Any fiddle dabblers?

[dzen]

Was at the annual local jam a couple weeks ago. There was only one fiddler there, and he only stayed for a half day out of three. There were about 4 mandolin players, 3 banjo, 2 dobro, and, of course, about 40 guitar players. Guitar is my main instrument, but it's been obvious to me that there are more than enough guitar players in the world. I love mandolin, but it seemed to me like every circle I was in at the jam would have been enhanced most by the presence of a fiddle. I borrowed one of my buddy's abandoned fiddles from his kids' Suzuki lessons and have been working on it for the past week. I know the fingerboard (mentally, my fingers would still like some frets to find their places) from playing the mandolin and just very occasionally I get my intonation and bowing right at the same time and it doesn't sound too bad. I'd like to be Byron Berline but I'd settle for just being able to accompany and take a break on a few ballads. Has anyone taken up fiddle in middle age? Is there a Fiddle Cafe on the internet?

[Dena Haselwander]

www.fiddleforum.com is a fun site...




Dena

[mandomick]

I bought a fiddle at 48, after 40 yrs of guitar and about 5 or 6 yrs of mandolin. No 1 on 1 instruction but I consider myself lucky to have found a very good 2 disc set of dvd's for learning bluegrass fiddle by Kenny Kosak. Excellent teacher IMO. Starts with nice and slow, easy stuff and gradually progresses.(like you 'pose to) Also has a booklet for those that read.

Seriously, I'd recomend it to anybody wanting to learn. Knowledge of the mandolin fretboard was a big help, otherwise I doubt that I would've tried to tackle it. I've been devoting an hour a day minimum and don't move to the next tune/lesson untill I can play the previous one clean and in tune. (or pretty close) I say go for it and good luck!


http://www.fiddlefork.com/ #and
fiddle forum are both good fiddle sites but the board traffic is a lot slower moving than here.

Also I think it's greatly improved my ear as left hand finger placement is critical without frets to guide you.

[Sandy Beckler]

Try Fiddlefork.com and Fiddlehangout.com
Most here would be slow to admit that they "dabble" in fiddle but it's all good.

Sanchan

[mandolin123]

I can dabble.

I have my great great grandaddy's fiddle. It's fun to try.

[fiddle5]

The fiddle is simple if you can play the mandolin. Whats the big deal?

[Aran]

Got my fiddle a few months back,

just waiting for the housemate to move out at the end of the month so I can practice without the risk of provoking a lethal reaction from the housemate.

[John Flynn]

The fiddle is simple if you can play the mandolin. Whats the big deal?

Not having frets. Having to use a bow. Having to hold the instrument under your chin. Remembering jamming with other mandolin players who took up the fiddle and went from sounding good on the mandolin to sounding terrible on the fiddle and then realizing you will have to go through that also. Other than that, nothing!

[Dave Reiner]

I've been fiddling for many years -- bluegrass, oldtime, Irish, swing. #Hard to put it down -- except to pick up a mandolin! #

For any fiddlers on this list, you're invited to the free jams and workshops at Fiddle H e l l #Massachusetts. #It's near Boston in Groton, MA, Nov 2-4. More info here. #Lots of local fiddlers, but also some far-flung visitors from across the US and Europe.

Dave Reiner

[Jerry Byers]

Fiddle Hangout is the newest site around - lots of material and players.

And yes, I just picked up the fiddle to learn.

[ApK]

I took up fiddle just before mando (got the mando to practice fiddle tunes). #Great fun. #Not quite as hard as I'd been led to believe.

www.fiddleforum.com is a good site.

Short of a live fiddle teacher, I'd recommend Brian Wicklund's American Fiddle Method, Volume 1 DVD/Book/CD set a great way to get going with a strong foundation.

ApK

[earthsave]

I got a fiddle as a gift several years ago and gave it a go to learn. I didnt stick with it but the hardest thing was to get the bowing stuff down after playing with a pick for so long it is an entirely different animal.

I found it easier to hold the fiddle in the crook of my arm, which put my hand and head in a more familiar position.

Knowing fiddle tunes on the mando, of which I am not good at remembering, did help a lot.

