Marion Thede and the Fiddlers of Oklahoma

In 1967, Marion Thede released The Fiddle Book, among the first instruction books ever printed for old-time fiddle. Containing 137 traditional tunes, Thede’s legendary publication aimed to represent old-time music in a comprehensive fashion. Oklahoma has a rich history of folk music, yet their fiddlers and fiddle tunes are not as well documented as those from other areas of the United States. This book adds to and expounds upon Marion Thede’s The Fiddle Book and includes transcriptions of over 125 traditional Oklahoma fiddle tunes, as well as contextual stories, tune histories, and player biographies. This work is a practical, useful book of old-time music transcriptions presented alongside a rich and relevant history, equally valuable to players, listeners and newcomers to old-time fiddle.

Paul Kirk, Jr., began playing fiddle at age nine, and by age seventeen had taught himself string bass, cello, keyboard, and viola. He attended Cleveland State University where he studied viola, music theory and composition, music education, music history, and musicology. He currently plays fiddle in Down the Road Old-Time String Band, which he founded in 2015, teaches fiddle, leads an old-time music program at The Music Settlement in Cleveland, Ohio, and gives presentations and lectures about antiques and collectibles. Since 2018, he has been documenting rare and obscure tunes and underrepresented source fiddlers through his Old-Time Tune of the Week series on YouTube.

Paul Kirk, Jr.
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages:
Bibliographic Info: ca. 255 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2025
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9749-9
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5632-8
Imprint: McFarland