'Grey Cat On a Tennessee Farm'

It's most definitely time for a new tune! Since I'm flying solo here without a teacher to pull my next tune out of his expansive repertoire, I opted for suggestions from my significant other - who is a darn good fiddler in his own right. He suggested 'Grey Cat On a Tennessee Farm' and I couldn't be happier with his choice. Thanks, Joe!

As I hadn't heard 'Grey Cat' before, I hopped on over to YouTube and found this version played by user 'kbrigby' on the mountain dulcimer. Joe confirmed that this is the version that he was familiar with as well and that 'kbrigby' did an excellent job of staying true to the tune. Ken's dulcimer playing is top notch and I'm so happy that he posted this on YouTube for us to listen to. Thanks, Ken!

In my opinion, 'Grey Cat' shapes up to be another nice, simple, beginner tune. Like my shuffle bowing practice piece 'Buffalo Gals', it has a very definitive shuffle to it. Nothing tricky here and you can dress it up as little or as much as you want by adding a few grace notes or slides.

This particular tune is also an excellent choice for ear training work. The notes are clear and distinct and there weren't really any places where I was left wondering whether I had the right note or not. As many fiddlers do, 'kbrigby' also varied his B part just a bit, so I have taken one version for my notation.


My suggestion is to give the tune a listen and try to pick out the notes before looking at the sheet music I have provided. You may find that you don't even need it! Oh, and when you play the drones, don't forget to use your 4th finger on the D string for the melody A against the open A string drone (measures 5 and 7).

Good luck, enjoy, and as always if you find that I have really messed something up - please let me know. Or, even if I haven't and I'm doing okay - I wouldn't mind knowing that too! lol. Then I have a better idea of what direction I can take this blog in so that it can be the most beneficial it can be for you, my readers.