Bob Holt - Ozarks Fiddler

Various clips of Ozark fiddle great Bob Holt, of Ava, MO.

Learn to Play Boys Around The World

In this set of videos I'll show you how to play a classic Missouri Valley fiddle tune from Cyril Stinnett and Dwight Lamb call The Boys Around The World. Key of A in standard tuning. 

1997 Bethel Fiddle Youth Fiddle Camp and Contest

Highlights of the annual Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp held in June each year in Bethel, Shelby County, MO.

Gryphon Strings - Palo Alto Fiddle Workshop 2015 with Patt & Possum

Excerpts from a Missouri-Style fiddle workshop held in Palo Alto, CA, on January 31, 2015, at Gryphon Strings. Tunes incles Norma Lou's Waltz, Lamplighter's Hornpipe, Harrington Valley Two-Step (by Calvin Vollrath), and Casey's Hornpipe. Presented by Charlie Walden - fiddle and Patt Plunkett - piano.

San Francisco Workshop - 2015 with Charlie Walden & Patt Plunkett

Video excerpts from a workshop in San Francisco on January 30, 2015. We ran through four good ol' tunes including: Old Ladies Pickin' Chickens from Dwight Lamb, Pike's Peak, which originated with Sharp, Hinman &Sharp, Shoal Creek Breakdown from Casey Jones and Turkey in the Pea Patch from the repertoire of Buddy Thomas of Kentucky via Bob Holt of Ava in the Missouri Ozarks.

St. Louis Folk School Fiddle Workshop September 27, 2014

When I was growing up one of my biggest influences was Pete McMahan of Harrisburg, MO.  Pete was without question the top fiddler of his generation.  He could play more types of tunes, had more technical command of instrument, won more contests and arguably had more DRIVE than anyone else back in those days. I’ll show you some of the tunes and techniques I picked up from Pete and let you in on some great field recordings of Pete that I’ve had squirreled away.

Charlie Walden's Elderly Instruments Fiddle & Mandolin Workshop - 20 Sep...

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Two tunes of Canadian origin which I taught at a workshop at Elderly Instruments in Lansing, MI, on September 20, 2014.  The tunes are Country Waltz and The Little Burnt Potato Jig.  Each tune is demonstrated and then broken down phrase-by-phrase to facilitate learning.  With Patt Plunkett on piano.

Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp - 1988

Collection of twenty videos from the Bethel Youth Fiddle Camp 1988.  The camp has been going strong for almost 30 years.  Its focus is regional style and repertoire of Missouri and the Midwest.  The camp takes place every June in Bethel, Shleby County, in North Central Missouri.  These videos feature mostly teaching sessions by old-time Missouri fiddlers Vesta Johnson, Taylor McBaine, Bob Walsh, Kelly Jones and Dean Johnston and represent regional Missouri fiddle styles from the Ozarks, Little Dixie and North Missouri. All videos were recorded by folklorist Amy Skillman.

KDHX Folk School Fiddle Workshop (April 19, 2014)

We’ll play some signature tunes from National Heritage Award winners, the late Lyman Enloe.  Lyman was from the south central part of Missouri and learned his craft from another famous old time fiddler, Tony Gilmore of Jefferson City.  Primarily a dance player, in later life he moved to the Kansas City area became known as a Bluegrass fiddler.  His playing was very smooth and melodic.

John P. Williams Monroe County Influences Available As Download - Great Missouri Fiddling!

Videos of John P. Williams Fiddling

Harrietville Fiddle Workshop - Charlie Walden

Set of 5 video segments of a workshop I gave in Harrietville, VIC, back in 2008.  Plenty of good playing advice as well as some tunes are taught.  The flies were particularly bad that year, as they can be in rural Australia, so there is a lot of swatting and hand waving.  A few even got swallowed!

1984 WOS Radio Reunion and Fiddle Contest

On October 27, 1984, old-time fiddlers and their accompanists from all over Missouri gathered in the State Capitol Building for an historic reunion and fiddle contest to commemorate WOS radio, which broadcast from the Capitol in the 1920-30s.

Fiddle Tunes 1997 Concert - Nile Wilson, Charlie Walden, Rich Levine and...

Concert at Fiddle Tunes, Port Townsend Washington, in 1997.  Accompanied by Patt Plunkett on piano and Rich Levine on guitar.  Nile Wilson was a traditional fiddler from Bucklin in north central Missouri.

May 2015 Child Grove Dance With Geoff Seitz & Charlie Walden - fiddles

From the Child Grove regular Sunday dance and the Monday Club in Webster Groves, MO, May 3, 2015. With Geoff Seitz & Charlie Walden - fiddles, Dennis Buckhannon - guitar, Patt Plunkett - piano and Andy Gribble on bass. Lauren Peckman calling.

Charlie Walden Birthday Bash - THE MAIN EVENT

Video of the entire stream from my birthday bash on January 14, 2017.

Learn Taylor McBaine's Red Fox Waltz

Taylor McBaine (center) yukking it up with Travis Inman 

and Wes Brown at the contest in Bethel, MO, back in 1986

Red Fox Waltz was one of the first tunes I learned. Taylor McBaine of Columbia, Missouri, taught it to me and I still play it today. It's in the key of D and is not that hard to get on to. 

