I’m 15, and play both classical and fiddle. I’ve played almost 4 years. I found FiddleVideo about two years ago, have NEVER regretted it! I love classical and fiddle. I don’t know which I like best!
I’ve played fiddle pretty much since my beginning, definetaly by year 2 (I didn’t have FiddleVideo last year, but subscribed again this year, because it’s awesome and I missed it! I’m a girl, so I’m pretty chatty?). Because of this, I can switch between both styles fine. Of course I use sheet music for classical, but play by ear when it comes to fiddle. I think this is because I did both styles interchangeably from pretty early on. I’m no expert at either of course, but I find that the classical foundation has prepared me for anything technical that I might come across in fiddle music. From the classical, I have great intonation, vibrato, double stops, etc. So, coming to tunes like Gardenia Waltz and Ashoken Farewell are quite easy. The fiddle, on the other hand, has helped me in certain classical passages where it’s kind of ‘fiddly’. Fiddle bowing in Texans, Canadian, and some Blugrass isn’t too tricky. Québécois is my favorite style, and of course that’s the bowing I find hard, especially the ‘cuts’ in the fast reels. I’ve started with the easier reels that André Brunet teaches though, and feel like I’m definately on my way to having that groovy bowing down, although it’s going to take me a long time!
I definetaly think that fiddle in the long run is easier than classical, but it sure has things that are still really hard, like the bowings! Also, getting that charismatic groove to your playing.
