IntermediateViolinContemporaryCountryBluegrass

Exploring Country and Bluegrass Fiddle, by Chris Haigh

Name: Exploring Country and Bluegrass Fiddle, by Chris Haigh
Brand: MusicGurus
Author: Chris Haigh

Chris Haigh

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Modules218

Replay songs105

InstrumentViolin

LanguageEnglish

Contents (218 modules, 105 replay)

- 01. Introduction
- 01. Fiddling in the Appalachians
- 02. Fisher’s Hornpipe
- 03. Open-String Drones
- 04. Slides
- 05. Arkansas Traveller
- 06. June Apple Breakdown
- 07. Bowing
- 08. The Sawstroke, Cotton Eyed Joe
- 09. The Nashville Shuffle
- 10. Bile em Cabbage Down
- 11. Old Joe Clark
- 12. Turkey in the Straw
- 13. Mississippi Sawyer
- 14. Blues
- 15. Knox County Blues
- 16. Syncopation, Pig Ankle Rag
- 17. Angeline the Baker
- 18. Beaver Slide Rag
- 19. Minstrel shows and Medicine shows
- 20. Yew Piney Mountain
- 21. Bruce Molsky
- 01. Eck Robertson
- 02. Sally Johnson
- 03. Fiddlin’ John Carson
- 04. Little Old Log Cabin
- 05. Intros and Outros
- 06. Sugar in the Coffee
- 07. What to call it?
- 08. Clayton McMichen
- 09. The Georgia Shuffle
- 10. Whiskey Before Breakfast
- 11. Pass Around the Bottle/Marching Through Georgia
- 12. Blue Yodel no.1
- 13. Double Stops
- 14. Katy Did
- 15. Clark Kessinger
- 16. Wednesday Night Waltz
- 17. The Recording Industry
- 18. The Grand Ole Opry
- 19. Arthur Smith, Cheatem County Breakdown
- 20. The Singing Cowboys
- 21. Yellow Rose of Texas
- 22. Dave Reiner
- 01. Bob Wills
- 02. Sally Goodin’
- 03. Beaumont Rag
- 04. The Bob Wills Fiddle Style
- 05. Red River Valley
- 06. Mexican Fiddling; Jesse Polka
- 07. Jesse Polka
- 08. Arrangements; Goodbye Liza Jane
- 09. Twin Fiddle Harmony
- 10. Soloing in Western Swing; Swing Bowing
- 11. Improvising With Major and Blues Scales
- 12. Goodbye Liza Jane solo
- 13. Soloing in Western Swing (2); Western Swing riffs
- 14. Girl I Left Behind Me with solo
- 15. Other Western Swing artists
- 16. Western Swing revival
- 17. Paul Anastasio
- 01. Bill Monroe
- 02. Katy Hill
- 03. The Difference Between Old-time and Bluegrass Music
- 04. How to Play a Bluegrass Song
- 05. Roll in my Sweet Baby’s Arms
- 06. Approaches to Playing on a Bluegrass Song: Melody, Major Scales and Blues Scales
- 07. The Fiddle Solo
- 08. The Kickoff
- 09. Chubby Wise
- 10. Benny Martin, “Son of a Bitch” kickoff
- 11. Lost Indian
- 12. Volume, Amplification and the “Bluegrass Ballet”
- 13. Tatiana Hargreaves
- 01. Flatt and Scruggs
- 02. Folksong Revival
- 03. Bluegrass Festivals
- 04. Modern Bluegrass
- 05. Vassar Clements
- 06. Vassar Licks
- 07. Bill Cheatem
- 08. The Chop
- 09. Newgrass
- 10. Grassman
- 11. Mainstream bluegrass today
- 12. Darol Anger
- 01. Honky Tonk
- 02. Hank Williams
- 03. Song Structure
- 04. The Introduction
- 05. Tommy Jackson
- 06. Playing Behind the Singer
- 07. Walking Fiddle
- 08. Ray Price, Single Line Style
- 09. George Jones, The Nashville Shuffle
- 10. Fills and Solos
- 11. The Country Crisis
- 12. The Nashville Sound, Mexican Trumpets
- 13. Billy Contreras
- 01. Bakersfield
- 02. 1970s Country Rock and Outlaw
- 03. Seconding in 6ths
- 04. Countrypolitan
- 05. Cajun Meets Country
- 06. Double Shuffle
- 07. 1980s Neotraditionalists and Mark O’Connor
- 08. 1990s New Country and Country Pop
- 09. Country in the 21st Century
- 10. Playing Contemporary Country; Less is More, and Nashville Numbering System
- 11. The Fiddle Capo
- 12. Both Kinds of Music
- 13. Jenee Fleenor
