 1: Melody

Flannery's Dream, Part 2: Bowing

Flannery's Dream, Part 3: Drones and Double Stops

Flannery's Dream, Part 4: Play-Along Track

Flannery's Dream, Part 1: Melody

The version of the great Kentucky fiddle tune “Flannery’s Dream” you’ll learn here comes from fiddler Santford Kelly, who was recorded by Peter Hoover in the 1970s. The second part of “Flannery’s Dream” is crooked, with an irregular number of beats, but Bruce suggests that you not try to learn it by counting beats but rather listening to the phrases of the melody. He starts by showing you the basic melody of the A part, which is regular and has a distinctive repeated phrase. Then he walks you through the B part, phrase by phrase.

"Flannery's Dream" (Available to subscribers)

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