Whiskey Before Breakfast

Before you get started learning this tune, don't forget to

Look over all the free lessons, especially "How To Read Tablature At fiddlehub.com ," and "How To Learn A Tune At Fiddlehub.com." These two "how to" lessons have info that you will need in order to tackle any of the tune lessons, and it isn't repeated anywhere else.
Listen to the tune all the way through a few times, even if you're familiar with it, to get a clear idea of how this arrangement sounds.
Print out the sheet music so you'll always have the complete tune handy. It has both tablature and standard notation, as well as the chords for guitar/banjo/piano (or whatever).

Part A, Phrase 1

Tab_A1

Bowing:

The phrase starts with short strokes, so begin close to the middle of the bow, maybe 3-4 inches below the mid-point.
The fifth stroke, on the open A string, takes up a whole beat (the value of two 8th notes); so you'll need more bow length than you used in each of the first four strokes. Fortunately, the following slur on the D string also uses a whole beat, so when you complete the slur you'll be back around the middle of the bow. If you need help with the concept of a "beat," check out the lesson on how to read tablature. That lesson also has more info on slurs.
The first three-note slur will take up even more bow than the two-note slur, but if you find yourself running out of bow, try slowing down the bow speed just a little. You'll notice in the video that I use about the same length of bow on the three-note slurs that I use on the two-note slurs. I manage this by slowing my bow speed on the three-note slurs. More on this in the discussion following Part A, Phrase 2.
The last three-note slur should bring you back to about the middle of the bow.

Fingering:

Notice that all three fingers are hovering pretty close to the D string before any notes are played.
Once the 1st finger comes down on the D string to play the second note, it stays very close to the string until it needs to move to play on the A string. If this concept of keeping finger movement to a minimum is new to you, take a look at the lesson on fingering, and especially the section with fingering exercises.
The 2nd and 3rd fingers use each other as references for correct placement.
- In the opening (ascending) series of notes, the 3rd finger squeezes up against the 2nd finger as a reference.
- In the last (descending) three-note series, the 2nd finger squeezes up against the 3rd.