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Illustration | Libby McCrohan
Tommy Peoples was a unique player. In this section we present and examine Tommy’s reflections on the various aspects of fiddle playing. In his hand-written notes on the topic, Tommy used three distinct headings: The Bow Player, The Fingerboard Player and The Fiddle Player. Some of the aspects of Tommy’s fiddle playing that made him stand out were his triplets, his phrasing, his playing in E flat, his grace notes, his pauses, his tone and the sound he created on the fiddle.
Tommy wrote as follows on these themes: (2015, p. 120-21)
“The bow is the wand of expression, the arbiter of tone and its modulation, as well as of rhythm, phrasing and selected conjoined notes, so needs to be finely controlled, even at speed, as the needle of the lacemaker, so as to weave patterns, emphasize the rhythmic strengths of sound and phrasing of the melody. The bow player must anticipate all those nuances so as to convey those rhythms, phrases and segments, easing out of notes to smoothly alter bow direction by applying the contradictory-sounding brake of lessening pressure. Must also anticipate those nuances so as to convey all of the above, and even the emotion inherent in the melody. Present the finely-strongly brushed, boldly-lightly coloured picture, wrapped in the inflections of a delightfully delivered story, which requires total control of that bow, perfectly blending and co-ordinating the delicacy, strength, fluency and dexterity of both bow and fingerboard hands. The ideal is commending and commanding delivery with faith in the gradations of reflex in both hands, not as that seeming disharmony of the totally different tasks, but as components of wholesomeness and beauty.”
“That hand on the neck of the fiddle – the fingers of which elicit a particular note by pressing a particular finger on a particular string, so that contact of that string-to-finger-board, from that pressure, produces the pitch of note required, for the duration required – must do this at a speed necessary to the melody chosen. Those fingers require strength, nimbleness, rapidity of reflex and effectiveness of ‘memory’ for placement towards accuracy of intonation. Must also select flat, sharp or natural note, as a key signature or incidental dictates, move position on that fingerboard to accommodate the range of a melody, improvise or add variation. Keep all of the above demands satisfied within the tempo of the tune, and all this without the help of fret or fail-safe formula, but with the guide of focus and fastidious attention to accuracy and detail. Best finger forward at first, to slowly, to surely, to almost subconsciously.”
“As well as being the eyes and ears, it would seem that the Fiddle Player is in the comfortable position of being the boss of the Bow Player and Fingerboard Player. Happy giving the orders, socking it to both underlings, heralding the tunes, harvesting the good times, savouring the results, hoarding the profits and posing for pictures in Saturday or Sunday suit.
All is not as it seems, however, as the three are more brothers-on-arms. Neither one can produce a musical result without a corresponding, though different, contribution from the other two. The Fiddle Player is the thinker who chooses the melodies, improvisations and variations. Then uses a dual telepathy to converse with and direct both bow and fingerboard hands simultaneously, delivering totally different messages left and right that fully respect and enhance the rights, requirements and abilities of each to produce an appropriate range of colour, mood, tone, and rhythm in a harmonious sound that pleases the ear, lifts the heart, raises the spirit and lightens the feet.
The down side for the Fiddle Player is having to take flak for the bum notes and slurred speech of the Fingerboard Player or the staggering, sashaying, scuffling dance of the Bow Player.
For the other two, then, the down side is taking abuse for the nervousness, inebriation, mood swings or stage fright of the Fiddle Player. Bearing the blisters or repetitive strain syndrome induced by the enforced practise or performance regime dictated by his/her intensity and/or ambition, allowing neither respect nor respite, sometimes to the neglect of maybe more important other tasks, necessitating wearing remedial resourcefulness later and minimizing restful periods in the Fiddle Player’s pockets.”
