[NewFiddler]

I ended up with a GX. I was able to trial the NX and the GX for a week and got to try the SX for a few minutes. I didn’t like the weight balance (I felt like it was too close to my hand) of the SX – though some people might like the way it felt. I’m still not sure the GX was worth the price jump up from the NX but I do enjoy the light and versatile feel of it in my hand. It feels like a good tool 🙂

[NewFiddler]

Does it matter if your rosin is old? i’ve had mine for years.

[NewFiddler]

I am new to playing completely by ear and have mixed feelings about the experience. It can be fun but also frustrating. I do enjoy the freedom but at the same time even if I learn a tune completely from sheet music I am able to mix it up and play around with it afterward and experience that freedom anyway. In my case, I would rather some of the advanced licks or double stops be written out as options and then learn to put them together in my own way. It’s quite tedious sometimes to rewind over and over again to try to “get” something that I could instantly pick up if I could read it. Makes me want to explode sometimes! 🙂 I would really appreciate a separate sheet music file that writes out some of the advanced licks as excerpts and options- I wouldn’t need the whole song written out again (we’ve go the basic version for that). Neither method (sheet music or by ear) is the “right” one right 🙂 It’s music! Created to be enjoyed… I think having both methods available would be nice and some advanced sheet music would make it more enjoyable for me. Thanks for listening!

[NewFiddler]

Thanks for your reply… I was thinking the same thing about the Scottish tunes… Maybe John McAlpine’s Strathspey because it is pretty slow yet very interesting 🙂

[NewFiddler]

Hi again,

I have another “fiddle contest” question. In addition to the typical contest (with age divisions, etc) I am hoping to enter a “hot bow” contest that allows more freedom with technique (hokum, for example) and style (any genre is allowed). I have ideas for which tunes to use as my “fast” options but I am unsure about my “slow” tune… Any ideas about a slow tune that can still be played with some fancy bowing techniques or at least has something “different” that would make it stand out? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[NewFiddler]

Thanks for taking the time to write all that down! It was helpful… I am an advanced classical violinist but I am new to fiddling 🙂 Though I can handle the “advanced” licks fine because of nerves (having mostly played in an orchestra) I think I will stick to a simpler version the first time. One other question I had related to that transition is – should I lay off on some vibrato? I read that it can make me sound too polished and “classical”?

[Author]

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