People who know me think of me as a fanatic for traditional fiddle music. I play many styles of music: American,Celtic, and Scandinavian. Each of these general styles has substyles, of course, and I have my specialties within each.
My beginning in music was from my grandmother, Hortense Kirksey. She gave me piano lessons as early as age 5, and bribed me with a nickel or a toy for every successful completion of a lesson. In second grade I had piano lessons at school, but dropped it after that. About age 10 I discovered the joy of old songs through my mothers stash of old sheet music. I would spend hours at the piano, picking out melodies and learning old songs. One of the books that I used a lot was "Heart Songs", published in the first decade of the 20th century.
About the time I started high school, my grandparents started a little entertainment troupe to entertain at rest homes in the area. I joined, and gradually started learning to play other instruments. At first my grandfather played guitar while I sang. I quickly learned ukulele to accompany myself, also, and then guitar. The mandolin soon became my dominant instrument, while I also used the 5-string banjo and the accordion.
My grandfather grew up with fiddle music in Texas, and always enjoyed listening to it. While I had no interest in playing the fiddle myself, I did start to learn fiddle tunes on the mandolin. Then I started travelling with my grandparents to fiddle contests, and I found myself caught up in the music. It was still a few years before I started on the fiddle myself, though.
I started playing fiddle in January, 1967. At first, it was just one of many instruments I enjoyed playing, but more and more it dominated. I still do a little with other instruments, but I am a fiddler through and through.
Instruments I play:
***=play well, **=can get by and have fun, *=can do a little
- fiddle***
- nyckelharpa***
- mandolin***
- hardanger fiddle***
- piano**
- guitar**
- harp**
- banjo*
- clarinet*
- accordion*
Styles of Fiddle Music I play:
- American
- California
- Midwest
- New England
- Appalachian and Other
- Celtic
- Irish
- Scottish
- Scandinavian
- Norwegian
- Swedish
- Danish
- Finnish
This is my basic and original style. I am a California native, and all the first fiddle music I was exposed to was in California. Many of the fiddlers came from other traditions, but the blending of styles is peculiar to my home state.
My largest American repertoire can be said to be from the Midwest. Among the fiddlers who have strongly influenced my playing over the years are Delbert McGrath,originally from Missouri; Cyril Stinnet, also of Missouri; Harry Hansen, from Nebraska; Don Ambroson, originally from Iowa; and Leonard Finseth, from Wisconsin.
Many recordings and much written music I have used over the years are from New England. This style is the best for playing for contradances.
My Appalachian, Texas, and Cajun playing comes mostly from just jamming with other American fiddlers. They are really a part of my California dialect.
My Irish playing comes from playing with Irish and Irish-style fiddlers. My Irish repertoire is augmented with tunes that I have pulled out of old music collections.
My Scottish playing style has been influenced by several Scottish fiddlers, including Alistair Hardie, Alasdair Fraser, Moray Rumney, and Buddy McMaster (from Cape Breton). In 1987 I won the Neil Gow Scottish Fiddling Competition at the Caledonian Games in Northern California. Besides this, I have played for many Scottish gatherings, parties, etc.
I play Norwegian fiddle tunes on both regular fiddle (flatfele) and Hardanger Fiddle (Hardingfele). I developed my style with Norwegians in America, as well as in Norway. I was very proud to have been the one Hardanger fiddler invited to play for the King (then Crown Prince) of Norway, when he visited San Francisco.
My Swedish styles cover every corner of Sweden. For more, see my Swedish Connection page.
Where? wherever I can... When? when the occasion arises...
Actually, there are events that I play for regularly. My intention is to eventually get a calendar into my website so that anyone can know where I'll be.
One of the regularly scheduled activities is our monthly fiddle jam. The second Sundayof each month we have a jam at our home. It is a potluck for refreshments, and we welcome anyone who wants to come and play. We start around 2:00, and play, eat, socialize, eat, and play some more as long as people stay. Any interested musician should contact us before coming, just in case it is cancelled or moved to a different day of the month temporarily.
On the second Saturday of each month I am usually found playing at the Mill Valley Scandia Dance. It is one of the best Scandinavian dances around, always with several fiddlers playing the music. I have been at almost every one of the dances there since they began in the late 1970's.
The fourth Saturdayof each month finds me playing at the Aronos Hall in Sonora for a Contradance. Again, there are usually several musicians, and a lot of fun for both players and dancers.
I feel, as a tradition bearer, that it is my duty to pass the tradition on to others. I do this in many ways:
- Playing in jam sessions and at dances with others.
- Contact me if you are in Northern California and would like to come to our monthly jam.
- Contact me if you are having an old-time or Scandinavian dance I could play for.
- Teaching in workshops.
- If you would like me to give a fiddle workshop at an event you are holding, let me know.
- If you would like to know where I am holding my next workshop, contact me.
- Giving lessons
- If you live in Northern California and would like lessons in American or Swedish fiddling, contact me. My specialty is teaching violinists how to be fiddlers.
- If you would like to have lessons by mail for either fiddle or nyckelharpa, contact me. I have a personalized cassette tape teaching method.
- Distributing tunes on tape or paper.
- If there is a particular tune you would like the music to, contact me. I can mail it to you, or e-mail an electronic file copy. (I never use computer-generated music - I handwrite all my tunes.
- If you have some recorded music you want transcribed, I can do that, too.
- If you would like a custom recording of certain tunes or music from a certain tradition, contact me. I have thousands of recordings, plus I do my own custom recordings for individuals, dance groups, etc.
- E-mail:
- Telephone:
- Write:
(209)825-2669
Tim Rued
PO Box 30456
Stockton CA 95213-0456
USA