[Oliver]

Hi Uncleted,

I did reply, but for some reason it’s not showing up on the forum, so I will try and repost it below here…

Hi Uncleted,
I Was thinking about asking a similar question. I was curious how other people go about it too. I’ve only been playing for just under 4 months so still very early days. Because of this, my finger speed and coordination simply isn’t there yet to get tunes up to session speed while being clear and understandable! There are a couple tunes that I am close, but I play them a lot. I assumed it’s mainly down to just not having all the muscle memory yet. So I tend to start learning a new tune when I feel that I can play something at the best of my ability.

I practice on average probably 3 hours a day and seem to be progressing nicely. I don’t have any problems learning basic melodies, but the ornamentation, variance and speed is where I’m much slower (getting that useless little finger to do what I want it to do!)
I probably have about 15 tunes (basic melodies) under my belt so far. What works for me is to always try and have a new tune I’m working on. My logic behind this is by getting my fingers playing as many varying melodies as possible, I’m building finger control and independence.
So I dedicate a portion of my daily practice to this (maybe an hour or so) but I also dedicate about the same time each day to reviewing one or two of the tunes I’ve already learnt, (I only look at one or two a day to really get in a lot of repetition) working on ornamentation, speed, clarity etc etc, I will also dedicate an hour ish to working on specific techniques, like rolls, tone, arpeggios etc, or building speed through playing scales or phrases with a metronome. I put a lot of work into this because i personally need to, but I guess others who are more advanced might not need to.

But to cut a long story short, I always try to have a new tune I’m working on so as to improve dexterity etc, and when I feel I have the basic melody learnt to the best of my ability, i will then put it into my bank of tunes, and play it most days for a while, working on ornamention etc, while learning a new tune.

Not sure if this is the most efficient way to go about it, but it seems to work for me. It might change as I become more proficient.

All the best

Oliver

[Oliver]

Hi, Casey,

I personally haven’t bought a CD in years. Partly due to the fact that (at least for me) I don’t have the money to, but also you can listen to pretty much everything online for free now. plus if you want to pay for sites like Spotify, they are so cheap for what you get in return. It’s sad, but I think for most people, CDs are a bit of a luxury now. Also what with current technology like iPhones, Bluetooth etc, it kind of kills the CD player.

On a side note, I saw the new Apple MacBook Pro laptop doesn’t even have a CD drive any more…

And in terms of audio quality, digital formats are just as good. I actually did a large empirical study at University to see if people could tell the difference between CD and digital, and almost no one could, even professional sound engineers from the studio I was working at.

I even worked at a record store for a while that almost went bankrupt due no one buying hard formats any more.

I know that a lot of artists will sometimes do “special editions” that include artwork, information and maybe some extra tracks, but ultimately that all ends up on the net too.

If you have requests, it might be worth producing a limited few, but I think demand is much lower than it used to be.

Oliver

[Oliver]

Hi Casey and Jeff,

This is something that would be useful for me too as I am a bit Nomadic and don’t always have the Internet available. I completely understand that its difficult because files are so easily copied and shared nowadays. But something I just thought could work (and I’m no expert at all, so wouldn’t know how to go about it or if it is actually possible) would be an App for IOS and Android where the videos would be watchable offline. A bit like Spotify and the music. Obviously it would mean a lot of work developing the App, but just an idea.

All the best

Oliver

[Oliver]

Thumbs up for ‘The Galway Rambler’. Also, from that list, would love to see ‘Contentment is Wealth’.

Looking forward to it.

[Oliver]

Hi Casey,

Great news! Couple of suggestions: ‘The Bucks of Oranmore’ and ‘The Galway Rambler’.

Cheers,

Oliver

[Oliver]

Hi Zale,

Thanks, it seems to work for me. I don’t have much to compare it to but I’m happy with how it’s going anyway.

I really look forward to the point where I can start to focus more on the expressive details of a tune like you say. For the moment if I try to include double stops in a tune I usually get all sorts of whistles happening from touching the drone with my fingers. But I am loving seeing things getting better and better. I know it’ll come!

I was studying a bit about the whole world of improvisation and the theory involved (scales, modes, chords etc), but I tend to play more Celtic stuff, and there seems to be less call for Solos etc than in bluegrass and similar styles. Something else I’m really looking forward to diving into more at some point!

I completely agree about the gypsy jazz, such a passionate genre!

I suppose “Mastering” the fiddle is only a relative term. Like you say it goes on forever. As long as I can get to play with others and make people dance I’ll be happy!

All the best

Oliver

[Oliver]

Hi, Casey. Completely understand you wanting someone emersed in the genre to teach, the passion that comes through with players like that is always very inspiring, it would also be inkeeping with the website so far and the superb quality of the lessons you’ve already produced. Having said that, I can’t imagine anyone would object to you teaching some bluegrass tracks. I personally think you wouldn’t just tackle the tunes, but knock ’em flat on their backs!

As for recommendations for bluegrass fiddlers, I’m probably not the best person to ask as I’m just starting out in the genre. Look forward to seeing what you put together in the future though.

[Oliver]

Great list, and Kevin managed to slip in ‘king of the fairies’ too. Looking forward to it Casey.

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