Fiddle Patch
Fiddle Level Six
Fiddle Patch — “Fiddle Patch” is a set of variations on a twelve-bar blues. Dale Potter based this western swing fiddle showpiece on a tune titled “Oklahoma Stomp” composed by steel guitarist Joaquin Murphy of Spade Cooley fame. His recording of this and “Fiddle Sticks Boogie” sent shock waves through the fiddle world that are still felt today. His use of double and triple stops employing Major 6th and dominant 9th chords, inspired by non-pedal steel guitar players, were utterly new to the fiddle vocabulary in 1952 when he cut these classic sides, and these two recordings profoundly influenced both western swing and bluegrass fiddling.