Blackest Crow Fiddle Lesson with Craig Judelman

In this lesson Craig Judelman teaches the classic waltz "The Blackest Crow" for the fiddle. Craig says that these slower songs are a great way to focus on the tone and smaller ornaments than can get lost in faster dance tunes.
00:17 Tune with fiddle and guitar
02:57 Fiddle lesson intro
03:55 Blackest Crow solo fiddle
05:55 Basic bowings for waltzes
07:11 A section: basic version
09:26 B section: basic version
12:03 Adding turns and chords to the A section
18:02 Adding turns and chords to the B section
21:00 Putting it all together
For more on Craig, hear his music, or book a lesson:
www.craigjudel...

[@custerranch]

Really nice rendering! Double stops are perfect and mournful.

[@franksfiddle9031]

really like this version and your description of the ornaments Craig

[@anyaarcane3809]

I love how you play this song! Thank you so much for uploading, blackest crow is my absolute favorite

[@peggybarber1518]

I love what you did! Clearly showing fingers more ,telling key and sheet music with examples of variation would be so helpful!1 I love the song. This is the best example of options in playing it that Ihave seen! Thank you!

[@stagelifelv9324]

Hauntingly beautiful!

[@frederickmayer8967]

Nice playing Craig on a drop-dead beautiful tune. For clarification, "turns" are a a 5-note pattern of the note-note above-note-note below-note. The single & multi-note note ornaments are grace notes and mordant (a few different kinds). Consider using historically accurate names for the ornaments coz when many ornaments are used we can be more specific about that particular sound. Jest sayin...

[@XxSEETH3RxX]

I've been wanting to learn this for a while. Thanks for doing a lesson on it.

[@davidwhite1465]

great!

[@marylyons6355]

Good teacher.

[@7kemsley]

I love this, the way you play it is so restful. Trying to to learn it is difficult because your knuckles get in the way. This is just me! But maybe the violin could turn 90 degrees to your right.

[@mbiriviri]

Not just you--as somewhat beginner it’s not a “lesson” if I can’t even see it

[@StirlingTimelapse]

I have been having a look through your selection of interviews, lessons and performances. These are are great. Keep up the good work. Thanks

[@craigjudelman]

Gary P oh great, glad you’re enjoying it and thanks for the kind words! Check out my band interstate express for the latest stuff - we’ll have a new album out by the spring...happy fiddling!

[@jeepking1510]

Great!

[@0549601]

Such a nice version you play, maybe it’s the klezmer crossover effect! Are all the notes droned? My ears get confused. Thanks 🙂

[@clikerhappy]

Hi there. I just found you. Can you please give me the fiddle tuning you are using,? Or have you only upped the G to an A ? Ta

[@craigjudelman]

actually I'm in standard tuning, playing in the key of G. Many folks play it in cross A (AEAE) which also works wonderfully - I like both, but figured the version in standard would be accessible to people who don't cross tune as well. I also like how then when you go to the high notes you get interesting drone possibilities with the A and E strings (which are then the 2nd and 6th note of the scale, so they create these wonderful open suspensions), but with a song like this, I would always do it in the key that best fits the singer and then find a nice setting on the fiddle (I also sometimes enjoy playing instrumental fiddle tunes in different keys, but that gets trickier for sure when you have fast notes and certain passages that just work best in a particular key). I think when learning from a source musician it's important to learn in the key they played in, even if it means tuning your fiddle off pitch to match theirs, or using software to 'correct' the pitch of the recording, but in performance I personally don't find it necessary to be to precious about 'this performer did it in this key so it can only be in that key', particularly with singing songs (as opposed to instrumental tunes), since the vocals are the most important thing if it's a proper song! But I try to separate between the way I play when teaching or representing a certain musician's version/interpretation and just making music. Whenever we have multiple sources of the same tune they're pretty much always different, so to me being a real old time fiddler means having my version of a tune, and being able to mimic someone else's is a very important first step in that process, but not the goal itself. From talking to a number of folks who visited with people like Tommy Jarrell and my own visits with traditional musicians, it seems the 'revivalists' are most often the ones obsessed with getting it 'just right'. OF COURSE there are exceptions to this, but I think generally the older musicians were much more likely to guard the exact way they did things (even turning away if someone was watching to closely) than insist a tune be played exactly a certain way. OK sorry for the tangential ranty response to a simple question, of course when learning from a video like this you want to be in the same tuning, but just had to get that off my chest I suppose! happy fiddling!