pcviola44

Hello,
I would like to know how many of you play on a violin that is larger than the standard 14″ body? In finding such an instrument have you strung up a small viola as a violin and used it as a fiddle? It’s something I need to consider for my taller and bigger students who (especially as adult beginners) are really uncomfortable on a 14″…[Read more]

Hello, My student and I are puzzling over tunes written in Scottish, Cape Breton, Irish and Old Time styles that appear to end on a note that is not the tonic or mode of the tune. What to make of that? Is there something that is common practice for how to end a tune written this way that is not described in the help sections of these tune…[Read more]

Hello, My students and I are trying to apply the “1, 4, 7” Scottish groove to tunes. We can get beats 1 and 7. Beat 4. Help! We can’t seem to feel it, get it at speed, understand this at anything remotely resembling a “reel” speed. (Ugh, no pun intended there)! I observed several of Hanneke’s Reel performances and sometimes I hear it and see…[Read more]

I’ve heard the terms Session and Ceilidh thrown around to indicate how Irish and Scottish Fiddlers might play in a group. What are the rules of these groups and how do they differ between Irish and Scottish? For example, I’ve heard that all the players in an Irish Session have to play the same tune together exactly the same, or, well, maybe…[Read more]

Hello! I’ve viewed all of Hanneke’s Scottish videos, and I am confused about how to determine the appropriate tempo for any given Strathspey in the absence of an available recording? I listen to her performances of the Strathspey genre and the musical character and tempo of each seems somewhat unique. I’d like to determine if that is because…[Read more]

Hello, Does the Waterfall ever get used in reverse? So for example, starting on B, flick, and then ending on the c or c#? Or is that heresy and very un-Scottish?