Activity

Yeah, FM. But we’ll get there!!

Update: we cut guitar for 12 tunes this weekend. There will also be at least 3 technique tutorials in the initial release of Andre’s material.

Oh my gosh! You have been doing all of this in addition to a full time job? Wow. I hope you get a really good and long vacation someday.

OK, NewFiddler. Thx for that info. I think if you stay on a video page for a long enough period, that error will come up…it shouldn’t the first time through a video, but if you stop it and wait a while, it might happen. Hopefully that’s what’s going on. Let me know if it’s an issue. Thx!!

C

In the last day I have gotten an error message partway through playback of a couple of the tutorial videos… It said “HTML5: Network error… Please reload the page and try again.” I am using a windows laptop. When I would reload the page it would have to buffer again but it played fine. Hope that helps!

Hi Fiddlededee,

If you’re a note reader, one book that I always recommend to students is Gordon Stobbe’s Red Book of Scales and Arpeggios. It’s a book written with a fiddler in mind, in keys that we mostly play in, and what’s REALLY cool is that many of the exercises are very “fiddly,” meaning that the movements are typical of what you might…[Read more]

Hi NewFiddlier,

I competed in fiddle contests from the age of 7 up until the age of about 27. I found that the older I got, the more nervous I got, which is probably why I stopped when I did.

When students show an interest in competing, I always tell them to make sure they prepare their tunes to the point where they can play them in their…[Read more]

Hi New Fiddler,

That’s a great article by Donna Hebert. I remember reading it and am happy to have seen it again. She explains it quite well.

As mentioned, we fiddlers tend to play music for dancing, and when I do, I watch the dancers on the floor, find the best ones, and play to them.

We emphasize the off beats, and I think you can also…[Read more]

Yep. Except for a few random phrases I assume are québécois cursing.

This is great news! Thanks, Casey. It probably goes without saying, but I have a small but relevant (petite mais pertinente) question… will his lessons be in English?

Heads-up, Blossom.

Cutting guitar on 15-17 of Andre’s tunes this weekend…tunes on the tracking sheet include:

Reel A Castonguay
Reel Napolean
Andre Alain
La Soiree At Alcide
Le Torment
Poteau Blanc
Quad Franco-American
Reel Of Drummondville
Reel Du Pointe-au-pic
Reel de Sucre
Reel D’lssoudun
Reel du Hotelier
Reel of Telephone
Valse From t…[Read more]

Hi, Pat. Yeah…there are definitely benefits to playing by ear…

As far as a shoulder rest goes, I used to play without one. But once I switched, I found that I had less neck pain and also way more sound coming from my instrument. That’s one of the reasons I recommend the Wolfe Forte Segundo…it really opens up the sound of your instrument.…[Read more]

Thanks, Casey. I quit relying on sheet music about two years ago. Without it, I find it much easier to learn a tune. I do admit I look at printed noted now and then, but it is not the crutch it used to be (and no, I don’t (can’t) play every note you play). At an oldtime fiddle workshop a few weeks ago, the instructor stated that you really can’t…[Read more]

Good comments, Roland. Thx.

Hi NewFiddler – I would echo the idea that although many of the licks could be written out, there is a downside to doing so. You can’t notate groove, bow swells, vibrato, feel, etc… And the groove cannot be ignored…it is truly more important than the licks you play.

We had several requests a while back for…[Read more]

HI New Fiddler,

This is a great thread from lots of folks talking about learning by ear. I think overall any approach to learning that works for you is one that you should use. I also think being open to learning by any means necessary is the spirit of the fiddler and if the written music helps then by all means use it.

I would like to add an…[Read more]

HI New Fiddler,

This is a great thread from lots of folks talking about learning by ear. I think overall any approach to learning that works for you is one that you should use. I also think being open to learning by any means necessary is the spirit of the fiddler and if the written music helps then by all means use it.

I would like to add an…[Read more]

I am new to playing completely by ear and have mixed feelings about the experience. It can be fun but also frustrating. I do enjoy the freedom but at the same time even if I learn a tune completely from sheet music I am able to mix it up and play around with it afterward and experience that freedom anyway. In my case, I would rather some of the…[Read more]

Thanks for your reply… I was thinking the same thing about the Scottish tunes… Maybe John McAlpine’s Strathspey because it is pretty slow yet very interesting 🙂

HI New Fiddler,

Great that you read it and its a reliable fact and comparison. Not being a Classical player I’ve only observed no one is tapping their feet in Classical land so I have no idea where the downbeat would be in a classical tune with out trying to figure it out.

Fiddling on the other hand is primarily dance music in the folk tradition…[Read more]

Hi New Fiddler,

Good question you pose there. I really don’t have any answer for that other than maybe listen to some Scottish bowing in their slow tunes as they have more technique in that style of paying. Or consider tunes with harmonics or intricate moving double stops with good intonation and pitch as I would think are challenging for bowing…[Read more]