Tunes from Aallotar

Posted on September 13, 2016 by Paul Tyler

Aallotar
Thursday September 15, 7:00pm
Seman Violins (4447 Oakton in Skokie)
A concert, followed by a workshop/jam.
Admission is $20.

We welcome back our friends, Sara Pajunen and Tejia Niku, for an evening of enchanting Finnish folk music from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. After their concert set, we will work on playing a few tunes together. Check out the notation link at the bottom of this post.

Fiddle Club of the World welcomes all players, listeners, and lovers of traditional music.

Aamupolska (Morning Polska)

Tallari

More Tunes from Aallotar (dots on a page)

And here’s a video view of Tallari.
https://youtu.be/z4h8Q4_5xCU

Fiddle Club Guests for Fall 2016

Posted on August 28, 2016 by Paul Tyler

Meetings held at Seman Violins (4447 W. Oakton, Skokie).
Admission is $20 at the door.
All meetings begin with a short concert followed by a jam/workshop.

Aallotar – Thursday, September 15, 7pm

Sarah Pajunen, of Minneapolis, and Tejia Niku, of Helsinki, make a hands-across-the-water Finnish duo that makes ‘exquisite, sophisticated chamber-folk music’ aimed to explore the differences and similarities of a culture separated by an ocean and the passage of time. Tejia was a Fiddle Club guest in June 2010 with Polka Chicks. Sarah was here with Kaivama and Arto Järvelä in March 2012.

Premo & Gustavsson – Sunday, October 23, 7:30pm
With fiddle, clawhammer banjo, nyckelharpa, and occasional bi-lingual vocals, the sound of Laurel Primo, from Michigan, and Anna Gustavsson, from Sweden, “is built off of the driving dance-based fiddle traditions from both countries, as well as the adventuresome musicality of 21st century musicians.”

Brandi Berry – Friday, November 18, 7:30pm

Brandi Berry is currently deep into Scottish music, especially from the musically fruitful and culturally vibrant 18th century. She also plays a mean baroque violin and a driving bluegrass fiddle. She is a director of the Bach & Beethoven Ensemble, and teaches at DePaul University and the Old Town School of Folk Music.

Come join us. It’ll be great.

-Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)

Arto & Antti Järvelä workshop

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Paul Tyler

Finnish Fiddle & Guitar workshop with
Arto Järvelä & Antti Järvelä
Seman Violins (4447 W. Oakton, Skokie).
Monday, October 6
Admission is $15 at the door. *
A family friendly workshop will begin at 5:30pm followed by the regular workshop at 7pm.

* Present a ticket stub from Arto & Antti’s concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Sunday. Click here for information and reservations on what is sure to be a fabulous show.

Top ten reasons why you don’t want to miss this workshop.
10. This is Arto’s 3rd visit to Fiddle Club of the World. **
9. Arto’s first two visits were awesome.
8. Polskas are awesome
7. Finnish fiddling is both archaic and contemporary.
6. Järveläs have been playing the fiddle for at least 7 generations.
5. Antti is a really friendly guy.
4. This will be a load of fun.
3. Antti and Arto are awesome musicians.
2. Arto is one of Fiddle Club’s best friends.
1. Did I mention that Finnish fiddling is awesome?

** Check out these previous Fiddle Club posts (or just click Arto’s name in the tag cloud in right hand column). Check back later in case they send us more tunes.

Like these . . .
Foops two polskas from Maria Spoofs manuscript collection, circa 1800.

Reinon Knäpsäys a polkka (aka polka)

Fiddle Club Guests – Fall 2014

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Paul Tyler

Meetings held at Seman Violins (4447 W. Oakton, Skokie).
Admission is $15 at the door.
All meetings begin at 7pm with a short concert * followed by a jam/workshop.

Pete’s Posse – Sunday, September 28
Traditional tunes and interpretations from Vermont. This is Pete Sutherland’s return to Fiddle Club, after a successful visit in October 2009 with Mark Roberts & Jeremiah McClane.

Fingal’s Cave-The Big Picture by Pete’s Posse

Pete Sutherland – Fiddle, guitar, banjo, piano & vocals
Oliver Scanlon – Fiddle, mandolin, dobro, foot percussion & vocals
Tristan Henderson- Guitars, bouzouki, mandolin, harmonica, jews harp, bodhran, snare drum, doumbek, foot percussion & vocals.