- 01. Outroduction
- 01. Fishers Hornpipe
- 02. Phrase without drones (Fig1.1 - Fig 1.4 )
- 03. Phrase without drones (Fig 1.5)
- 04. Slides Fig (Fig 1.6 - Fig 1.9)
- 05. Arkansas Traveller
- 06. June Apple Breakdown
- 07. Cluck Old Hen
- 08. Cotten Eyed Joe (Sawstroke bowing)
- 09. Nashville Shuffle (Fig 1.10)
- 10. Bile em Cabbage Down
- 11. Nashville Shuffle with backbeat (Fig 1.11)
- 12. Old Joe Clarke
- 13. Nashville Shuffle - 4 Quavers (Fig 1.12)
- 14. Turkey in the Straw
- 15. Mississippi Sawyer
- 16. Knox County Blues
- 17. Pig Ankle Rag
- 18. Angeline the baker
- 19. Beaver Slide rag
- 20. Yew Piney Mountanin
- 21. Sally Johnson
- 22. Little Old Log Cabin
- 23. Fig.2.1 Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits
- 24. Sugar in the cofee
- 25. Fig. 2.2 Georgia Shuffle
- 26. Whiskey Before Breakfast
- 27. Pass around the bottle
- 28. Blue Yodel no1
- 29. Fig. 2.5 Double stops 1
- 30. Katy Did
- 31. Wednesday Night Waltz
- 32. Chaetem Country Breakdwon
- 33. Yellow Rose Of Texas
- 34. Sally Goodin
- 35. Beaumont Rag
- 36. Red River Valley
- 37. Jesse Polka
- 38. Goodbye Liza Jane
- 39. Fig 3.1-3.1a Twin fiddle harmony
- 40. Fig.3.2 chain bowing
- 41. Fig 3.7-3.8 Riff No1 and 2
- 42. Goodbye Liza Jane Solo
- 43. Fig 3.9-3.10 Soloing in western swing
- 44. Fig 3.11-3.12 G6 lick and arpeggio
- 45. Fig 3.13 - 3.14 Emphasising major 7th & Sharp 9, flat 9
- 46. Fig 3.15 - 3.17 B flat diminished, A7 to D
- 47. Fig 3.18 - 3.20 A augmented
- 48. Fig 3.21 - 3.22 Licks
- 49. Fig 3.23 - 3.24 Position changes
- 50. Fig 3.25 - 3.26 Suspended licks
- 51. Fig 3.27 Pauses
- 52. Fig 3.28 - 3.29 Yodels
- 53. Girl I Left Behind Me, with solo
- 54. Katy Hill
- 55. Rollin in My Sweet Baby Arms 1
- 56. Rollin in My Sweet Baby Arms 3
- 57. Rollin in My Sweet Baby Arms 4
- 58. Rollin in My Sweet Baby Arms 6
- 59. Roll in 6 (major blues scale files)
- 60. Fig 4.4 - 4.6 Kickoffs
- 61. Rollin in My Sweet Baby Arms - Solo
- 62. Fig 4.10 Chubby Wise ending
- 63. Fig. 4.11 7th transitional chord sequence (1)
- 64. Fig 4.12 7th chord sequence
- 65. Fig 4.13 Flat 7th and 3rd
- 66. Fig 4.14 Root over 5th
- 67. Fig 4.15 Hemiola
- 68. Fig 4.16 Double stop hemiola
- 69. Rollin in My Sweet Baby Arms - Solo (A)
- 70. Fig 4.17 Son of a bitch
- 71. Fig 4.18 Parallel 5ths
- 72. Fig 4.19 Triplets in fifths
- 73. Fig 4.20 Sliding double stops
- 74. Lost Indian
- 75. Fig 4.21 Bowing Pattern Variation Study
- 76. Fig 5.1-5.4.Vassar blues lick 1-4
- 77. Fig 5.5-5.7 Vassar blues lick 5-7
- 78. Fig 5.8-5.11 Vassar dissonant
- 79. Fig 5.12-5.14 Vassar dissonant
- 80. Fig 5.15-5.17 Vassar symmetric
- 81. Fig 5.18-5.20 Vassar triple stops
- 82. Fig 5.22-5.24 Extended Shuffle Combinations
- 83. Bill Cheatem
- 84. Fig.5.25 Chops in C
- 85. Fig. 5.28 The chop 1
- 86. Roll in My Sweet Baby's Arms (chops)
- 87. Grassman
- 88. Banks of the Ohio
- 89. Fig 6.1-6.4 Banks of the Ohio
- 90. Fig 6.5 Chorus, walking style
- 91. Fig 6.6 Chorus, walking style (2)
- 92. Fig 6.7 Chorus with fills
- 93. Fig 6.8 Banks of the Ohio - Solo 1
- 94. Fig 6.9 Banks of the Ohio - Solo 2
- 95. Fig 6.10 Banks of the Ohio- Nashville Shuffle
- 96. Fig 6.11 Mexican Trumpets
- 97. Fig 7.1 Seconding in Sixths
- 98. Fig 7.4 Cajun Shuffle (Basic Groove)
- 99. Fig 7.5 Cajun Shuffle 2
- 100. Fig 7.6 Cajun Shuffle 3
- 101. Fig 7.9-13 Double Shuffle
- 102. Fig 7.14 Double Shuffle (6)
- 103. Fig. 7.15 The fiddle capo (1)
- 104. Both kinds of music (1)
- 105. Both kinds of music (solo)

