We learned a new term in NHO today that applies to the intro that is used in many fiddle tunes. The usual 4 counts or 8 counts done by one fiddler before the beginning of the song are called potatoes. I tried to figure out why it is called potatoes and it seems the origins are as clear as mud. One site joked that it is a variation of the request to give 4 beats (beets) at the beginning of a song. Another site suggested that it comes from a children’s rhyme that counts 1 potato, 2 potato, 3 potato, 4. Some suggested it really should be called taters because the intro rhythm is usually more like what we often hear from a clawhammer banjo player playing a “bum ditty” rhythm or “one tater” or written out in musical notes as one eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes. All seem to agree though that the purpose is to establish the tempo for the song. So the lead player will play 4 potatoes to establish how fast the song should be played then everyone else jumps in at the same tempo.
I though it was quite apropos seein’ as how half of the NHO players work in the potato research program at MSU during the day and now we get to play potatoes at night.
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AuthorDaniel Zarka Archives
March 2019
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