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You are here: Home / Fiddling / Fiddle Tune a Day / Velocipede Hornpipe – Fiddle Tune a Day Day 145

May 25, 2012

Velocipede Hornpipe – Fiddle Tune a Day Day 145

I’m willing to wager that most of you haven’t heard of a velocipede, and even fewer know what one is. But, I’m willing to bet that some of you fiddlers out there recognize this melody.

If you recognize the tune, but can’t place it, it was a tune that Howdy Forrester was famous for playing. If you still don’t have it, think of playing it at a High Level, and then you have it.

You guessed it, if you break it down, it becomes the High Level Hornpipe.

So, last night, I was picking a tune for Kerry Varble who won the “Sally Growler Challenge” by being the first one to correctly proclaim that a Sally Growler is an ugly fish. Knowing that Kerry likes Bb hornpipes, I pulled out Cole’s 1000 fiddle tunes, and started reading through Bb hornpipes.  I worked up one of them that wasn’t too tricky, but that wouldn’t do for today, and then I came across Velocipede Hornpipe. I knew as soon as I started playing it that I recognized the melody, and it only took me a couple of minutes to recognize that it was the origin of Howdy Forrester’s High Level Hornpipe.

Well, when I chatted with Kerry, she didn’t want to hear Velocipede Hornpipe even though I told her it was cool and that she would recognize it. She wanted to hear Peaches and Honey (by that name – not Peaches and Cream), so being the accommodating chap that I am, I played Peaches and Honey, but today I play Velocipede Hornpipe, whether you want to hear it or not! 🙂

 

 

VELOCIPEDE HORNPIPE. AKA and see “Highland Hornpipe,” “High Level Hornpipe [1].” American, Hornpipe. B Flat Major (‘A’ part) & F Major (‘B’ part). Standard tuning. AABB. “Can be used as a Clog” (Ryan). A velodipede was a 19th century bicycle, with pedals attached to the front wheel, knick-named the ‘boneshaker’ descriptive of the experience of riding the contraption. Cole (1000 Fiddle Tunes), 1940; pg. 110. Ryan’s Mammoth Collection, 1883; pg. 147.

Article by Vi Wickam / Fiddle Tune a Day, Fiddling, Videos / 19th century bicycle, Day, fiddle, fiddle tune, fiddle tunes, Peaches, peaches and cream, today, ugly fish, Velocipede 10 Comments

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Comments

  1. Roland White says

    May 25, 2012 at 3:43 pm

    Hey Vi, Very cool playing it in Bye plus backwards and left handed with a right handed fiddle. Have you been taking some secret lessons from Katrina? All the best Roland. PS I learned it in key of G.

    Reply
    • Vi Wickam says

      May 25, 2012 at 3:45 pm

      That is the magic of the mirror.

      Reply
    • Vi Wickam says

      May 28, 2012 at 7:42 pm

      https://www.vithefiddler.com/stony-point-fiddle-tune-a-day-day-148/

      Reply
  2. Andy May says

    May 25, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    nice!

    Reply
    • Vi says

      May 28, 2012 at 1:25 pm

      Thanks, Andy!

      Reply
  3. Bobby Dardeman says

    May 29, 2012 at 2:47 am

    I'M GONE…. BICYCLE

    Reply
  4. Trevor Alex Baird Smith says

    January 6, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    I love the clarity of each note you play but I need to learn from music and so far I have downloaded a number of sheet music copies but none sound right.

    Reply
    • Vi says

      January 30, 2013 at 7:59 am

      Thanks, Trevor. I would like to encourage you to work on developing your ear and learning some by ear, even though it’s a new challenge. (Perhaps because it’s a new challenge.) And, if you would like sheet music, we are incorporating it into the lessons on our new music education website, http://www.myTalentForge.com. Not all of the lessons have sheet music yet, but we are working on it.

      Reply
  5. Michael Friedman says

    May 7, 2014 at 6:04 pm

    Beautiful musical performance !

    Reply
  6. Vi Wickam says

    May 13, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    Thanks, Michael. This was a tough one.

    Reply

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