Arto Järvelä & Antti Järvelä – Monday, October 6
Traditional fiddling from Ostrobothnia, a district in west central Finland, an area that has one of the largest concentrations of fiddlers to be found anywhere.

Polska Ostrobott & Rahapolska by Arto Järvelä & Antti Järvelä

*Workshop and jam session only. Arto & Antti are doing a concert at the Old Town School of Folk Music on Sunday, October 5. Bring your ticket stub and get half-price admission to this Fiddle Club meeting.

Maja Kjær Jacobsen & David Boulanger – Sunday, November 9
Traditional Danish and Québecois fiddle music. (Pending visa process)

Danish Tune-Quebecois Tune by Maja & David

Maja Kjær Jacobsen, from Silkeborg (Danmark) plays fiddle and hardingfele (hardanger fiddle). David Boulanger, a member of La Bottine Souriante from Montreal, plays fiddle.

Bob Bovee & Pop Wagner – Sunday, November 30
Old-Time tunes, cowboy songs, heart songs and maybe a rope trick or two by this pair of old friends from Minnesota.

Robinson County by Pop Wagner & Bob Bovee

-Paul Tyler, convener
Fiddle Club of the World (Chicago Chapter)

Arto Järvelä’s 2009 visit – reprise

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Paul Tyler

Links to tunes he taught

— NEW! – –
All the tunes Arto taught in September 2009 gathered onto one page . . .
on DrDosido.net

From the Flog [Fiddle student blog (now defunct)], here are links to all the tunes he taught in workshops and to classes during his residency at the Old Town School in September 2009.
Weeks 1 & 2
Weeks 3 & 4

From the Fiddle Club blog, here are the tunes he gave us in 2009.
Arto Järvelä tunes

Tune of the Week for February 27, 2012

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Paul Tyler

Minuet after Matti Haudanmaa

I was taught this tune by Patrik Wekman on my visit to Finland in 2009. Later that year, Arto Järvelä taught it a workshop on archaic Finnish tunes at the Old Town School. Two years later, we had a magical session with the tune in my Fiddle 4 class when Arto and Kaivama dropped in. You can hear it on this earlier post.

Matti Haudanmaa was a master fiddler from the Ostrobothnian district in western Finland. An early Finnish folklorist made field recordings of his playing in the first half of the 20th century, thus preserving this wonderful tune for us to play in the 21st.

X:9
T:Minuet after Matti Haudanmaa
M:3/4
L:1/16
S:Arto Järvelä
K:G
FE | D3G {Bd}B2G2 {Bd}B2G2 | F3A {cd}c2A2 {cd}c2A2 |
D3G {Bd}B2G2 B2d2 | d2AB AGFE DCB,C |
D3G {Bd}B2G2 {Bd}B2G2 | F3A {cd}c2A2 {cd}c2A2 |
ABce d2c2 B2A2 | ABcA G4 G2 ::
Bd | g3g g2g2 g2ga | a3a a2f2 d4 |
e3d c2B2 c2e2 | d2c2 BcdB G2AB |
cBAB c2d2 e2c2 | BdcA A4 G2 :|

Special Meeting, Special Guests, This Saturday

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Paul Tyler

Arto Järvelä with Kaivama – Finnish Trad
Saturday, March 3, 7:30p
Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln), Rm E324

We welcome back Arto Järvelä, our good friend from Finland, for his second visit to Fiddle Club of the World. Many of us have warm memories of his residency at the Old Town School in 2009. Joining him for their second visit to the Old Town School is Kaivama, the duo of Sara Pajunen and Jonathan Rundman, from the Northwoods of Minnesota. Separately and together they have excavated many beautiful, archaic gems from the music traditions of the Finnish people, while also contributing new melodies in those ancient keys.

Here’s a sample, recorded during their visit in June 2011, when the three of them dropped in on my Fiddle 4 class.

Minuet efter Matti Haudanmaa

Arto Järvelä & Kaivama
(click here for another view)

To learn a couple of tunes to play with Arto, click here to listen, or here for the notes.

$15 dues for only this meeting, click here to register.

Join Fiddle Club of the World for $60 yearly dues, support our guest artists and save 20% off the spring schedule alone. You will then have free admission for the rest of your year-long membership. Plus you get your own very cool Fiddle Club card.

