chops

[martheine.ludwig]

Are there different kind of ways to play chops? I see fiddle players across different genres doing something near the frog and sometimes it almost looks like they are on the metal part doing some sort of percussive things.

I would love to learn if there are different techniques to “chopping” the fiddle.

Thank you!

Blessings,
Martheine

[Casey Willis]

Hi, Martheine. I might look at cutting a short lesson on this topic later this year. My chopping style is much different from some others…I have more of a country/bluegrass approach. I generally chop close to the frog, but sometimes when I’m chopping for visual effect (rather than to create a tone) I chop closer to the tip end of the bow. I usually choose double stops that work over the chord structure of the song and run with that.

Casey Dreissen has a good tutorial series on his chopping you might want to check out.

Good question…thanks for the suggestion. I’m snowed under with lessons from Kevin, Hanneke and Patti which still need editing, but I’m thinking that I’ll have more free time towards the end of this year.

C

[sabrina]

Hi Casey,

I did a post (i don’t remember where…) a little while ago (end december i think) about chop in Scottish fiddling : i was asking if Hanneke could eventually do a technical video about her chop style (explanation, exersises…) . She does that a lot in her playing and it really adds nice rhythms.

Thanks !

S.

[Casey Willis]

I remember that post, Sabrina. I’ll ask Hanneke again the next time she’s scheduled in. She didn’t really feel like it was an area where she was an expert last time…we shall see…

C

[sabrina]

Thanks Casey,

Not an expert ???….Well i’d like to be “not an expert” like that someday…. 🙂

S.

[Casey Willis]

Couldn’t agree more, Sabrina…Although if you are Hannake and have Casey Dreissen playing on your album, I can understand (you hear Casey’s chops on every outro video clip on this site).

And thanks, Martheine for the kind words!!

[martheine.ludwig]

Thank you Casey!! I appreciate all your hard work!

Blessings,
Martheine

[sabrina]

Casey,

I checked Casey Driessen website and some of his materials on YT… : yes…he is definitely a very good fiddler and his chops are truly awesome. A good musician indeed.

I understand his collaboration with Hanneke, and didn’t know that he made the chop’s intro for the videos here.

However, i saw a video on YT where he does chops but he doesn’t really give explanations. He SHOWS things but that’s not enough.

And that’s what i like the most here : tutorials and techniques videos are very clear, even when complicated things come on the table.

Good musicians AND good instructors !! And that’s a really rare combination…

S.

S.

[Roland White]

Hi Sabrina, Just chiming in on the Chops thread but want to say I couldn’t agree with you more on the quality of the FV site. I’ve observed the chops fad take hold and regret that I don’t do them as I’m usually a melody player with fiddle tunes not playing bluegrass or arranged music. But I like what it creates for variety when its used tastefully. Thank you for your kind words about FV and we appreciate your participation on the forum. Cheers and fiddle on. Roland

[AiriVesikko]

Hi,

Could you help me with chopping problems? I do all my fiddlings with viola, which is bigger of course and the bow is also longer and a bit heavier. I don’t know if my bow’s ok for this kind of playing (or just my poor technique, maybe?); the top of the bow trembles while chopping, and that’s annoying. In the videos I think I don’t see any trembling at all. What could be wrong? I can handle staccatos and spiccatos, but this, chopping, oh no…

-Airi

[Author]

Posts