Landmark Park's Annual Old-Time Fiddlers' Convention

Landmark Park’s Annual Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention

The Old-Time Fiddler’s Convention is held annually the third Saturday of March in conjunction with Spring Farm Day, one of Landmark Park’s oldest and most successful special events. The park hosts the fiddlers’ convention in an effort to preserve and encourage the traditional old-time music that is a part of our heritage in the Wiregrass Region. The date for 2016 is March 19.

All musicians are encouraged to attend. We invite you to bring your fiddles, guitars, banjos and other accompanying instruments and participate in the jam sessions with other musicians in the “Fiddlers’ Corner” in the one-room school- house before and after the fiddlers’ competition.

Divisions and Prizes Youth Division - Age 12 and younger Cash Prize- First Place - $100, Second Place - $50, Third Place - $25

Junior Division - Ages 13 - 18 Cash Prize- First Place - $100, Second Place - $50, Third Place - $25

Adult Division - Ages 19 and over Cash Prize- First Place - $300, Second Place - $150, Third Place - $75.

Open Division - All Ages. Trophies for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Places

General Regulations 1. Contestants must be present and in their drawn position for entry on the stage when their number is called from the staging area. Late arrivals and no shows will be eliminated from the contest. Allowances may be made for broken strings and other problems deemed to be beyond the control of the contestant.

2. Electric fiddles will not be allowed. However, electric basses are permissible as accompaniment. No fiddler will be allowed more than two accompanying instruments. All fiddlers should make arrangements to have adequate accompaniment prior to the day of the contest.

3. Judges will not accept show tunes or trick fiddling. Traditional old-time tunes and traditional style playing is encouraged. Modern tunes and / or progressive styles will not be accepted.

4. If circumstances permit, judges may be seated in a separate area to prevent visual contact from influencing their decision (See Judging Criteria section for more information concerning judging procedures.)

5. Each fiddler’s presentation is limited to four minutes. Please practice with this time limit in mind. The two songs played must be one waltz and one breakdown. However, in the Youth Category, contestants may play two songs of their choice. Each fiddler must give the announcer the name of the tunes they will perform and the order in which Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention Rules (Continued) they will be performed. The announcer will introduce the tunes for the audience and judges.

6. In the event of a tie, the contestants involved will be allowed to play one selection of his or her choice. Points scored in the prior performance will not be carried over. The judges will then determine the winner based on the scores awarded for this tune. The tie-breaker performance will be judged on its own merit and by the same judging guidelines.

7. Judges will not be allowed to enter the contest, and the decision of the judges in choosing the winner will be final.

8. Any contestant who has won first place for two consecutive years will not be allowed to compete in that category the following year. The fiddler may perform but may not compete until they have sat out of that competition for one year.

9. A fiddler in the Youth or Junior Categories may be asked to perform in a higher category if, in opinion of the judges, he or she demonstrates skill beyond that category.

10. The contest will be conducted in accordance with the rules outlined herein, however, due to unforeseen circumstances such as weather conditions, emergencies, etc., Landmark Park and/or the judges reserve the right to modify the rules if necessary.

11. Fiddler’s presentation in the Open Division is limited to three minutes and ONLY ONE TUNE. No age or tune restriction. Trophies will be awarded.

Judging Criteria Rhythm and Timing (20 points) The rhythm and timing should be even and consistent. Any jerking, rushing or dragging in the tempo will result in a loss of points.

Creativity (20 points) Judges will look for minor variations and improvisations. However, the creativity should not be excessive so as to change or destroy the basic melody line of the tune. Extreme modifications will result in the loss of points.

Authentic Performance Style (20 points) Excessive and indiscriminate changes in a tune that make a performance unclear or unrecognizable, or the addition of inappropriate modern licks will result in a loss of points.

Expression (20 points) The judges will look for the “feeling” the contestant puts into the performance. Flat, mechanical, and unfeeling per- formances will result in point reduction, as will excessive showmanship.

Execution (20 Points) The judges will listen for the tonal quality and clarity of the performance and for general command of the instrument.

