Whiskey Before Breakfast
Tune Links: A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 Entire A Part
B-1 B-2 B-3 B-4 Entire B Part Play Along Tracks
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
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.