Casey Willis

Awesome update, Patti! And thanks so much for that feedback. Very happy to hear you are enjoying membership! Stay in touch.

Patti – I talked with Hanneke. She uses a Playonair rest. There you go…good luck!

Hi, Patti. I think a well-adjusted shoulder rest can definitely help to reduce neck strain. I use a Wolfe Forte Segundo. I’ll check in with Hanneke to see what she uses.

Hi, Drew. Thanks for posing the question. Maybe a left-handed player can offer some insights specific to those challenges. As to your question regarding if it’s an acceptable solution to develop a technique in which the fretting hand collapses to support the instrument, I would recommend doing anything you can to avoid it. I agree that there…[Read more]

That’s great, Bob. Fiddling (and music in general) is a life-long journey. I’m glad to connect with like-minded folks who are interested in challenging themselves. Thanks for the input on slurs as well as your feedback on the site. It, too, is a journey and I thank the folks who are along for the ride. Take care, and stay in touch, sir!!!

Hi Bob. Great question. Some sluring is related to the style of fiddling. Texas/Contest-Style, for instance, lends itself to slurs in certain places, especially on turn arounds. I discuss this in several of the Contest-Style tunes taught here on the site.

For waltzes, it is much more a matter of feel and flow. I do carry slurs over the bar…[Read more]

Nice, Peter. Gatta love the feel. Thx for posting, sir.

Thanks, Larry. I’ll check his site out. Fred at THE VIOLIN SHOP is another great resource. He’s a stand up kinda guy and has done some good work for me in the past.

You’re right: bridge placement is just part of the story…sound post, string type, bow hair all play into a good violin sound…

Follow-up, Larry. I’ve removed caching on the site entirely, so as to keep these kinds of issues from happening. That should take care of any issues going forward.

Happy learning, sir!

Thanks, Zengoat. Waltzes are where it’s at for me…too many waltzes; too little time. Take care!

That’s great, Larry! Good plans, all. I’m glad to hear of your progress. Keep us posted.

Hi Larry – glad to hear that this issue resolved itself. I bet you’re right…sometimes the caching and membership status (logged in vs logged out) don’t play nicely with eachother. If you’re logged in but the site doesn’t show what you expect, just hit F5. It sounds like you know what you’re doing though. If you have issues going forward,…[Read more]

Larry – I found it! I had it classified incorrectly, so it was not showing up in the bow technique videos section. This tutorial contains a bunch of my best advice on wrist and finger techniqe.

Check it out HERE, and let me know if this gave you any insights!

Keep up the good work, sir.

Hi Larry! Great question. And yes, you have hit upon the most difficult fiddling element to master in my opinion. I just realized I don’t have a technique video talking about more advanced exercises….I do have some to provide. I will post here or email you when I get that up on the site.

In the mean time, the wall trick is good if you are…[Read more]

Is it this tune, Zengoat?

Seems to be a nice classic sounding 1,4,5 grasser…Or are you talking about a different tune??

Thanks for the update, Roland. I know a lot of folks here in the Pacific Northwest are gearing up for contest season. I think it’s great to have a goal to work on. I always felt that my playing was refined when I practiced the same song over and over preparing for contests…

Good luck to you in all your fiddling endeavors this year!