Strings, particularly the violin, began gaining popularity outside of classical music in the 20th century with the emergence of jazz and country music in the United States. Notable early string musicians included old time fiddlers Bill Hensley and Asa Helton who competed in the South. Western swing also rose in popularity between the 1920s-1940s, led by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys. In the latter half of the century, Irish fiddlers Liz Caroll and Martin Hayes emerged, as did the innovative Turtle Island String Quartet in the 1980s, the first commercial string quartet. Several other string players such as Darol Anger, Kenji Bunch, and Ben Sollee also pioneered
3. A BRIEF HISTORY: THE 20TH CENTURY
During the 20th century, we saw a global emergence of jazz, and an
emergence of
country in the United States.
Strings, the violin in particular, began to gain popularity in these areas of
music.
Starting a branch out from the standard…
4. IN THE EARLY HALF OF THE CENTURY…
We saw musicians such as old time fiddlers Bill Hensley and Asa
Helton, who tore up competitions in the South.
5. WESTERN SWING
Western swing gained popularity
between the 20’s and 40’s. A big
group to come out of this
movement was Bob Wills and his
Texas Playboys, who had
several hits between 1938 and
1944.
6. AND THE RISE OF JAZZ VIOLIN.
Left to right: Stephane Grappelli, Stuff Smith, and Joe Venuti
7. IN THE LATTER HALF OF THE CENTURY…
Irish fiddlers Liz Caroll and Martin Hayes emerged.
8. THE 1980’S AND THE TURTLE ISLAND STRING
QUARTET
• A quartet of revolutionary string
players who stretched the limits of
ensemble performance.
• Turtle Island was the first string
quartet to achieve commercial
success.
9. DAROL ANGER
• Founding member of
Turtle Island String
Quartet.
• Versatile violinist
• Chop master.
• All around cool guy.
11. KENJI BUNCH
• Juilliard Grad
• Violist and composer
• Blue grass fiddler (on viola and
violin)
• Plays in a duo with his wife.
• His compositions are insane(ly
good.)
12. BEN SOLLEE
•
•
•
•
Singer-songwriter cellist.
Kentucky native
Passionate about social issues
Plays cello in different ways, known
for alternative styles of pizzacato.
• Rides his bicycle to gigs with his
band.
• Really friendly guy.
13. THERE ARE SEVERAL MORE THAT WE HAVEN’T
DISCUSSED…
Ralph Farris Jr (violist): Founding
member of the contemporary quartet,
ETHEL.
David Wallace (violist): A member of the
New York Philharmonic and a professor at
the Juilliard school. Known for his Texas
fiddling expertise and new age jazz
compositions.
Tracy Silverman (violin): Electric rock
violinist.
Rushad Eggleston (cellist): Jazz, Rock
and Bluegrass cellist.
