Louise Arsenault
Louis Leger
Louise Arsenault from Mont Carmel Prince Edward Island started playing fiddle at age 7, sneaking her father's fiddle out of its case. She grew up surrounded by music with childhood friends Helen and Albert Arsenault, the children of renowned PEI fiddler Eddy Arsenault. There were kitchen parties and visiting musicians. Her father, Alyre Gallant, was a fiddler known for his older, more rhythmic style of fiddling. "I also grew up in a musical family," she explains, "My father played the fiddle and my mother played the pump organ. I started playing fiddle when I was seven. I've learned a lot of tunes from my dad. He used to take me to all the music contests when I was growing up."
She can be heard on the Party Acadien cd along with Eddy Arsenault and Anastasia Desroches and later joined the group Barachois, devolving later into Gadelle.
Here’s a fast, then a slow version of La Reel à Stéphane. Louise says a few words about the tune that she wrote, then plays it first at speed, then at a slower speed for learning.
Voici une vidéo de Louise Arsenault, jouant un pièce de sa composition: La Reel à Stéphane, d’abord vitesse normale et suite, une version plus lente pour apprendre.
Another composition from Louise Arsenault, Reel du Barachoise, once again played at normal speed then slowed down for learning.
Une autre composition de Louise Arsenault, cette fois c’est le Reel du Barachoise. Encore joué d’abord vitesse normal, suivit à vitesse ralantit pour apprendre.
Another composition from Louise Arsenault - Le Reel des Narcisses, played normal then slowed down.
Encore une autre composition de Louise Arsenault - Le Reel des Narcisses, enrégistrée à vitesse normale et ensuite à vitesse plus lente pour apprendre.