Fiddle Full
Fiddle Full
Improving Your Fiddle Playing Even More
Fiddler's Lesson #3
Any time is a good time to reevaluate your fiddle playing and to plan out some activities that will help you move towards playing better. Self evaluation of your playing is a bit difficult at first but with some practice it will be very rewarding since it allows you to direct your own learning process. For example, consider your bowing, Can you play jigs smoothly with a strong rhythm? The drive and power of the jig comes from the bow arm and getting the lift in your playing will make a big difference in your sound. Practice playing the 6/8 rhythm of a jig paying attention to the first eight note of each triplet. Playing with as little muscular tension is key and transfer the accent gently through your bow hand. I find that most of the pressure is coming thru my index finger to the bow.
For any of the dance styles you can identify an area to work on. Strathspeys, the strong cuts for instance, the hornpipes, a lighter lift to the playing, airs, longer bows with more expression . Each player will have her own areas to work on . Don't choose too many or that will be self defeating. Choose a few areas and work on them daily for a few months and I'm sure you will see improvements.
Some players just concentrate on learning new tunes but this can be problematic if that's all you do. Often the tunes are not appropriate to your level of playing and you end up frustrated or worse: with a physical ailment from the stress . Having a good teacher to guide you can help ( check out the list of fiddlers willing to teach in the PEI fiddler's newsletter) and I know of a few good books. Two that are more traditional are Matt Cranitch's The Irish Fiddle Book and Traditional Scottish fiddling , a players guide . Tools for Musicianship by Matt Glazer is more oriented towards jazz and blues but any musician will find if useful . It covers rhythm, advanced ear training, harmony and melodic development and composition( three CD's included).
Perhaps this is one area where classical music has its' advantages. The program of learning is structured to take you through a series of exercises and tunes that help to evolve your playing sequentially. If you know of some good books that take a developmental approach to traditional music please e-mail me and I will mention them in the next shoptalk.
Enjoy and till next time keep your bow rosined and the fiddle in tune.
Roy Johnstone
@ 2010
About the Author
Roy Johnstone is an award winning musician and composer living in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
how do you change AVS video converter duration time?
Iv got the registered full version of AVS Video Converter and i am trying to convert a film for my iPhone. The duration is 01:07:14 but when i put the file into AVS it says output duration 5 seconds!!?
I have had a fiddle and cannot find a way to edit the output duration size.
Im rocking version 6.2.
Any help appreciated!!
Solutions:
1, Convert videos and audios between popular formats: AVI, MOV, MP4, MPEG, WMV, MOV, DivX, Xvid, VOB, ASF, MPG, MP3, WMA, 3GP, RM, RMVB.
2, Burn videos to DVD with DVD menu. First, use Leawo to convet video to VOB, then use star burn (http://www.flash-video-mx.com/starburn/ ) to burn the VOB file to DVD.
And here are some step by step guides may can help you.
http://www.leawo.com/knowledge/
good luck
Fiddle Full
Fiddler's Polka - Full Circle Performs on a Polka Cruise -www.gonefullcircle.com
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Jole Blon: The Original Cajun Fiddle Of Harry... $10.99 Full title: Jole Blon: The Original Cajun Fiddle Of Harry Choates.The title cut has become the "Cajun national anthem," plus many other great fiddle-led Cajun tunes. ~ Jeff Hannusch |
Improving Your Fiddle Playing
Fiddler’s Lesson #2
By Roy Johnstone
As with everything else in life, your mental attitude makes all the difference and fiddling is no different. There are as many different reasons for playing the fiddle as there are fiddlers. Everyone has their own twist on why they spend hours trying to draw a horsehair bow across the strings. I too, play for many different reasons: to make a living, to enjoy the company of other musicians, to watch with delight when someone gets up and dances, but mostly I play because I love it. Playing the fiddle is part of who I have become. It hasn’t always been like that and at times I still have to remind myself to just appreciate the joy of making music. It’s an ancient pastime and I believe it’s a part of our genetic cultural make-up. For me music is as essential as air to our well being. So why do YOU play the fiddle? Your answer may seem obvious or even different from one day till the next, but whatever your answer, let it guide your practice.
So let’s talk about practice. For many this word conjures up images of forced labour or detention after school. Practice is putting your motivation to play the fiddle “to work, or perhaps I should say “putting it to play”. Both work and play can bring very meaningful rewards. To make your practice time enjoyable, you need to have a good space in which to practice, preferably in a well lit room where you won’t disturb and you won’t be disturbed (if necessary, a mute will help). Have all the stuff you need handy, music stand, tapes and CD’s to play along with, etc. We are creatures of habit so if you can develop a regular routine for practicing all the better.
What to practice is a key question and here a good teacher will be very helpful but a good book on fiddling geared to your level will also be very useful. Here are a few pointers that I’ve picked up along the way to guide my practice. Loosen up before you begin playing, play slowly and listen closely to the sound of each note, stay as relaxed as possible, watch that your bow crosses the strings tangentially (at roughly 90 degress), play double notes to check your intonation (eg. open G string with 3 rd finger on D string), learn your scales and listen closely to other fiddlers. Playing the fiddle can be a lifetime pursuit so don’t expect to play like the masters right away. Enjoy the ride as your playing evolves and improves little by little. Have fun, play with other musicians, and enjoy the experience of playing and practicing!
Till next time keep the bow rosined and the fiddle in tune!!!
* Copyright Roy Johnstone
for bio info and other lessons and musical samples www.royjohnstone.com
About the Author
Roy Johnstone is an award winning musician and composer living in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
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