Welcome to another edition of Musically Minded where I share some thoughts on practice, improvising, and peel back the curtain on my processes and work as a gigging musician.
Cattle In The Cane
This week, I’m working out a few ideas on the mandolin for the classic fiddle tune, “Cattle in the Cane.” I did not really know this tune, and had not played it until last week thanks to Marcel’s upcoming Bluegrass Coalition submission. (check out the details for that here).
Check out the video below for a quick walk-through of my process and thoughts, and check out the text below for some more details.
Here’s some of my thoughts and practices for learning a tune and developing some licks and a break:
The first task is to learn the melody. Fiddle tunes are built around the melody, and I do this by ear at first because it forces me to really listen, pick up some nuances, and memorize it right from the beginning. Learning the melody first also helps understand the chord changes.
Next, I learn the chord changes. Taking in the harmonic and voice leading information can give me some ideas for expanding on the melody.
Play the melody at tempo and add some fills. Melodies have natural contours and, usually, some space between the notes. Those spaces are where we can often fill in with licks or quick tags. I also start loosening up on the exact melody and let my fingers and ears find new notes and directions to try. Part of this process relies on distilling the melody down to it’s main components and inflections. For example, starting the ‘A’ section on the E note and moving to the F# down through the sequence of E, D, C#, D, and back to E. That cluster of notes in that order is a clear characteristic of the tune and should be quoted, or at least implied.
Analyze the harmonic and melodic relationship. I mine the relationships implied by the melody notes and chord associations, and implied by the chord progression itself. For example, in this tune, there is a big draw toward A minor tonality because of the G chord in the ‘A’ section and the ‘B’ section is actually in A minor. There is a bit of ambiguity and play between A major, A mixolydian, and A minor throughout the tune and you can experiment by moving between those throughout each section to see what ‘flavors’ you get. Some of the most important melodic points to note and emphasize in your breaks are the differences in harmony. In this tune, the main difference hinges around the “c" natural and “c#” notes, the interplay between the “g” and “a” notes, the
Speaking of ‘flavors’… I like to experiment with some chromaticism and possible outside notes to see where they might apply. In this tune, I am playing around with the m3 of the C chord and giving it the b5 treatment. I also consider the common notes and possible pedal tones. IE pedal tone “E” works over all the chords in the song in both sections and is a great open string sound on the mando. I consider different flavor notes relative to the harmonies at any given point. Some examples:
Over the A chord in the ‘A’ section: try the ‘c’ natural and a combo of “d, eb, e” in either direction for a bluesy flavor;
Over the G chord: try that same combo of “d, eb, e” and tie it to the “c#, c” down to the “b” note for some chromaticism. You can try both of these with the pedal “e” by bouncing back to the open 1st string between notes.
Over the A minor chord: the bluesy cluster of “e, eb, d” and another cluster of “g, g#, a” are great figures to experiment with.
Over the C chord: bring back that chromaticism we tried over the G chord. Also, try another chromtic approach with “a, g#, g, f#” over a pedal “c” note and holding the “f#” with the C chord. That implies a diminished chord, which can be moved around by 3rds for a diminished sequence.
Finally, resolve back from C chord to the A chord with the blue notes clusters from both chords (“d, eb, e” for C and “g, g#, a” for the A chord.
These are just a few ideas from some experimentation and theory application, BUT applied by listening and testing to see if I like them. I also don’t want to just “noodle” in the right key - I want it to sound like I am playing to the tune. By hitting the main inflection points to the melody, you will “hang your hat” on the melody and bring the listener along on a recognizable path.
My hope is that you take these ideas and the processes behind the ideas to help you experiment and generate your own approach to a tune. Feel free to share thoughts and recordings in the comments - I’d love to see/hear what you make from this!
Music is more fun with friends! Share this post and bring these ideas to your next jam and see where they take you.
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