The playlist below consists of highlights from a recent workshop I did at the KDHX St. Louis Folk School. The various videos take you through a demonstration, then learning a basic version, some fancy add-ons and finally a group play along with Patt Plunkett on piano. 

You can get a copy of the music at: 

http://www.charliewalden.com/Dots.htm

1983 Boonville, MO Fiddle Contest

Here's some great old audio from the 1983 Fiddle Contest at Boonville, Missouri. Back when I first started playing this was one of the great contests. It was held each year at the Laura Elliot Speed Jr. High School auditorium.

These audio recordings I made myself with an old Sony reel-to-reel tape recorder. 

Program:

0:00 Skater's Waltz (Charlie Walden & John Stewart)

3:44 Angus Campbell (Charlie Walden and John Stewart)

5:39 Bile the Cabbage

6:41 Red Fox Waltz (Bob Hagan)

9:03 Salt River Reel (Bob Hagan)

11:00 Durang's Hornpipe (Spencer Galloway)

12:33 Our Last Waltz (Spencer Galloway)

14:45 Grey Eagle (Taylor McBaine)

16:57 Clark Waltz (Taylor McBaine)

18:37 Lazy Kate (Bob Atchison)

20:17 Western Waltz (Bob Atchison)

22:59 Waltz in G (Vesta Johnson)

26:06 Fort Smith (Vesta Johnson)

27:30 Soldier's Joy Hornpipe (Bill Eddy)

29:38 Canary Waltz (Bill Eddy)

32:00 Ragtime Annie (Mike Wells)

33:52 Westphalia Waltz (Mike Wells)

37:49 Grey Eagle

39:40 Sweet Bunch of Daisies

42:16 Tom and Jerry (Lynn Wells)

Program:

0:00 Combination Waltz (Lynn Wells)

2:13 Bill Cheatum (Jimmy Gilmore)

4:40 Over The Waves Waltz (Jimmy Gilmore)

7:18 Fireball Mail (Musial Wolfe)

9:45 Westphalia Waltz (Musial Wolfe)

12:48 Fisher's Hornpipe (Maggie Sprat)

13:46 Waltz (Maggie Sprat)

16:41 Sleepy-Eyed Joe (John Griffin)

18:23 Country Waltz (John Griffin)

20:42 Katy Did Waltz (Joe Grable)

23:49 Durang's Hornpipe (Joe Grable)

25:39 Announcements

28:51 Tom and Jerry (Charlie Walden)

31:47 Dance Around Molly (Taylor McBaine)

33:43 Coming Down from Denver (Bob Atchison)

35:39 Sally Goodin (Mike Wells)

37:41 Marmaduke's Hornpipe (Lynn Wells)

40:02 Coming Down From Denver (Bill Eddy)

41:44 Woodchopper's Breakdown (John Griffin)

43:12 Announcement of Winners

You can also download this audio and have for your very own.

SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Charlie Walden's Fiddlin' Tip #5

Tip #5   Learning To Use The Whole Bow

Look at any good player you really admire and you will that they use the entire bow in their playing.  You should be equally comfortable playing at the tip, in the middle or down by the frog.  To improve use of the entire bow isolate areas of the bow and play a variety of kinds of tunes with each section. Take a little white electrical tape, a piece of a Post-It Note or some other marker that won't mess up the finish on your bow and mark the bow with it in two places, thereby dividing the bow into three sections.  The tape will serve as a guide to keep you working in the portion of the bow which is targeted.

Charlie Walden's Fiddlin' Tip #3

Tip #3   Emulate a Great Player

One of the best things I ever did to improve my playing was to attempt to emulate great players.  By emulate I mean try to become a dead ringer copy.  During some point in developing my playing I attempted to emulate great fiddlers I had access to directly like Cyril Stinnett, Pete McMahan and Taylor McBaine. On the recorded side at various times I listened to everything I could from Kenny Baker, Blaine Sprouse, Johnny Gimble, Tommy Jackson and more -- all players I admired.  

The idea is to attempt to learn a majority of the repertoire of the player you choose and in so doing all the elements of style you can figure out.  In other words, don't just learn the tune but try to play it exactly as they do.  And don't worry about becoming a clone (wait a minute, who the heck wouldn't want to sound like Kenny Baker). Your own approach will emerge in time.

Fiddle Workshop This Saturday, October 31st.

I'm giving a fiddle workshop this coming Saturday, October 31, 2015, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM, at the St. Louis Folk School.  All the details (registration, address, etc.) are in the link below

http://folkschoolstl.org/collections/workshops/products/old-time-fiddle-w-charlie-walden

Callaway County in Mid-Missouri, in addition to once being a hotbed of Civil War secessionists, is known for its many great old-time fiddlers. Among these was legendary African-American Bill Katon of Tebbetts, the namesake of Katon’s Hornpipe. While I never knew Katon, as he passed away in 1934, I heard many stories about him and a lot of the old-timers could play his tunes or tunes referenced to other Black musicians in Callaway County. So we’ll explore this tradition with tunes I derived from Jake Hockemeyer, Taylor McBaine and Keith Orchard. The workshop is open to fiddlers and mandolin pickers at intermediate level and above. Bring a recording device and your instrument. Everyone who attends will be invited to download a sampling of recordings from the old players mentioned above.