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Topic: Ashokan Farewell |
Jack Shrader Sr
From:
Columbus In. U.S.A.
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Posted 7 Oct 2003 4:48 pm |
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| Is there any Dobro music that has this song and also do you all know if it has ever been tabbed out for Dobro (G) tuning.. Thank's Jack |
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Bob Stone
From:
Gainesville, FL, USA
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Posted 8 Oct 2003 7:36 am
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Hi Jack,
You can buy sheet music for Ashokan Farewell at any good music store. It's written in D and that key works out very well on standard G tuning Dobro.
I don't write tab, but if you can cipher from written music at all you shouldn't have much trouble figuringing it out. The first note is third string, second fret.
Other than being forever associated with the Ken Burns doc video series, the tune has nothing to do with the Civil War. It was written by fiddler Jay Ungar to convey the sweet sadness of leaving friends after bonding at his summer music workshops in Ashokan, NY, in the Catskills. I heard it played there soon after he wrote it--two fiddles and a cello, as I recall--and there wasn't a dry eye in the house.
When Jay wrote the tune he was listening to a lot of Scottish fiddle music, a tradition rich in beautiful slow airs. To me, it sounds very much like a Scottish air. Playing lots of unisons, drones and pulloffs on your reso will help give it a Scottish flavor.
I don't know of any recordings of this tune by reso artists. Maybe someone will post. You can find it played by Jay himself on the Fiddle Fever album and elsewhere.
Good luck. It's a great tune.[This message was edited by Bob Stone on 08 October 2003 at 08:38 AM.] |
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Bryan Bradfield
From:
Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.
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Terry Wood
From:
Lebanon, MO
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Posted 12 Oct 2003 6:51 pm
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Hey Guys,
Lloyd Green has recorded this on his great new CD. I think it's one of the best things I've ever heard him play. I love his rendition of the song.
GOD bless each of you!
Woody |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 12 Oct 2003 9:20 pm
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About 12 years or so ago the PSGA newsletter had a tab version of it . I showed that sweetheart future ex-wife of mine because Jay played fiddle at the contra dances she spent all her time at. (while my wife played... well, ugh, never mind). I guess they thought it would be a good idea to sue the PSGA. I didn't know anything about it untill I saw the next issue of the PSGA newsletter with some legal appology thing in it and realized that woman had managed to spread a little bit of misery into yet another part of my life.
As far as I remember the tune was originally written for a big contra dance fest called Ashokan.
www.ashokan.org/ashokan/camp.shtml
Bob[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 12 October 2003 at 10:28 PM.] |
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Chuck S. Lettes
From:
Denver, Colorado
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Posted 13 Oct 2003 4:34 am
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Hello Bob,
Yes, I remember that issue. I arranged the version of the tune for PSGA. At that time there was no sound track for the Ken Burns Civil War documentary. A friend sent me a video of an episode, and I worked up my arrangement of "Ashokan Farewell." Unfortunately, I was misinformed, and I thought the tune was a traditional song, so I figured that it was public domain. Big mistake! However, I spoke with Jay Ungar and we resolved the issue. Of course, I made sure to pay all of the royalties when I released the song on my "Swing Thang" recording a few years later. "Ashokan Farewell" is a great tune that really added to the Civil War documentary.
Chuck |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 13 Oct 2003 10:07 am
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Chuck,
Well ok, I'll cut Jay some slack but that woman was still no damn good  !
Bob
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