Troubleshooting 6 – More Left Hand!

One of the main culprits causing fiddling to sound out of tune is the 2d finger. It wants to be next to the third finger; that’s its natural place. When we have to place it next to the 1st finger, and far from the third, it’s awkward but definitely doable, by everyone, if they think about it and teach their muscle memory the right way. Those who don’t want to think about it tend to throw the 2d finger down somewhere between 1st and 3d, and that apathy has a price — it turns everything a bit sour on the account of just one or two notes.

Note about “TechVid” videos mentioned below — they refer to the  technique video groups available on fiddle-online.com.  There are ten videos in each group.  You can work with them in real-time or at your own pace to make use of the exercises while being reminded of what to aim for.  Written descriptions are only a rough sketch of what to do.  In fact, often videos are not even enough — many times I’ve seen people not really discover the personal context for using these exercises until they had a lesson.  If you want this kind of help, a one-off  online lesson can be arranged via the Credit Store.

Below are suggestions for handling or preventing the following problems:

  • Trouble playing low 2d finger
  • Trouble playing low 1st finger
  • Not immediately sure which way is higher/lower
  • Trouble playing fingers individually, especially 2d and 3d

Continue reading Troubleshooting 6 – More Left Hand!

Hosting a fun Multi-level Session

Most fiddling is very sociable — playing with others in a session, at a ceilidh, for dancers, providing support for a community function such as a wedding or funeral.  Even in the extreme situation such as an intense fiddle competition, you’re judged primarily on whether your spirit and sense of the tradition is convincing, and the audience is with you, not agin’ ya.

One of the best ways to get comfortable with fiddling as a participatory and sociable activity is through sessions.  Let’s talk here about hosting a good session, and next time about how a player can fit in to any session.

The ideal session is a repeat event with a fairly consistent group of players that get to know each other and their repertoire.  But every session, even such an “ideal” group, has to deal with players with different levels and experiences.

Here are some ideas for hosting a successful and fun multi-level session.

Continue reading Hosting a fun Multi-level Session

Tuning the Violin

In the last 3 posts we’ve looked at ideas for playing in tune.  Now we get to the part that has nothing to do with playing skills:  tuning the violin itself.  It’s kind of a necessary evil.  If you could have a self-tuning violin, and never learned how to tune it yourself, it wouldn’t affect your ability to play music.  (If you’re an inventor, get cracking!)strings4tuning

The most useful skill is to be able to tune your violin by ear, but even if you use an electronic tuner there are a few techniques everyone needs to know, so we’ll discuss both approaches — how to use the pegs and the universal ability to match pitches.  This is a pretty detailed explanation, so you may already know some of it; hopefully some of it will fill in some gaps or give you something to think about in a new way.

I once tried tuning a violin exclusively with an electronic tuner, and it took me a lot longer than doing it by ear.  The reason is that the eyes, and all the mental processing they require, are a lot slower than the ears.  This is true in tuning, in playing, in reading music, in watching your fingers, in watching other people’s fingers — sometimes the eyes just get in the way of muscle movement that’s going to happen with or without them, and other times the eyes just require more thought, attention, processing, to get something done, than the ears do.

Playing a violin that’s in tune is like starting on a level playing field.  If it’s out of tune, everything else has to adjust to make the music come out right, and that’s just not fair!

Electronic Tuner

We’ll start by talking about the electronic tuner.  Continue reading Tuning the Violin

All Music Is Improv!

Improvisation is about finding a path to get to the right note at the right time.  Composers like Beethoven improvised all the time, and managed to write down some of what they created.  When we play those compositions, they should sound as fresh as when they were written.

Too often, learning music seems to be about perfecting the playing of a sequence of notes.  It really should be about appreciating the way a tune (or composer) arrives at its musical destinations–the next beat, next phrase, next theme.  This is how the tune makes musical statements.  This is what the tune has to say, and what you have to say when you play it.
two-pathways
To focus on the perfection of each note is like focusing on each letter that spells each word you say as you speak.  Ultimately, you want to spell well, and say everything the way you want it to come across, but getting each detail right is not your first priority.  That would be like not seeing the forest for the trees.

Here’s a basic exercise in improvisation:

Continue reading All Music Is Improv!

Will I Ever Get Good At This??

Some fiddlers enjoy whatever music time they can get; others get a little daunted thinking about the long term and wondering how good a player they will become.  The truth is that nobody gets “good” at fiddle; we all just get better.  Most of our focus is on progressing from week to week, or from lesson to lesson.  Thinking too much about the long term can be daunting.

