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ahelmes71 - Posted - 08/16/2010: 18:13:44
I think I heard Steve Kaufman calling the little pick up notes starting out a bluegrass tune "potatoes"? Anybody else ever hear of this? Just the little cliche thing where you're hitting the same note (usually the key the song is in) a few times in a galloping rhythm before launching into the fiddle tune?
Is there other bluegrass slang or jargon a newbie needs to know about?
Andy
dianah - Posted - 08/16/2010: 18:15:59
Hahaha, I JUST last month heard for the first time about the "potatoes" count!
I'm learning the I-IV-V nomenclature, myself.
Still have to think about it, doesn't just pop up when I need it.
musekatcher - Posted - 08/16/2010: 18:37:45
its an old musicians quip: Instead of giving the band four *beats* [beets] for a kick off, you give them four potatoes. 
ccravens - Posted - 08/16/2010: 20:03:04
I've always heard it called "taters," kinda funny hearing it as a fancier & more correct "potatoes." From what I've learned playing fiddle, it came from fiddlers. It is used to kick off a tune & the "taters" (or the four beat intro) are played at the speed that the fiddler is gonna play the song. It lets the other players know how fast the tune was gonna be played. Kinda like someone verbally counting out the beat at the start of a song "a one, and a two, and........" kind of thing. You've all heard it a million times when a fiddle kicks off a tune.
bazzer - Posted - 08/17/2010: 00:13:44
I always understood it came from the childrens game one potatoe two potatoe three potatoe four, thats what an old fiddler guy told me years ago!!
ahelmes71 - Posted - 08/17/2010: 05:56:00
Yeah, that makes sense to me now. I never really thought about it as "setting the tempo" but I guess that's exactly what it does and it works pretty effectively.
bazzer - Posted - 08/17/2010: 07:25:20
it's great to hear it done well, i cant seem to do it justice though
flash of the gap - Posted - 08/17/2010: 11:18:26
man i love potatato,s with a pound a butter an a bucket a salt
jazzrambler - Posted - 08/18/2010: 07:43:33
Think of the syllables one-po-ta-to two-po-ta-to three-po-ta-to four-po-ta-to...thats's how I learned it.
BTW, I love the beet joke, corny & perfect. I think I may have hear it done either on Hee-Haw or onstage at Opryland or the Country Bear Jamboree.
"I thought you said yer kid played the pi-ya-nuh..."
"Naw...I said he was the pee-in-ist kid in the holler..."
buddy - Posted - 08/18/2010: 11:26:03
Is it pronounced POE-TAY-TOE, or POE-TAH-TOE?
jazzrambler - Posted - 08/19/2010: 04:43:43
Let's call the whole thing off!
SLKmartin - Posted - 08/19/2010: 11:50:24
That is an odd Factoid
buddy - Posted - 08/19/2010: 13:47:24
quote:
Originally posted by ahelmes71
I think I heard Steve Kaufman calling the little pick up notes starting out a bluegrass tune "potatoes"? Anybody else ever hear of this? Just the little cliche thing where you're hitting the same note (usually the key the song is in) a few times in a galloping rhythm before launching into the fiddle tune?
Is there other bluegrass slang or jargon a newbie needs to know about?
Andy
Of course a capo is referred to as a "cheater" or a "hilbilly crutch".
"Perfect Pitch" in bluegrass refers to tossing a banjo into a commode without hitting the seat.
ahelmes71 - Posted - 08/19/2010: 17:39:56
I knew it was only a matter of time before the banjo jokes started...
buddy - Posted - 08/20/2010: 02:05:53
[quote]Originally posted by ahelmes71
I knew it was only a matter of time before the banjo jokes started...
[/quote
The banjo came into use as an instrument in the early 1830's in this Country.
It came into use as the butt of billions of jokes at approximately the same time.
jazzrambler - Posted - 08/20/2010: 04:43:38
How many banjo players does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One if you're playing in G. He can use his left hand...but he'll complain that it's electric!
buddy - Posted - 08/20/2010: 09:29:55
quote:
Originally posted by jazzrambler
How many banjo players does it take to screw in a light bulb?
One if you're playing in G. He can use his left hand...but he'll complain that it's electric!
flash of the gap - Posted - 08/20/2010: 14:22:33
my freinds a banjo player, he left his banjo on the back seat of his car one day and he realised he had,nt locked the car so walked back to lock it , when he got to the car there was five other banjo,s sittin on the back seat
ahelmes71 - Posted - 08/20/2010: 14:47:30
How can you tell if the stage is level?
If the banjo player drools out of BOTH sides of his mouth.
buddy - Posted - 08/20/2010: 15:19:10
quote:
Originally posted by flash of the gap
my freinds a banjo player, he left his banjo on the back seat of his car one day and he realised he had,nt locked the car so walked back to lock it , when he got to the car there was five other banjo,s sittin on the back seat
buddy - Posted - 08/20/2010: 15:19:48
quote:
Originally posted by ahelmes71
How can you tell if the stage is level?
If the banjo player drools out of BOTH sides of his mouth.
buddy - Posted - 08/20/2010: 15:20:43
[quote]Originally posted by buddy
[quote]Originally posted by ahelmes71
How can you tell if the stage is level?
If the banjo player drools out of BOTH sides of his mouth.
buddy - Posted - 08/20/2010: 15:33:07
I should be fair. Banjo music can sound good.
The last segment of "Bluebird" by Buffalo Springfield-to me-is purty, purty music.
I'll also always enjoy the breakdowns in the Beverly Hillbillies and Deliverance tunes.
I should also include the...uh.. the...
Flivver - Posted - 10/25/2010: 22:18:04
This discussion, at least before it degenerated into serious slander of banjos and the folks who play them (wink!) is an interesting one. Every occupation or craft has its own lingo. In music there are words such as turn around, comping, vamping, potatos and so on which describe a particular action. I was a living room player for many years and rarely played with others; music was my hobby but I really wasn't particularily good at it and a bit shy. Then a couple of years ago started hanging around some real musicians and learned some of the lingo by just listening. I think it would benefit the begining players immensely to learn this lingo asap. Perhaps a thread devoted strictly to the lingo of music? I know I would find it helpful. Thanks.
Guitardude - Posted - 11/04/2010: 10:08:59
I've heard others do this and I do it myself on occassion:
When calling out the key you, can sometimes hear a word like "dog", "cat", or "gopher" called out instead of just the letter. It can lesses the amount of times before someone finally figures out whether it was "D", "C", or "G" that was said.
fiddlepogo - Posted - 11/06/2010: 23:24:19
quote:
Originally posted by bazzer
I always understood it came from the childrens game one potatoe two potatoe three potatoe four, thats what an old fiddler guy told me years ago!!
That's what I always thought, too, and I'm a fiddler, FWIW.
fiddlepogo - Posted - 11/06/2010: 23:28:44
Actually, the real question is, do any of you flatpickers actually DO an intro on guitar that resembles "potatoes" on a fiddle???
I can imagine doing something with a unison that would work in D or G... in fact, I think there's a country guitar lick like that that's based on emulating the sound of a fiddler's "potatoes" intro.
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