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There are a number of different ways to play the chords to “Ookpik Waltz.” In this video, Lauren and Brittany walk you through the chord progression they like and give you options for double stops for each chord. They also talk about bow pulsing and the different rhythms they use.
Learn new tunes as a vehicle for upping your game as a melody player, backup player, and improviser. You'll explore different avenues for expressing yourself as an instrumentalist and work on your skill set as a musical collaborator. This workshop series is designed for intermediate to advanced level players who want to work on their jamming and improvising skills. It will be taught primarily on fiddle but can be helpful for players on any instrument.
Lauren and Brittany talk about their Creative Jam Skills course.
In the first session of Creative Jam Skills, Brittany and Lauren teach the old-time fiddle tune “Hosses in the Canebreak.” They work through the melody, and then teach you chord progressions—not just what the chords are, but how the chords function and how to play them on your instrument. They also provide an arrangement for how to play great back up in a jam, and then go over variations of the melody and touch upon ideas for soloing.
This session builds on the concepts from the first session, continuing in the key of G. The foundation tune for this session is “Ookpik Waltz” by Canadian fiddler Frankie Rodgers. There are lots of great versions of this tune with slightly different melodies and chord possibilities. Lauren and Brittany lead you through their favorite versions and help you work on finding chord voicings on your instrument and backup techniques for adding rhythm to the chords. They also talk about soloing on “Ookpik Waltz.”
For the third class Lauren and Brittany move to the key of D and focus on improvising and creating variations over the melody. They use the popular fiddle tune “Mississippi Sawyer” as a starting point and continue to work on creative and inspiring back up.
For the fourth class in Creative Jam Skills, Brittany and Lauren stay in D, working on “Blue Grass Stomp,” a tune written by Bill Monroe and first recorded in 1949. This tune is in the 12-bar blues form, which is a great vehicle for furthering your improvisation work! In addition to talking about the scales used in the blues and learning the melody to “Blue Grass Stomp,” you’ll also learn how to chop.
For the fifth session of Creative Jam Skills, Lauren and Brittany move to the key of A, continuing their previous work on the blues form with the western swing classic “Milk Cow Blues.” You’ll learn the melody and chords in the key of A and continue working on backup and chopping.
For the final session of Creative Jam Skills, Lauren and Brittany work on Marcus Martin’s “Cousin Sally Brown,” an old-time tune in the key of A minor with an extra measure in the second part.
