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columnHeader Syncopation across the bar line— accenting the upbeat and suppressing the downbeat—is a not uncommon feature of Appalachian fiddle music. Many fiddlers manage this feat without even thinking about it, but most clawhammer players (because this requires a few small technical and mental adjustments) usually “straighten” the melody out so that all the main notes are sounded on the beat. There is no harm in this approach, but learning how to syncopate across the bar line in clawhammer will definitely help you grow as a player.

kenPhotoA good illustration will help you understand what’s involved. For this purpose, I’ll employ a tune called Breaking Up Christmas, which I just learned from Alan Jabbour (who learned it back in the 60s from Taylor Kimball). To prevent confusion with the well-known Round Peak tune of the same name, I’ll call it Taylor Kimball’s Breaking Up Christmas. Observe that I’ve used a G-modal tuning (A-modal with the capo) despite the fact the tune is in a major key. I’ve found that the notes for many simple key-of-A tunes seem to fall better in G-modal than in open- G. Furthermore, this makes it easier to switch off between A-major and A-modal tunes at dances and jams.

In the first version of the tune (Taylor Kimball’s Breaking Up Christmas: Straight), every maneuver involves completely conventional clawhammer. Becoming familiar with this version prepares you for the rhythmic challenges that await you later in this column.

Once you’ve more or less become familiar with the melody as represented...
 
Tuning: gDGCD, capo 2nd fret, Arr. by Ken Perlman

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