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Bluegrass.
A growing collection of bluegrass standards, old-time tunes, and fiddle favorites. Every song has its key, chord progression, lyrics, and free sheet music, all written by a picker for pickers.
All 30 songs.
Learn the tradition.
Articles about bluegrass history, instruments, and how to jam.
Contest breakdowns: the required fast tune
What counts as a breakdown (hoedown) in a fiddle contest, what judges listen for, and the most common contest breakdowns from Sally Goodin to Bill Cheatham.
Contest waltzes: the required slow tune
What counts as a waltz in a fiddle contest, why the slow tune decides more contests than the fast one, and the most common contest waltzes.
Tune of choice: the wildcard round in fiddle contests
What qualifies as a tune of choice in a fiddle contest, the two schools of thought on picking one, and the most common picks from 12th Street Rag to East Tennessee Blues.
Fiddle contests: the written rules, the unwritten rules, and the jargon
How fiddle contests work. Divisions, rounds, judging criteria, contest jargon, tune strategy, and the major contests from Weiser to the Canadian Grand Masters.
The big list of fiddle players: champions, judges, and legends
A big organized list of notable fiddle players. Contest champions, bluegrass fiddlers, Canadian fiddlers, judges, and the departed legends who built the tradition.
Alex Hargreaves
Grand National Champion in 2007 and Grand Master champion in 2009.