Dan Levenson’s Master Collection of Old-Time Tunes
Dan Levenson’s name will be well known to anyone who is familiar with old-time music, especially banjo and fiddle players. He is a performer, recording artist and educator. He has published instructional books, produced videos, written magazine articles and taught many workshops. If you are familiar with any of this previous work, you will know that it is quality stuff. Dan is a great advocate for old-time music and has worked hard over the years to connect old-time music to dancing and community building. He has traveled widely across the country and formed relationships with other players and teachers. Dan’s musical journey has recently been documented in the McFarland & Company book released in 2023 titled Dan Levenson—Old-Time Banjo and Fiddle Teacher, Performer and Storyteller by Lewis M. Stern and David Brooks. All that to say, Dan has a long history and a great deal of credibility in the old-time music world.
Levenson’s new book presents what the title describes—300 old-time tunes. Each tune is presented in standard music notation (no tab). In the introduction, Levenson states, “This is a book of over 300 of my favorite old-time fiddle tunes as I have come to play them over the years. To the best of my knowledge, all but four of them are traditional and have a long history as part of the old-time repertoire as it is played today.”
The notes in the front of the book lend information about the tune titles, the versions that are presented, the source of the tunes, the ordering of parts, some comments about crooked tunes, and short comments about bowing, the chords, repeats, time signatures, writing out waltzes, tunings and special music notations. There are also some short notes in conclusion. All of this information is presented in three pages.
The remainder of the 124-page book is the standard notation for the tunes. Chords are included. Typically you will find two or three tunes on a page. They are listed alphabetically in the index in the front of the book and by key in a tune list in the back. If you are familiar with the standard repertoire of old-time fiddle tunes, you will recognize many of these tunes, but there are also bound to be some tunes that are new to you.
A lot of old-time players like to know the source and story behind the tunes that they are learning. Dan states in the introduction, “In order to keep this volume manageable, I have kept it to just the tunes. Each tune has a history and a story. My son Josh felt you would want to hear my stories about the tunes and how they have come to me so I have put those online for you.”
Levenson lists the website address as Clawdan.com/aboutthetunes. If you navigate to this web page you will find those stories. You can also get an idea regarding tunes that can be found in the book. The tune list can also be found on Mel Bay’s website if you search on the book title.
If you are an old-time musician, or bluegrass musician who loves fiddle tunes, this book is an excellent resource.
