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Hi, The song of the week is the traditional fiddle tune 'Turkey In The Straw' in the key of G. (Occasionally you will find fiddlers who prefer to play Turkey In The Straw in D or A.) Turkey In The Straw is an AABB type fiddle tune, i.e., it has two parts, each of which is repeated before the next part is played. The progression for the A Part is: 1 1 1 5 1 1 1 5/1 The progression for the B Part is: 1 1 4 4 1 1 1 5/1 (In the key of G: 1=G, 4=C, 5=D) In the attachments, I have included two melody sheets. The first one has considerably more notes in it than the second one; the first one roughly corresponds to how many fiddlers would play the tune. The second one has just enough notes in it for the tune to be recognizable: it corresponds roughly to the way that I might hum the tune (especially at a fast tempo), or how one might hear the tune played by an ice cream truck. I think it makes a good basis for creating a Scruggs-style banjo break. Mandolin, guitar, and dobro players might wish to mix together the two melody sheets, so as to come up with an interpretation of the melody that contains fewer melody notes than the first melody sheet but more notes than the second melody sheet. This can be a desirable thing for fiddlers to try also. In general, the faster the tune is played, the less need there is to play so many melody notes; the slower the tune is played, the more one will probably be tempted to put in extra non-essential notes. By mixing the two melody sheets with each other, one can come up with several different ways of playing the tune, simply by choosing differently each time which notes to add in or leave out, and this is good for varying the way you play the tune, because one's playing will tend to be more interesting if you don't play the tune exactly the same way every time. In the first link below, the fiddle carries the melody, while the banjo (as the sole backup instrument) provides a driving, rolling, Scruggs-style backup. The second and third links are guitar lessons for Turkey In The Straw, one using a simple version of the melody, much like the simpler of the two melody sheets I have provided here, and the other using a more complex version of the melody, much like the notier melody sheet I have included here. These should be useful to watch for the sake of comparison, regardless of which instrument you play. The fourth link is an up-tempo, somewhat comic version of the song, with complex mandolin and fiddle breaks (and even a bass break), with two mandolins playing in harmony at certain points, which I include for your listening and watching enjoyment, and to give you some ideas as to what kinds of things can be done with this tune other than just simply playing some version of the melody. fiddle and banjo duet in G: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BNd1mn4aGY guitar lesson: Turkey In The Straw in G: very few notes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHVCryqxu3Y guitar lesson: Turkey In The Straw in G: many notes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytU6zKcyMlo mandolin and fiddle: Turkey In The Straw in G: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0DsPX26_60 Happy Pickin', Jason
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