Robert Palasek <[log in to unmask]> writes:

>  I once saw Tony Ludiker deliver two four-minute sprints, and he
>was brilliant.  Lots of bow for the many, many notes that
>open division competitors are wont to do.

I actually don't play any more notes than most "old-time" fiddlers.
Tunes like Devil's Dream and Billy in the Low Ground are all in 2/4
time and usually written with four sixteenth notes per beat. I may
play tunes that lend themselves toward numerous variations, but I can
still only play about four notes per beat.

>  But for being a top dog in these venues for so many years,
>Tony Ludiker's "turning the tables" as such seemed ungracious
>to me.
>
>  His response, above, gives the impression
>that he, a frequent winner at those
>kinds of things, feels that everybody else should
>be required to not grouse about the narrow focus of
>western contest judging.

The key point that triggered me had nothing to do with the "narrow
focus of western contest judging." Mr. Banks didn't mention anything
like that. Rather, when I read the words "...fancy stuff, which I
think is pretty well lacking in soul" I thought about the great love
that I have for the style which I've chosen to concentrate on. Many
times I've heard comments about my playing to the effect that
listeners feel like there's more to what I do than just the notes. I
think it's my soul they're referring to. That's why I responded the
way I did.

Sure, the majority of contest fiddlers play what they do because
they're merely copying what the winners are doing. They find a
teacher to spoon-feed them enough material for a few four minute
rounds so they can pick up some hardware. I know this because I've
taught a lot of these kind of people. But that isn't how I learned. I
took maybe a year of fiddle lessons early on (Arkansas Traveller,
Westphalia Waltz, Redwind, etc.), but then I went my own way. I found
music that spoke to me and emulated it on my own. At first it was
just enough to fill up those four minute rounds, but now I find
contest time limits way too restrictive. (I lost a major title
recently for playing overtime two out of the three rounds.) I do
teach my advanced students what they want to know -- fancy fiddling
tailored to contests. But I also try to teach them to fend for
themselves, to learn on their own. And I sneak in a few "simple" two
part tunes from time to time.

>Some times the words "old time" are used, but I have come
>to accept that as a misnomer.  It's fiddle, and it's not
>classical, and it's not jazz, so they call it old time
>out of habit.  Sometimes it's just "fiddle contest,"
>and then it is an accurate description.

The discussion of what constitutes "old-time" has certainly been
beaten to death here on the list in the past. Never did learn from
anyone a great definition for OT. There's a fiddle friend of mine
here in Spokane -- I believe he's about 93 -- who says it best just
to call it all fiddling. I tend to agree. Like ice cream, there's a
myriad of flavors.

>Finally, there are some two year old's in my family, and
>I don't think that Ludiker should write disparagingly of
>two year old's.

Come to think of it, my kids were messing around with music by that
age. I remember Dennis sitting on JayDean's lap while she was
teaching, his right hand up on her bow arm, moving back and forth,
back and forth, lesson after lesson, day after day. Both kids had a
fiddle in their own hands by age three, thanks to their fiddling
grandfather, Lloyd Warner.

(What I was really meaning to say in response was that I did not
disparage two year olds by saying they can play simple tunes -- don't
know where Mr. Palasek got that one.)

Hey, sorry if anyone's feathers got ruffled by my "turning the
tables." I have a passion for fiddling that sometimes gets ahead of
my brain. But I would defend anyone, "old-time" or "contest," who was
being picked on by the other camp.


Off this grim subject (and I don't know exactly why I'm volunteering
this) I'll tell you an amusing story. I was at a fiddle contest this
past summer and a friend of mine playing in her first fiddle contest
was playing this certain waltz. Another friend of mine from a state
well-known as the center of Texas-style fiddling :) was talking to
another competitor, saying how poor he thought the waltz was,
complete with hilarious body movements. With a twinkle in his eye he
turned to me and said "Yah, it sounds like something Tony would
write." You should have seen the look on his face when I looked him
in the eye and said, "I did." (True story -- and I did write the
waltz. I felt like the Rodney Dangerfield of fiddling!)


Happiness is playing a non contest-length Sally Goodin',

Tony Ludiker

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