This tune is the new sample page for Fiddling Demystified for Strings It’s also for the fall 2014 Wailing Banshees at Smith, especially for the cellists and violists!
November Wind was written by my pal Jane Rothfield, a great tunesmith and fiddle and banjo player. We have been mind-melding musically for more than quarter-century and our mutual obsession with groove makes our musical conversations possible. We are partners in Groovemama, which coaches the Great Groove Band at Old Songs and Philly Folk Fests, and in Panache Quartet with Andrea Beaton from Cape Breton and Véronique Plasse from Quebec.
Included in my Fiddling Demystified for Strings, November Wind is a spacious and evocative waltz that offers few, but very choice, chord changes. Harmonically, it moves up from G to A, reversing a common Mixolydian progression. There is plenty of time for experimentation in this tune, and I invite you to try lots of different lines. You’ll notice the accent is heavier on the two beat than the one beat. That’s part of what opens up the tune!
Note for violists and cellists: November Wind has NO E string action, so violas and cellos can play without swapping octaves. This one’s for YOU!
The mp3 is a rough mix of a 2004 studio performance in Québec. I’m playing with guitarist Liza Constable and the late Dénis Fréchette on piano, along with Stu Kenney on bass. Images are for fiddle, viola and cello – click to enlarge.
