I have taught a fiddle bowing workshop at multiple festivals, including the 2017 Indiana Fiddlers’ Gathering, and I have recapped the material here for later reference.
Introduction
It’s hard to make simple statements about old-time “bowing rules,” because there are always exceptions—every player is different, and techniques that sound right coming from one fiddler can sound wrong coming from someone else. However, I think that in general there are often a few guidelines that can help someone who would like to improve their sense of old-time bowing.
Old-time rhythm
Much like early jazz and swing music, old-time music has a deep connection to dancing—whether that be social dancing such as square or contra dances or individual dancing like clogging. I believe that it is this connection to dancing that has cemented such a strong, straight rhythmic component in many styles of old-time music.
In most old-time music, the emphasis is on the strong beat rather than the weak beat. Because it is easier (and, in my opinion, feels more natural) to put an accent on a down bow rather than on an up bow, I believe the more common style of old-time bowing is the “down-bow style”—where the down bow is on the strong beat and the up bow is on the weak beat. There is also an “up-bow style” where things are vice versa, but it is not as common. I can’t really do it properly myself, either, so I don’t feel qualified to teach anything about it!
Common old-time bowing patterns
That said, I’m going to try to introduce some common patterns that I’ve encountered in playing, listening to, and observing old-time fiddling. These patterns all start on a down bow.
Sawstroke (1-1-1-1) (D-U-D-U): This is just changing the bow direction for every fast note. It works very well until you have longer notes!
Two-note stroke (2-2) (D-D-U-U): This happens naturally when you’re playing longer notes, but you can also slur every two fast notes for a fairly rhythmic sound.
Nashville shuffle (2-1-1-2-1-1) (D-D-U-D-U-U-D-U): This is the “potatoes” bowing — it almost always comes in pairs, so if you do the first 2-1-1 then you’ll also do the second 2-1-1.
Georgia shuffle (1-3 starting on off-beat) (x x D-U-U-U): This is good for playing notey tunes that don’t have too many string crossings. Here is an audio example using the tune June Apple. (It plays slow, medium, then fast.)
Synco-shuffle (1-2-1-2-1-1) (D-U-U-D-U-U-D-U): This is a slightly syncopated pattern that I’ve heard some more modern-sounding fiddle players use. Here is an audio example using the tune Brushy Run. (It plays slow, medium, then fast.)
“Three equals one”
When I’m thinking about bowing, I notice there is the concept that “three equals one.” This refers to how if you slur three notes in a row, you end up on the same bowing as if you had not slurred at all. For example, down-down-down (slurring three) ends the same way as down-up-down. This means that you can slur three notes in a row and your bowing won’t get “backwards.” (By “backwards,” I mean that the down bow now is on the weak beat, instead of the strong beat. This feels rather unnatural to me, and it goes against the “down-bow style.”) In contrast, if you slur just two notes in a row, your bowing does become “backwards.” So, if I’m playing a bunch of notes on the same string, I will often slur three in a row because it feels smoother than just playing sawstrokes.
The pulse
The other big topic I discussed was the pulse. As far as I know, it is fairly unique to old-time fiddle music, though it is not essential (there are old-time players who don’t use the pulse).
I view the pulse as a way to retain a strong sense of old-time rhythm during points in a tune where there is not as much going on in the melody—such as when there are longer notes—especially at the end of a part.
The pulse is almost always during an up-bow, and it usually involves two simultaneous actions:
a gentle push with the right index finger on the bow, to add an accent to the up-bow
a switch from bowing one string to bowing two strings, without changing the bow direction. The added string is always in the higher-pitch direction than the first one. For example, one might start by bowing the up-bow on the G string and then switch to the G and D strings. Or one might start on the A string and switch to the A and E strings.
Here is a video that demonstrates the pulse using the tune Sail Away Ladies (played slow, medium, and fast). There is a pulse at the end of every phrase in this version of the tune.
Comments