Fiddling

A great way to introduce students to the improvisational aspects of folk fiddling is to take a very simple tune and do a variety of bowing variations. A commonly used tune is "Bile 'em cabbage down" (Boil them cabbage down, or Cabbages). The tune can be quickly taught by ear to beginning level students:

Step 1: Teach the tune. Teach it in 1-bar patterns ("play back what I play to you"), then teach it in 2-bar patterns, and then play the whole song.

Step 2: Teach the class the chord roots by playing the rhythm of the melody with the chord roots (e.g., D-D-D-D-G--G--, etc). The chord roots (and 5ths) can be played entirely on open strings.

Note: In the final bar, beat 1, the harmony should be D major, but it works as written above (if only the A is played as harmony it implies a 2nd inversion D major triad), and it keeps the chord progression a little simpler for teaching to beginners.

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