MORE FROM JAY UNGAR “HOW I PLAY IT” #3

  This special edition of Ashokan Farewell was designed to help violinists emulate my playing of the piece as heard in The Civil War series on PBS.  Though I rarely play it exactly the  same way twice, this arrangement captures my typical bowing and ornaments. My playing style, for a tune like this, is most influenced by the great Scottish and Irish players of airs and laments - including flute players and pipers, as well as fiddlers.
  Here are some particulars that you might find helpful. My slides generally begin less than a ½ step below.  My grace notes from below are generally “smeared” a bit into something that sounds almost like a slide.  (Think of this as “squeezing” up to the note.) For grace notes from above, I generally strike the fingerboard with a quick percussive movement.
  The first statement of the melody (bars 1 through 32) is unaccompanied and can be played with more melodic freedom.  The tenutos are held a bit longer than the written note values but not so long as a fermata.  The third time through the violin accompanies the piano with smooth double stops (bars 65 to 80), than plays in unison (bars 81 to 96), delicately following the pianists phrasing so as to sound almost like one instrument.  The fourth and last time through the melody, the violin plays with renewed intensity and feeling.
   My last bit of advice is to learn the notes and then let the feeling and emotion within the tune overcome you and take you beyond all the details into true musical pleasure and enjoyment. (Roger’s Note: Mr. Ungar does NOT say just learn the basic notes and forget about all the nuances of this piece.  I come from a long line of  butcher meat cutters. If all you want to do is pick the basic melody I can probably get you a white butchers apron and cap to wear while you play it.)