Speech 3: The ‘Git’ Fiddle

An attempt to create a visual image of a most unusual home-made percussion instrument:

A little History

My Dad was a part time musician – he sang and played guitar and harmonica in a country/bluegrass band nearly every weekend and major holiday his entire adult life.

My Mom was not a musician and she couldn’t sing a lick – but she was there with my Dad nearly every weekend and major holiday of her adult life.

My Dad and Mom are a wonderful love story (see below) and this is one part of that story.

See if you can imagine…

A tall pole about 6 feet in length standing upright, maybe 2” wide.
It was six sided so it was easier to grip.

At the foot of the pole there was a heavy duty spring attached so that you could push the pole down to hit the floor and it would spring back.

Dad then took 2 metal beer trays about 15-18’’ in diameter and secured them face to face creating a space between them so if you tapped them it would reverberate a little. He then bolted them to the pole about a third of the way up the pole from the floor.

He found an old bass piano string and strung it from the top of the pole across a bridge he had affixed to the two beer trays and then tied it taut to the bottom of the pole just above the spring.

Next he found a stuffed toy that looked something like the ‘joker’ or ‘court jester’ you see in a deck of cards. It was red, white and blue and had bells on it’s ears and feet. Dad secured this to the top of the pole.

He painted the pole white and the beer trays a bright red. If you squinted it kind of looked like a skinny stand up bass with one string.

The player (My Mom) used a 3 foot long dowel or rod that was about ½ - ¾ inch thick. The rod had a spiral groove on it about 2/3 the length of it – leaving the end smooth so my Mom could grip it. The grooves allowed her to catch it on the string and make a different sound and/or rhythm.

And this instrument my Dad dubbed a ‘git fiddle’ because he said it made so much noise most people would yell ‘git’.

So How Do you Play This Thing?

Hopefully you now have a visual image and wonder just how do you play this thing. Well, my Mom didn’t seem to need any instruction. She took to it so fast and was so good at it that when she played – everyone in the place was on their feet – whoppin’ an hollerin’. Her appearance was a show stopper!

Of course fast paced songs were best – maybe Wabash Cannon Ball, an up tempo Just Because and polka's were always a good choice.

Dad saved her for the third set – she would bring out this instrument and folks who hadn’t heard or seen her play this yet would be scrunching their brows – wondering ‘wha?’ for no one in those parts had ever seen such a ‘thing!’.

What Rhythm…

My Mom may not have been able to sing a note but boy did she have rhythm! She could keep that pole going up and down hitting the floor in time to the music – while making an entirely different rhythm and sound using the long dowel as a bow against the string and beer trays. The bells were just an added treat.

She was fantastic. And least you think anyone could play that thing? Not really. Many tried and many failed, including me.

I tried to find a picture of this instrument and could only come up with an old picture of my Mom where only the top half of the fiddle is visible. And we have no audio that I know of.

I find it sad as I grow older and look back at the love story that was my Mom and Dad and remember this part of their story and realize that there are so few who remain who experienced the ‘git fiddle’. So I wanted to share this vivid memory I have with you – and hopefully pass on a small portion their story by trying to describe this gift my Father built for my Mother so she could share the limelight of a musician - by whacking away with such delight on the ‘git’ fiddle.

Decisions, Decisions

Note: First ToastMasters Speech

•I was twenty minutes into my first practice run of the speech I had written and realized I also was only half way through it! Talking faster didn’t seem the effective solution so I decided that I had better come up with a shorter way for you to get to know me.

•I needed an approach that framed my history in such a way that it gives you a glimpse of who I am and how I got here from there and do it in less than 6 minutes let alone 20. I had some decisions to make.

•We make thousands and thousands of decisions in our lives.

Some of my early decision....

Had anyone been paying attention my early decisions gave big clues to who I am.

I was three when I decided that I wanted to cross the street and go to the store and get myself a Popsicle all by myself. Of course I didn’t know it at the time but it was the first of many adventures I would make – on my own. I got home safely btw but without the Popsicle.

Another early decision was choosing a musical instrument in grade school. I had decided I wanted to play the saxophone. Probably saw it on TV and liked the look of it. (I make a lot of decisions because I like 'the look and feel' of something or someone.) I confidently announced to the music teacher, Mr Burris, that I choose the saxophone. He calmly nodded and said ok but first you must learn the clarinet. I said no no I want to play the saxophone. He said no and I said ok then I'll play the trumpet. You see, I am a bit stubborn, arbitrary and a little off center.

As it turned out I did have some affinity for the trumpet. I was the first female trumpeter in Genesee County - but it wasn't my calling or my passion - it didn't come easily as it did to my Father and brothers. However I did have one shining moment. It was written in the margin of a high school dance band competition score sheet by a judge to Mr Burris. It read 'she sure can make a trumpet sound pretty.' I still feel good about that.

High School

•I wanted to be a cheerleader – you know how itis - instant ‘cool’.

•I didn’t make the squad in my freshman year, or sophomore or junior year. One of the biggest disappointments in my short life. However, after that first year let down I became a sports statistician and not for the high profile sports but the new sports being introduced to the school. Like wrestling and track. I adapted.

And I became an important part of the athletic department. I grew to realize that it was just as good - perhaps not so cool - to do what I was good at.

– and, so, though it was a difficult decision I chose not to tryout my senior year. Not because I was afraid of failing again, but because I wanted to make a statement at least to myself that I didn’t need to be a cheerleader, I wasn’t that kind of cool.

College - the decision to quit...

To be a teacher or not to be a teacher….back when my decision was made I wasn't aware of all the opportunities that I might have taken advantage of - my world was pretty small - or at least I believed my opportunities were limited. In any event it seemed to be either Nursing (no way) or secretarial (yuk) or teaching - since teaching was what I was most familiar with - so be it.

My Dad was a teacher, I had played at being a teacher pretty much every day as a child but when I got to college to actually be a teacher , I wasn't ready to be a teacher.

I was having difficulty fitting in, wasn't doing well academically and I hid out in my dorm room. Somehow, I got involved with a man who was verbally abusing me, and I had no idea how to deal with this situation, so I quit. It was drastic but it solved two problems. Quitting is usually viewed in the negative. This was a decision that may have saved my life. I'll never know. There were other ways to handle the problem I know but I made a decision – a difficult one and I moved on.

Then there were the middle years (a whole other speech!)- decisions to go back to school, to move, to change jobs, careers, homes, states.


•There are many other decisions I made between then and now. Decisions I regret. Decisions that helped me survive and decisions that made my life fun. Decisions that define me in a way. I’m adventuresome , stubborn, a little off center and adaptable. And I’m not done yet. Who knows where my decision to join ToastMasters may lead me?