Red river jig (fiddle)

Red River Jig is a tune from the Métis tradition of Northwest Canada. It is not a jig in the sense of being in 6/8- indeed it is a crooked tune with phrasing which is difficult to follow. In this fiddle lesson I try to make sense of the structure of the tune, though there may well be a better way of describing it!
A free copy of the sheet music for Red river jig is available to subscribers (see below). There are plenty more video lessons on Canadian and old time tunes elsewhere on The Fiddle Channel.
Below are details of further fiddle resources from Chris Haigh

1. Patreon
2. Books
3. Subscription video courses
4. Website
5. Email to request pdf’s.

1. PATREON
This is a platform where anyone can directly help to support creative artists and get closer access to their work. You can join me on Patreon at three levels, for £4, £10 or £40 per month.


At the lowest level you get access to all my pdf’s and tune collections, plus many exclusive tuition videos not available to the public.
At level 2 you can join also me once a month for a group Zoom chat, and can request three backing tracks each month.
Level 3 gives you all the above plus a free lesson once a month, and access to all my backing tracks.

You can find me on Patreon at

2. BOOKS
I have eight fiddle tuition books published by Schott, all widely available from the publisher, from Amazon, and many other outlets. All come with audio tracks illustrating the tunes and exercises.


Exploring Jazz Violin
Beginning Jazz Violin
Discovering Rock Violin
Exploring Folk Fiddle
Exploring Klezmer Fiddle
Hungarian Fiddle Tunes
French Fiddle Tunes

Exploring Country and Bluegrass Fiddle


You can order from

3. VIDEO SUBSCRIPTION COURSES
I have three video subscription courses
-

MUSIC GURUS- Exploring Jazz Violin. Based on my Schott book
Parts 1 and 2 are each £26 for 26 lessons, covering the first and second halves of the book



MUSIC GURUS Discovering Rock Violin. . Based on my Schott book
£35 for 46 lessons

MUSIC GURUS Exploring Country and Bluegrass Fiddle. Based on my Schott book. 31 lessons for £31.99

ACADEMY OF FOLK
Includes a folk fiddle primer course, with introductions to basic techniques and concepts plus an Irish Fiddle Course and Scottish fiddle course. A monthly sub of $9.99 gives access to all lessons
I suggest you contact me before subscribing.

4. WEBSITE
My website is probably the most extensive and detailed summary of fiddle styles on the web, as evidenced by the range of top hits on Google for many fiddle styles.
__________________________________________________________
TO REQUEST PDF’S, or ask any questions, CONTACT ME AT

[hamwhacker]

About 30 years ago I visited my sister in Canada and we went to Prince Edward Island (PEI) and saw a fiddle evening featuring the old and the young including dancers on stage. The food was fresh lobster! Absolutely wonderful evening my favourite moment was the old guy who was a expert gurner pulling comical faces while he played. The guy was an absolute legend.

[LesSkinner-ikty]

Not bad for an Englishman— almost had me dancing! haha though I don’t think this is the most well known (outside of the Métis world) or first Métis fiddle tune you’ve covered— I think both of those are Whiskey Before Breakfast, which to my knowledge was first recorded by Andy Dejarlis who I believe also ‘corrected’ the tune.

The Red River Jig is done in pairs. Couples do a standard step over the A chord and then a ‘change’ (a fancy move) over the part of the song that has a D chord. Mel Bedard said that in the old days dancers would want a fiddler from their community to play this tune for them we there are a thousand different ways to play it.

What you guys in English call a jig we call a « first change,  » so other Métis songs like Romeo’s or Jonah’s First Change are in what you call ‘jig’ timing.

Btw, if you think the Red River Jig is crazy, check out Gilbert’s Duck Dance. That’s our favorite song to Duck Dance to these days.

Drops of Brandy is another Métis classic we still play and dance to today.

Thanks a lot and happy playing

[KenneyCmusic]

Woo, thank you for doing this one Chris! I'm Métis, and I've always wanted to learn this one of course, but I couldn't figure it out myself. There's not many tutorials, if any online. I might be able to with the help of this video. Cheers.

[lorraineq]

Red River Jig is derived from Le Grand Gigue Simple which is in 6/4

[Glenysful]

Could you send me the music to learn to play the jigs please