The only judge of whether someone is actually “good” is the listener.  If people keep coming up to you after performances and tell you they enjoyed your playing, were moved by it perhaps, or were impressed, well then you’re a pretty good player.

One time I had an elderly student named Joe who was quite obsessed with knowing whether he would be any good, and whether he had time to get to a decent level of playing.  The next student, Vick, happened to be a relatively new beginner who really wasn’t very good at the instrument because he had two time-consuming jobs, a family, and a sick relative to look after.  But the magical thing was, when Joe asked Vick

Continue reading Will I Ever Get Good At This??

Reading vs Playing

How similar is reading music to reading words? Is playing from written music something like reading a speech or a story out loud? If so, what happens if we read phrase by phrase, or word by word? What does it sound like to play music by phrase, by beat, or note by note?

When someone delivers a speech, it’s more effective to speak from notes, memory or extemporaneously than to simply read a text. Many speakers simulate directness with teleprompters even though they are reading. How does it feel when someone plays music from memory, or improvises, as opposed to reading off a music stand?

We enjoy storytellers and plays, yet we also enjoy having someone read a story or book to us. Which is the best model for music performance, or does it change from one type of music to another?

And what does this say about learning to read music?

Continue reading Reading vs Playing

Playing Faster 3

In Playing Faster 1 we talked about ways to think better about the music you learn and play, so that you clear the way to playing faster if you wish.  In Playing Faster 2 we looked at some techniques for learning to play a piece of music faster.

Now let’s look at the unspoken question — how fast do you want to play?  Below is a list of actual tempos used on a variety of recordings.
Metronome
If all you want to do is play faster, you will end up playing too fast.  What you want to do is be able to play at a good tempo, one that flows, one that suits the tune and the reason you’re playing it.  Feel the beat you want, and play to that.  Worrying about playing faster will make you rush, with no anchor or goal.

There are no firm rules about how fast to play a particular tune, but if you are playing it for a purpose, such as contra dancing, there is a range of tempos you need to reach so that the dancers can enjoy dancing.  Dance tunes have ideal tempos, but even those vary from one location to another.  Tunes for other purposes, such as marching, a wedding processional, a funeral, a tune to open a program, or to close one — all have a suitable range of appropriate tempos.
Continue reading Playing Faster 3

Playing Faster 2

In Playing Faster 1 we talked about priorities.  Notes or beats?  If you want to play faster you will do best to focus on the beat and the beat notes, rather than on getting all the notes.

Here are some games to help you play a tune faster.  It’s best to do tfast-speeding-carhese on small, manageable parts of a tune, not the whole thing.  Start by working only on a phrase, or if need be, a half phrase.  A phrase is usually four beats — all the learning materials on fiddle-online.com break tunes down by phrase, both in the audio and the sheet music.

 

Continue reading Playing Faster 2

A note to Intermediate Players

Intermediate players have different needs than beginners or advanced fiddlers.

If you are at the intermediate level, you know how to play a number of tunes, and have probably enjoyed playing with others in sessions or in a group.  You know the joys of playing and getting better, and look forward to going farther.

Stay tuned to this blog for a number of posts exploring ideas for you to consider.

A good starting point is to evaluate your goals now and then.  Are you most drawn to the social factors, building repertoire, playing better, learning a particular style of fiddling? Do you want to play for dancers, play gigs with a band, join in public sessions, perform with a large amateur group, play solo spots, enjoy private musical gatherings among friends, enjoy playing and exploring the music at home for yourself?  Future articles will address all of these topics.

The fiddle-online.com site can help you work on Continue reading A note to Intermediate Players

A Note to Adult Beginners

By the time you’re an adult, you’re  quite accomplished in many skills — at work, while driving, being with friends and family.  But when you pick up a new musical instrument, you start fresh.  It’s an exciting adventure, but also humbling!

In learning fiddle, you will blend the physical, intellectual, and emotional.
Physical:  Your body may not always operate the way you presume.  Be open to new discoveries.
Intellectual:  Think constructively.  Sometimes you need to understand how to do things, while at other times, you’ll find that overanalyzing can get in the way, because much of what you need to learn is nonverbal.
Emotional:  As your violin becomes your musical voice, you will have feelings about various pieces of music — these will often motivate your learning faster and truer than following all the rules.

You already know a lot, because

Continue reading A Note to Adult Beginners