Maybe one year I'll get that thing out again and give it a go. If I could be half as dedicated as Mandomick I'd be happy.

Got a banjer a while back hoping to pick it up, but again have not followed through yet.

[JGWoods]

I have achieved various levels of mediocrity on fiddle, mando, guitar and banjo. It's too many instruments for me to master any given the amount of time I have left over in a day and in life to devote to musical persuits, but I can't let any of them go, so be it.
There's just something about the fiddle when I hit a double stop just right that will keep me coming back for more.

[Dena Haselwander]

...There's just something about the fiddle when I hit a double stop just right that will keep me coming back for more.

The universe stands still for a second, doesn't it?



Dena

[JGWoods]

The universe stands still for a second, doesn't it?



Dena

Well said!

[dzen]

[QUOTE]The universe stands still for a second, doesn't it?

Yeah, well said. It's like my golf game, I spend all day in the trees and waist deep rough, but at the end of the day it's the one good shot I hit that I remember.

Thanks for all the responses, maybe fiddlers aren't as rare and endangered as I feared.

[Jim Garber]

Was at the annual local jam a couple weeks ago. There was only one fiddler there, and he only stayed for a half day out of three.

Funny! Go to an old time fiddler's convention or gathering (like Clifftop or Galax) and you will see much more fiddles than anything else. I foten end up playing guitar due to the dearth of decent guitar players -- or people willing to play guitar -- in old time music.

I have been playing fiddle about the same time as mandolin, about 33 years. I switch off and been more into mandolin lately but I do come back to the fiddle.

Jim

[Dan Adams]

I've got two fiddles in the closet, waiting to find the time to start learning how to play. I don't even have the time to work on the mandolin like I should, and now I'm playing a little guitar when we perform. Like always, the fiddle is on the back burner. I do know from the periodic dabbling; that bowing thing is hard! Dan

[mythicfish]

Is mediocrity more acceptable if it's spread thinner?

Curt

[dzen]

[QUOTE]Funny! Go to an old time fiddler's convention or gathering (like Clifftop or Galax) and you will see much more fiddles than anything else. I foten end up playing guitar due to the dearth of decent guitar players -- or people willing to play guitar -- in old time music.

I was lucky enough to get to play guitar in an old time jam at the Midwinter Bluegrass Festival in Denver this year. Fiddle tune after fiddle tune I'd never heard of, bunches of fiddles, banjos, and mandolins, and only two guitars. It was a blast, I could pound out chords on my guitar as loud as I possibly could and actually feel like I was contributing something, instead of just adding to the noise like it typically is when you get more than 2 guitars together.
Closer to home, here in the Nebraska Sandhills, the indigenous musical artform is 50's to 60's honkytonk, lots of the three Hanks, Merle Haggard, Webb Pierce, Marty Robbins. Seems like the ideal acoustic ensemble for that stuff is one or 2 guitars, bass, dobro, and fiddle. Even though the annual jam is labelled as a bluegrass festival, most locals' idea of bluegrass is a bad banjo rendition of Foggy Mountain Breakdown accompanied by a whole bunch of guitars, with maybe an electric piano and trap set thrown in for good measure. Even though I don't think they labeled it right, it's a great get-together, and the old honkytonk stuff sounds great on the fiddle.

[JeffD]

The fiddle is simple if you can play the mandolin. Whats the big deal?

No, I think the reverse is true, mandolin would be easy if you aleady knew fiddle.

I find the fiddle a real challange, and to play presentably well there seems to be too much to have to pay attention to.

I also find that my mandolin skills only help to an extent - the fiddle requires me to really be spot on.

The mandolin is a lot more foregiving.

[JeffD]

Also I think it's greatly improved my ear as left hand finger placement is critical without frets to guide you.

As soon as the ringing stops in my left ear.

[fatt-dad]

The problem with the fiddle has nothing to do with the bow or the lack of frets. There just isn't any tab for the fiddle!

f-d

[ApK]

The problem with the fiddle has nothing to do with the bow or the lack of frets. #There just isn't any tab for the fiddle!

f-d

Here.

[JGWoods]

Is mediocrity more acceptable if it's spread thinner?

Curt

Yes