Notes for Arto Järvelä Tunes

Posted on February 28, 2012 by Paul Tyler

Arto returns for another good tune session
His first visit to Fiddle Club in September 2009 was a memorable night. He’d like to play some of those tunes again. I’ll post some links later this week. He also sent us a few new ones, which were posted earlier. Listen to the tunes, first and often, while learning to play them from the following notation.

ABC Notation. Free software to read, print and play the ABCs is available here. And a short tutorial on ABC notation for fiddlers can be downloaded from the Old Town School’s Tune Archive using this link.

X:5
T:Wikström Vals
M:3/4
L:1/8
S:Arto Järvelä
K:Am
A2 | d2d^c de | f2e2 d2 | d2^c2 cc | ^c4 A2 |
A2^cd ef | g2f2 e2 | f2dd d2 | d4 ::
c2 | f3e fg | a2g2 f2 | e3d ^cB | A4 A2 |
Ad2^c de | f2e2 d2 | ^c3A ce | a4 g2 |
f2e2 d2 | ^c2A2 c2 | e2d2 d2 | d4 :|

X:6
T:Starc 44
T:Stare 44
M:3/4
L:1/16
S:Arto Järvelä
K:D
d2A2 F2A2 d2f2 | {fg}f2ed c4 A4 | d2ef g2{fg}f2 e2d2 | dcBA B2B2 A2(3ABc |
d2A2 F2A2 d2f2 | {fg}f2ed c4 A4 | d2ef {ga}g2eg {fg}f2df {ef}e2ce d8 ::
a2f2 f2d2 d2A2 | b2f2 g4 e4 |d2ef g2{fg}f2 e2d2 | dcBA B2B2 A2(3efg |
a2f2 f2d2 d2A2 | b2f2 g4 e4 |d2ef {ga}g2eg {fg}f2df {ef}e2ce d8 :|

With the Starc polska, I tried to notate it roughly the way Arto played it, with suggestions for ornamentation. Here is a starker (pun intended) published notation for Starc 44.

Answers to questions I’ve been asked about Fiddle Club. If you have a yearly subscription, you do not need to register. We welcome everyone who wants to hear and/or learn some Finnish fiddling. It would be great if you register online, but you can also pay at the front desk on Saturday night.

Two Fabulous Guests

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Paul Tyler

David Greely – Cajun Fiddler
Friday, February 24, 7:30
Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln), Rm E324

David Greely

Founding fiddler of the Mamou Playboys, David Greely has assembled a repertoire of uncommon Cajun music and new companion pieces to entertain and inspire you.

To learn a couple of tunes to play with David, click here.

$15 dues for either of these meetings, click here.

Arto Järvelä with Kaivama – Finnish Trad
Saturday, March 3, 7:30p
Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln), Rm E324

Arto Järvelä & Kaivama

Born to a family of fiddlers from Kaustinen, the epicenter of Finnish fiddling, our good friend Arto Järvelä makes a return to fiddle club, bringing with him Kaivama, the Minnesota-based duo of Sara Pajunen and Jonathan Rundman, for their second visit to the Old Town School.

To learn a couple of tunes to play with Arto, click here.

line
Join Fiddle Club of the World for $60 yearly dues, support our guest artists and save 20% off the spring schedule alone. You will then have free admission for the rest of your year-long membership. Plus you get your own very cool Fiddle Club card.

Tunes from Arto Järvelä

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Paul Tyler

Arto Järvelä is the first Fiddle Club of the World guest to make a return appearance. Along with Kaivama, a duo from Minnesota, he will be perform at the Fiddle Club meeting on Saturday, March 3rd at 7:30pm in room E324 in Old Town School East (4545 Lincoln). He’s looking forward to another good jam session after their concert. Here are some tunes to work on.

Kesäkuun Polkka, a polka in 2/4

Masurkka Eräjärveltä, a mazurka in 3/4

Wikström’s Vals, a waltz in 3/4

An ancient polonaise or polska in triple time that Arto learned from a 1806 manuscript collection kept by Adolf Frederik Starc (or Stare) in Turku, the old capital city of Finland.
Starc No. 44

Stare No. 44 stemma, a 2nd voice

For notation to some of these tunes, click here.

You might also want to check out the tunes Arto gave us for his last Fiddle Club appearance in September 2009. Click here. Plus, here is a new super-link to all the tunes he taught in workshops and to classes during his residency at the Old Town School in September 2009: DrDosido.net.

Dues for the March 3rd meeting are $15 – you can register here (03/03/12).
Save money with a yearly subscription of $60. It gives you admission to all Fiddle Club events.