General Considerations Each judging category has a potential of 20 points, for a possible score of 100 points per tune. The final score for each contestant will be the average score of the two selections he or she played. High/low scores will not be thrown out. All Old Time Fiddlers’ Convention Rules (Continued) contestants should give adequate consideration to the placement of microphones and the efforts of the sound system operators who are working to ensure that each performance is heard clearly by the judges and the audience. The judges will score according to what they hear. An instrument too close or too far away from a microphone may distort or drop out the sound, resulting in a lower score.

Registration Fiddlers who pre-register for Landmark Park’s Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention one week before the event will receive two free admission passes to the event. Participants who have not pre-registered must pay general admission to the park: $8 for adults, $4 for children, and $6 for Senior Citizens.

A registration table will be set up near the one-room school for contestants registering the day of the event. All contestants must register by noon. Contestants will be assigned a position at registration.

Registration to enter the Old-Time Fiddlers’ Convention is $5 for the Youth, Junior and Open Divisions. Registration fee for the Adult & Senior Division is $10. Participants may choose to compete in ONLY ONE Division.

The following listings of tunes is to give the fiddler an idea of tunes judges are looking for in the “Old-Time Fiddle Contest”. Most of these tunes would have been played for barn dances and square dances.

List of Tunes for Comparison

BREAKDOWNS WALTZES

Sally Goodin’ Blackberry Blossom Westphalia Billy in the Low Ground Bile ‘dem Cabbage Down Over the Waves Bill Cheatem Old Joe Clark Southwind The Devils Dream Arkansas Traveler Wednesday Night Waltz Flop Eared Mule Mississippi Sawyer Whistler’s Waltz Goodbye Liza Jane Cotton Eyed Joe Allison’s Waltz Red Haired Boy Soldier’s Joy

A waltz is not just a tune in 3/4 time. It is a dance tune and should be played as such. Most people would not want to waltz to “Amazing Grace”.

It is NOT necessary to play a tune from this list because this is NOT a complete listing of the hundreds of traditional old-time tunes. Our judges are from the southeastern United States and therefore can only judge the validity of a tune by what they are familiar with.

For those who wish to play modern fiddle tunes or show pieces such as “Faded Love”, The Orange Blossom Special” or “Ashowkan Farewell”, there is an “Open Division”. In this division you may play what ever you wish; Classical, Country, Celtic, Rock, whatever. There will not be a monetary prize for this division but trophies will be given for 1st., 2nd. and 3rd. Places. This division will also be open to ALL AGES.

There will be special recognition for “oldest fiddler”, “youngest fiddler” and furthest distance driven. LANDMARK PARK’S OLD TIME FIDDLERS’ CONVENTION MARCH 19, 2016

REGISTRATION FORM

NAME______Today’s Date______

ADDRESS______

CITY______STATE______ZIP______

E-MAIL ADDRESS ______PHONE ______

AGE______NUMBER OF YEARS PLAYING FIDDLE______AMOUNT ENCLOSED______

PLEASE CIRCLE ONLY ONE APPROPRIATE DIVISION YOUTH JUNIOR ADULT OPEN (Age 12 & under) (Ages 13-18) (Ages 19 and over) (All)

REGISTRATION FEES YOUTH, JUNIOR and OPEN DIVISIONS: $5; ADULT: $10

I HAVE CHOSEN THE FOLLOWING TUNES TO PLAY:

1. ______

2. ______

Note:You must play a waltz and a breakdown, in the order you choose. Contestants in the Youth Category may play any two songs of their choice. Open Division: ONE TUNE ONLY. No selection restrictions.

Cash prizes will be awarded for Youth, Junior, and Adult. Trophies will be awarded for Open Division. There will be special recognition for “oldest fiddler”, “youngest fiddler” and furthest distance driven.

Please complete and return to: LANDMARK PARK FIDDLERS CONVENTION PO BOX 6362 DOTHAN, AL 36302

Pre-register one week before the event and receive two free admission passes to the event. Participants who have not pre-registered must pay general admission to park: Adults-$8, Seniors and active military $6, Child $4. More info may be found at www.landmarkpark.com