Building a Traditional Tune Repertoire

Old Dubuque

(Key of D)

The Tune:

Old Dubuque is also known as (aka) Dubuque, & closely related to both Duck River and a crooked variation called Big Mule. This fiddle tune Breakdown is played in many OldTime jams. The City of Dubuque, a river port on the Mississippi River, near the border of Iowa, Wisconsin & Illinois, is the oldest city in Iowa, & also one of oldest settlements west of the Mississippi River.

Listen to the Midi: 120 bpm & 160 bpm

Techniques:

• Overview of Tune: Play this tune with a combination of smooth transitions within the 1/8th notes runs, & rest spaces, to help play this tune with some character.



• Chords: The chords for both Parts A & B differ only in the 4th measures.

  Part A:   ||: D | D | G | A | D | D | G | A/D :||
  
  Part B:   ||: D | D | G | G | D | D | G | A/D :||

• Pick Strokes: Pick all 1/4 notes with Downstrokes & all paired 1/8 notes with Down/Upstrokes. To help give this tune some character, pay attention to the rests, which are moments when no note is sounding, by actually lifting your fretting fingers from the strings - the space between the notes can sometimes be just as important as the notes themselves. In Part A, try starting the first 4-note run using two hammer-ons. In Part B, measures 9, 11, & 13, the 1/16th notes rests each come after a dotted 1/8th, & are played with an Upstroke; these rests would be counted out something like this: 1, and, 2, and, a(rest), 3, and, a(rest), 4, and.