Ozarks Fiddle Music by Drew Beisswenger and Gordon McCann This book, published by Mel Bay Publications is really something. Transcriptions of more than three hundred fiddle tunes common to the Ozarks from some eighty fiddlers, some living and some passed on. It also comes with a CD of thirty-seven of he tunes so you can hear what they sound like and what the regional style is made up of. Many of the tunes, like "Fort Smith", "Sugar in the Coffee", and "Chinky Pin" will be familiar to those of us acquainted with Ozark tunes. Many of the titles in this book, like "Around the World on a Dime" and "Hold Old Bald While I Dance" though, were new to me and, I suspect will also be new to you.
The transcriptions of tunes seem clear and accurate. My reading of standard notation is hesitant and clunky at the best of times. But I was able to get through a few of these at a sitting and they all sounded right to me. But as good as the transcriptions seem to be, the accompanying text, attributed as mostly by Mr. Beisswenger, is equally valuable. Each tune has information about where it comes from, alternate titles, and most importantly, source recordings available commercially so those, like myself who are more comfortable learning tunes by ear can find them. Reading the text is almost as entertaining as playing the tunes!
Beisswenger and McCann have done a bang up job on this book. Thanks to Mel Bay Publications for getting it out to the public. Now find a copy of it for yourself and dig in!
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