About this songbook

Step into the sound-world of American fiddle - from old-time drones and crooked modal tunes to western swing harmony, bluegrass kickoffs, and modern Nashville session-style parts. Exploring Country and Bluegrass Fiddle by Chris Haigh is a guided tour through the styles that shaped country music, with playable examples that show you what to do on the instrument - not just what to listen for.

Inside, you’ll work through classic repertoire (like “Fisher’s Hornpipe”, “Sally Johnson”, and “Beaumont Rag”), plus style-defining tools: open-string drones written with small noteheads so you can choose how much “ring” to add, and bowing language like sawstroke, Nashville shuffle, and the Georgia shuffle.
You’ll also learn how fiddle roles change across eras - from early recording quirks (like inappropriate piano backing) to arrangement concepts, harmony options (thirds, sixths, and hybrids), and practical band survival skills (when to lay out so the steel guitar can breathe).

This book is for violinists who want real country and bluegrass vocabulary, a clearer ear for what they’re hearing, and a reliable way to practice it. Recorded/backing pieces are included throughout, so you can press play and learn in context. Start now - pick a chapter, hit the track, and get those bow strokes sounding like the records.

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Also available as a video course · Exploring Country & Bluegrass Fiddle

Meet the Guru

Chris Haigh

Chris Haigh has been a professional fiddle player for 25 years, with experience covering many different genres. He has played on over 75 albums, working with artists including Alison Moyet, Bob Geldof, All About Eve, Michael Ball, David Soul, Oumou Sangare, The Quireboys, Riverdance, Morcheeba, James Galway and Steps.

He has played swing jazz with The Kimbara Brothers, Diz Disley, Le Jazz, The Hot Club of London, and the Quecumbar Allstars, and leads a 7-piece Soviet swing band, The Kremlinaires.

Chris gives lessons and workshops on jazz violin technique and has taught jazz violin at Middlesex, Brunel and Newcastle universities and Truro College. His writing credits include nine fiddle books, among them The Fiddle Handbook.

He also runs Fiddling Around (fiddlingaround.co.uk), probably the most comprehensive and widely visited source of fiddle information on the web.

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Published with

Schott Music

Founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz in 1770, Schott Music is one of Europe's oldest and largest music publishers, with a catalogue of more than 30,000 titles. Over its 250-year history Schott has issued first editions of Mozart, Beethoven and Wagner, championed 20th-century voices from Hindemith and Schoenberg to Ligeti and Henze, and today publishes sheet music, books and educational materials from offices in Mainz, London, New York, Tokyo and beyond.

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