Something about me. Who are you ???

[Anonymous]

Hello
I would like to introduce myself my name is Peter I am from Denmark.
I have played on the fiddle 2 years now. My journey on the the fiddlen has been exciting but definitely not fun the first one and 1/2 years, Why because I could not make it sound like I wanted. We have a good violin education in Denmark but not a damn thing online, so I started by Darol Anger. I started from zero and is 49 years old. I started by Darol because I like bluegrass but must admit that the songs would not be stuck in my head, but learned a lot from him. Then I took 3 months by OAIM Online Academy of Irish Music it was much better for my brain. After that, I have been almost a year by Kimberly Fraser Cape Breton music I have learned a lot from her and she is playing wonderful music. Then I took a course by Geoffrey Fitzhugh Perry on scales nodes chord progression and bassline it has helped me a lot and he also taught me to have a loose wrist, it was elbow against the refrigerator for 2 months but what an effect it has had on my playing.
Today I learn a new melody in a week (the basic) and I have bought a Digitech JAMMAN Solo XT on it I record a bass line which I can play to.
The brain I own, and I (finger. wrist, bow pres and so on) have had big problems to work together. But I can embellish more and more ornamentation To the basic melody every day.
I’ve learnt the basic melody of Ookpik waltz, Blue River waltz,Sailor’s wife, Jenny Dang Weaver, Waiting for the Dawn,Boston Urban Ceilidh, The Captain, Da Slockit light.
I’m practising 3 hours + a day But I think that I have to be here a long time before I can play the advanced tunes like you.
But I’m really trying.

Happy new year to you all

Best regards

Peter

[Casey Willis]

Peter…Thanks much for giving us a bit of your story! It sounds like you are well on your way to becoming the player you would like to be. I think the fact that you’re practicing 3 hours a day will help you in your cause. And that’s a good approach in mastering the basic melody before attempting the more difficult ornamentations. Don’t give up, sir. Hanneke and I have been playing for 30+ years each. It takes time, and lots of what you are doing…practice. It seems that you have a good focus on technique which is so important, potentially more important than things like finger speed.

Keep it up! Thanks for posting!

[Casey Willis]

Any other folks want to post about your fiddling background? Maybe what you are having success with or struggling with??

[Roland White]

Hi Peter, Roland White Fiddler from Bend Oregon and I help Casey Moderate the forum topics. I have to say it’s always inspiring to hear of someone who will put in the time and dedication it takes to playing at the level you aspire to and to hear of your journey confirms in my mind that if you apply yourself to practice, knowledge and technique you can achieve your musical goals. And look where you have gone in such a short time? Each step of the journey is giving you more and more useful tools and techniques along the way. I know from my own experience that doing up to 3 hours a day of practice a day takes a serious commitment, so be careful of burnout, injury or exhaustion. Best to split your practice into 2-3 sessions and be sure and take a stretch break every 15-20 minutes. Keep your practice and learning curve going the way you are and you will continue to see improvement. Thanks for sharing your story on the forum, I just started what I wanted to be a daily blog or discussion board exactly about experiences like yours so feel free to respond to this or the other one and see if we can attract some other players about their experiences. And Happy New Year to you!

[Anonymous]

Hi Roland
First I want to say that I really enjoy playing on my fiddle today.
Because I can cheat a little when I play a melody when I drone open strings and make a scrunch when possible. (But it is not the same as Doublestops )
I continue to train to be able to control my doublestops but is well aware that there is some truth in talking about those famous 10,000 hours.
Have also had some pain in various parts of my body, it took long time to get the right shoulder rest, wrist and finger also has had to suffer especially when I had to train my vibrato, slide in with one finger in doublestops and if my elbow was not in its place, but I have learned to train correct and it does not hurt anywhere when I play and I think of not tightening too much.
I also get many good experiences when I have trained so much ex. Last year I tried to see if I could play the Gael I could not. I tried again last week and now I can play it and make 5 notes rolls with all fingers and it sounds good.
So I am 100% optimistic and continue to learn to play.

Peter

[Roland White]

Hi Peter, thanks for the reply and update. Its always great to have a good practice session and you are not cheating by using a drone string to help your intonation. It forms good listening habits to hear the two strings in tune. For your more difficult double stops my basic rule is to always have at least one finger of the stopped notes already in good tune before you try to make the next note, sometimes this automatically happens if you leave some of your fingers down during the melody, and what will soon follow is being able to grab those double stops at the same time after you build up some finger and ear training that goes with it. Also good to hear you’re staying on top of any injuries by being aware at all times of discomfort in your playing and making changes to eliminate it. I love Irish music and the 5 note roll is truly the most difficult to master. Keep up the good work let us know how its going. Have a Happy New Year with lots of great music and learning.

[Osmo hakosalo]

Hi
Great site – just joined in yesterday and started looking at Whistler’s Waltz
My name is Osmo and I started to play violin/ fiddle three + years ago just before turning 40. So I guess this is some sort of midlife crisis :-). I have some background in music and especially in playing the piano, so readind sheets etc was very familiar to me already.
I come from Finland and have been mainly playing Scandinavian and Finnish trads, but have now been very interested of old time and these great American waltzes you have here. I am trying to work on my vibrato, which definetly is not easy and I hardly ever need that in Scandinavian music. Unfortunaltely with these waltzes you just have to get it together ( at leats to some acceptable level) before you can really enjoy playing or listening them.
I have a fiddle teacher, but she is not expert in this style, so I was wondering if it is possible to get for example Skype lessons etc after I have some tunes worked up to a some reasonable level?

