The Heron Dance

Looking at the cover of the Heron Dance catalog, I remembered images from nature programs. Lanky, elegant birds bobbed in my imagination.

A fiddle riff popped into my head. The next thing I knew, there was a whole tune to represent the title "Heron Dance."

The tune is still a little shaky, not having been played very many times. But, it stands on its own already, without the need to wait any longer to take flight.

Here is a fiddle tune written in the 21st century that is published in the tuning of the 18th century: Heron Dance fiddle tune.

Ragtime Annie, the Authentic Version

Last night was another of those "play while people eat and drink" gigs. This time the place was a nursing home. The occasion was a Christmas party for the people who make up their guests, and their relatives.

One of the tunes I played was Rag Time Annie. This is said to be the oldest authentic American fiddle tune. Certainly, when it was composed, or "made up"....I mean, how can we speak of composing a fiddle tune...the tuning of the fiddle was at the old standard, A-432. Or in that vicinity.

The tab chart for this tune was requested by a subscriber not long ago. And so it is going out in December with the Fiddle Tech Notes for this month.

I made a casual recording of it a while ago:
Ragtime Annie 1.
Listening to it, I felt it was a little slow, so I played it again faster:
Ragtime Annie 2

My moderate tempos for these tunes is just an indication that I don't practice enough. "So many tunes, so little time."