We’ve commented a number of times over the past twelve months on how well Nashville mandolinist Tristan Scroggins has taken advantage of his time off the road during the forced shutdown of live performance. Obviously he has taken time to woodshed and enhance his skills, but he has also devised ways to share what he is doing with others trying to improve their mandolin chops in the wider world.
From his Patreon page where mandolin students can picks up tips and tricks for as little as $3/month, to his mandolin skill builder workshops with Nashville Acoustic Camps, Scroggins has been as busy as ever during the pandemic restrictions, just working from home. He also has released a number of transcription and tune books that can be purchased from his web site.
The latest of these is released this week, Bluegrass Jam Standard Fiddle Tune Favorites, whose title perfectly describes this handy 51 page volume. In it Tristan takes ten of the most popular fiddle tunes called at jams, and explores them in three different versions. Each tune starts with a fairly simple, straightforward exposition of the melody, and then progresses in difficulty through the two additional arrangements, adding more detailed phrases as well as useful licks that can be applied in other tunes.
He presents each example in both tab and standard notation, along with some historical notes on the tunes. By working through the changes in the various versions, a student will begin to understand how a player goes about creating their own arrangements, seeing what is added as you go through the renditions.
Included are:
- Angeline the Baker
- Arkansas Traveler
- Big Sciota
- Fisher’s Hornpipe
- Old Joe Clark
- Red Haired Boy
- Soldier’s Joy
- St. Anne’s Reel
- Turkey in the Straw
- Whiskey Before Breakfast
Bluegrass Jam Standard Fiddle Tune Favorites is available in a print version for $30, or in a digital edition for $25, delivered by email. Both can be purchased from Scroggins’ bandcamp page, where you can also see his other recent effort, Old Time Fiddle Tune Favorites.