Cheers,

Osmo

[Casey Willis]

Hey, Osmo. Thanks again for joining. I think you are on the right path. Vibrato is key to bringing out the spirit of a waltz. I bet you have, but make sure to check out my technique tutorial on vibrato. There are a couple of good tips in there. And sure, when you feel like you are ready for a Skype lesson, just send me a message using the contact form or reply to the email I sent and we can set up a time. Sounds good! Keep up the work!

[Roland White]

Greetings Osmo, Roland White here I am the forum moderator. Welcome to fiddle video dot com. Great to hear that you joined the site and are enjoying the lesson modules. Yes the difficult tunes do require a lot of playing to get them under your fingers and ear, but if you stay on your learning path I’m sure you will succeed. Regarding the difficulty of the tunes I would suggest learning the Basic melody before you try the Advanced and be able to play up to speed or almost to waltz speed before you move on to the Advanced tutorial. As you become comfortable with that then move on to the Advanced and start adding in the advanced licks as you are able to absorb them and can execute them. Overall you will be putting the final arrangement together based on your skill level at that time and you can always add to the tune over time. I’m always looking for new licks with my tunes to give them variety and make them interesting. Vibrato is not as necessary in Oldtime fiddling but it is used in the Waltz’s. Check out Casey’s vibrato tutorial on the site. Thanks for the feedback.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Roland White.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Roland White.

[Osmo hakosalo]

Hi Casey & Roland!
The vibrato tutorial is great and useful, but it takes a lot of time to get it to a decent level, and as Casey said, there are many ways to do it. It seems to be a very personal journey to find what kind of vibe you want. I personally like Caseys wide and laid back vibrato very much and that is a big reason why I am trying to learn from your videos. I think that the tutorials work fine, but the best way for me has been to choose a song, find a recording I like from YouTube for example, even better if there is a song tutorial like here, and then just try to imitate imitate imitate until you are too frustrated to carry on…..and hope that something sticks to your head and muscle memory for the next training session 🙂
And this was basically Casey’s message in a nutshell.
The videos are just absolutely great.

[Casey Willis]

Osmo – you are on the right track, for sure. I really like Roland’s idea of recording yourself now so as to compare progress going forward. Keep up the good work. It is certainly a journey with no ending point, just successful pauses along the way…

[Roland White]

Hi Osmo, So glad you found the tutorial helpful. Casey has developed a very sweet and resonate voice with his playing, one I very much admire. His video presentations are also the best I have seen. I’m sure if you stay on your path you will benefit from this excellent instruction. Just for your own advancement you might record yourself now on a tune you play fairly well but want to sound better. Then after a few months of your practice record the tune again and listen to your improvements, especially with the vibrato. I’m sure you will hear the results. Regarding Vibrato as Casey said each person needs to find their own path to success with it but if you open yourself to watching a variety of good players techniques you will soon be developing what works for you. And imitation is is the foundation of the aural tradition or learning by ear. So take time to record yourself every few weeks and listen for your improvement. Play on and good luck with your progress. Check back in and post how your progress is doing.

[Osmo hakosalo]

Great idea Roland! Will do exactly that. Vibrato really takes time. I have watched many tutorials, many violinists/fiddlers, trained with my teacher and now I am starting to get an idea what I want to sound like and some idea how to train for that. For sure it is going to take quite some time to get it working properly but with your videos and recording myself regularly are making the training more efficient. Thanks guys!

[Anonymous]

Hi Osmo
Welcome to a really good site now we can make a Scandinavian Jam club, we can meet in Sweden LOL.

Peter

[Casey Willis]

Peter and Osmo…if y’all get to jamming, you will have to record it and send me a clip…I’ll load it up on the site! Great to see folks connecting through music.

[Roland White]

Hi Peter and Osmo, Well I must say this is a nice development to see folks getting together to make music as a result of the forum. Be sure and tell your friends and maybe a few more will join in. Play on, and best regards.

[Anonymous]

Hi
A small comment, it was a “Joke with the Jam”. It could be really nice(and I would love to) but if I go to my nearest airport I have 3 and 1/2 hour flight to Finland so it’s a bit far for us, but it’s great that we are more from Scandinavia who likes good music.

Peter

[Casey Willis]

I hear you, Peter. I was kidding as well. Nice to see folks get excited about fiddling, though!

[Osmo hakosalo]

Hi Peter!
Nice to see people here from my corner of the world. I was in a super jam session this weekend. We had a cruise ship full of jams when “Folklandia 2015” took off. Tens of great acts from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia and Scotland (also our band) performing and jamming for 24 hour cruise between Helsinki and Tallinn. After our set I was jamming with a friend of mine with Arto Järvelä from JPP for couple of hours. Great stuff. Managed to go to bed around 8.30 a.m…..You should come too next year since you are so close anyway. There are many Swedes and Swedish groups every year. It is such a great concept.
The Scandinavian Jam session is a must!

[Anonymous]

Hi Osmo
It sounds great with all the good music on a cruise, I’ll consider next year just give me a hint in November.
My wife and I are going on a little trip in NY in March, would just ask if there is anyone in here who know’s some local fiddlemusic places that are a must if you are in NY.

Peter

[Osmo hakosalo]

Ok, I will remind you later. Definetly worth checking out. I think Basco from Denmark was there one year.

Osmo

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