Jeff Anderson - Part 1

I spent a week over in Kittitas for the Washington Old Time Fiddlers Association (WOTFA) summer workshop, and while I was there Jeff Anderson graciously agreed to be filmed as part of a this video series. Along with being a great fiddler, Jeff is an articulate speaker and had some wonderful things to share. In the beginning Jeff talks about what he thinks makes fiddle music FIDDLE music (he's gesturing at a row of music stands off camera when he says "don't play it from here") and the importance of driving the dancers. He demonstrates this danceablity in two tunes; Storviksætra Vals and Arkansas Traveler. In part two he discusses his unique approach with the bow and plays the Little Norwegian Boy's Fiddle Vals (which he wrote). Jeff and I talked back and forth on email a bit as I was editing this together for Youtube, and he had this to say about "driving the dancers." "When I say you need to drive the dancers, that means not forcing people into dancing but to play the music in such a way that they want to dance, and the thing that compels them want to stamp their foot on the floor when dancing, this, is what I call "to drive the dancers" accent the tune in the right place which in turn will then give them the "push" or "drive" at the point where they can put the foot down on the floor hard if they want with the time or beat of the music. I could show you easier then I can tell you. To learn that, I feel it is something that must be demonstrated. This I feel is passed ...

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