Well here they are!
Two videos to guide you through the “slow part” of The Last of The Mohicans Theme. This smooth lyrical melody appears in the sounds track version as a layer over the rhythmicky (Hot Violinist technical term), five-note-roll-filled part that starts the song. This is a stroke of composer Trevor Jones’s genius in arranging the basic fiddly part that was written by Dougie MacLean, god bless you wherever you are.
When I was first learning this song, I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to play these two parts at the same time on one violin (without growing a couple more arms).
I was afraid it might not even work as a solo arrangement!
My game plan was to play the main fiddle part over and over again so many times at the beginning that it would almost start to create a loop in the audience listener’s imagination. That way when I come in with the slow part, maybe they’ll still be subconsciously feeling the other part and have a good experience.
There have a been a few critics over the years who will say something like, “Why does everyone like this? It’s way too repetitive.”
But the overwhelming consensus (based on my observation of YouTube views, comments, roaring applause, festival-roaming people stopped in their tracks with turkey leg held up in front like statue of liberty torch, and tears streaming down the cheeks of even the toughest looking biker dude) …is …it works!
I recorded this very raw version with E Muzeki in 2005 for our Sindh album which is available in my webshop.
Many tunes on this album had complicated productions that took us multiple days to record but we decided to try this one raw first. We recorded the guitar and violin in two separate rooms but live together via the headphones.
I still remember standing beside the stone fireplace in our recording engineer Ron Flynt’s living room right after that first take. I was surrounded by a maze of audio cables that snaked from the mic and my violin around the corner, down the hall, and back to the garage which had been nicely converted into a control room. I also had a plaid scarf rolled up on top of my head to keep the headphones from painfully resting on my elf ears. Sexy.
After a few generous moments of the last ringing guitar chord, Ron’s matter of fact voice clicked into the headphones, “That was sensational.”
And that’s the take we kept! I think that is the only truly one-take performance I ever released on any of my recordings.
Later with Circa Paleo we got back in the studio and had a field day (or ten) playing around with overdubs and all kinds of fun production tricks. That resulted in two versions of this song that we didn’t want to part with, so we put them BOTH on our Tideland album. ๐
That one is out of print, but you can get a CD Baby download card with collectible album art sticker as part of my discography pack if you’re interested in checking them out.
My most recent sheet music arrangement follows the formula of my original solo violin arrangement:
-Play the the rhythmicky part on repeat as much as feels satisfying to you (bars 1-16)
-Then the smooth melody in the high octave (bars 17-32)
-Then a variation of this slow melody in the lower octave (bars 33-49)
-Then back to the rhythmicky part with a variation to wrap it up (bars 50-70)
If you still need to get a copy of the sheet music, please sign up for my newsletter, then click confirm in the confirmation email you recieve, and it will fly to your inbox magically.
Instructional videos #1-8 on my YouTube channel are all about the faster fiddly part.
Now I’ve released video #9 which guides you through the slow melody in the higher octave:
And video #10 which guides you through the slow melody in the lower octave:
I hope this helps some of you guys to get a little bit more traction learning this one!
If this still leaves you with more questions, please post them in the comments section below, so we can all try to figure this out together.
If this is all still a little advanced for you, but you’d like to play this tune one day, please stay tuned! I have a very exciting plan in the works for you total beginners. I’ll be sharing the details with you all very soon!
I thought on one of your videos, you said there was a PDF of the music. But, I haven’t been able to find it. Thanks and appreciated.
There is! Are you on the newsletter list? When you sign up, the PDF gets sent to you automatically. If you still don’t have it let me know and I’ll find a way to email it to you!
i wish i had personal instruction from you
Have you subscribed to Jenny’s e-mail list? If not I encourage you to do so. I’m one of the adult learners from her first ViolinWOD (Workout on Demand) and I thought I would never get a chance to learn from her until one day she sent us all an e-mail. The rest, as they say is violin history.
Why does the last double stop sound better if you pull the A slightly up? 4:31. It’s an A and an open D?๏ปฟ
Yes, it’s an A and an open D which is the interval called the perfect fourth. With the A a hair higher it is an actual perfect fourth ratio where the frequencies of the two intervals is exactly 4:3. There is a difference between the two notes of 498 cents to get this PERFECT perfect fourth. If you play the A where the tuner says to play it, aka equal temperament/piano tuning, the difference between the two notes is 500 cents. This is not an exact ratio of 4:3 so it sounds close but still a little dissonant. Because the violin does not have frets, you have the luxury to deliver frequencies in these ratios that are like candy to the ear! ๐
I was talking to the conductor of our local symphony recently at a reception, and I blurted out, “I play violin too!” But I had to follow up with an explaination that I have been playing for just 5 years. “You probably don’t remember much about a time before you played violin. Well, that’s how I am with woodwinds.” Because violin is new to me, it keeps me fascinated. It’s like working hard at a foreign language while sax is my native tongue. Anyway, I was telling the conductor how cool it was the the strings are all a 5th apart, so any place I place a finger on two string, you get a 5th harmony. But he told me classical players hardly ever do that, that it’s not a precise enough 5th. ?
Hi Jenny, thanks so much for you’re generosity in sharing with us learners how to play this beautiful piece of music, I purchased you’re version from I tunes,so I can listen to it on planes(along with gods music!) and Fraser and hass. Righto, time to practise๐ป๐ป๐ป๐๐๐Zoe, from Australia.have a great day!
Thanks Zoe! โบ๏ธ๐
Thanks Jen : )
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Jenny,I’m 74 and trying to learn the violin,I play with the Umpqua Valley Youth Orchestra under Kristen Parks,we have over 150 students and I have played in 4 Concerts..I was so excited when I found your music and I have tried to play it,so far to no avail I and looking forward to your NEW easy way on THE Last of The Mohicans…Thank you for your lessons.
Thanks jenny it helped me a lot to improve the play
Hi Jenny,
I had tried playing this piece around 6 months ago, and it was not happening, lol
I was playing it from the sheet music you sent…and man, it is hard!! I watched the 5 note rolls videos, but have up trying to do all that while playing the tune…anyway, ended up putting it aside. Until I got this email! I went thru your other 4 or so videos, along with the 5 note roll ones, and have made insane progress!! Maybe I was just “ready”, and had been playing jigs for a little while, but your last set of videos really helped me get some traction on this tune! Thanks! Very excited :))
“The Kiss” and “Promontory” are still my favorite arrangements, even after hearing the “The Gael” by the The Pipes and Drums of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (which is spectacular). What y’all did was very personal, epic on a personal level, where others are epic on a more regimental level. Not sure if that makes sense…
I’m wondering if you have also the guitar sheet music for this piece. Maybe one day I’ll be able to pick up a violin (I did for a while, in elementary school. Not sure why I stopped…), but I’d love to be able to play the guitar accompaniment.
Hi Matthew! Thanks for the comment. I don’t have guitar specific sheet music, but the guitar chords are listed on my sheet music. If you’re not already on the email list, just hop on there and it’ll send you the music automatically. If you are and didn’t get it for whatever reason, just let me know and I’ll email it to you!
Oh, duh! I forgot to even look for that! Thanks, that’ll work. ๐