I'm knee-deep in finding a place to live and something to drive around the U.S., so pardon my absence here.
In the meantime, here's a website to keep you thinking. It has a very fine fretboard diagram tool that will generate many sorts of scale or chord diagrams and you can even print it out or save it as a PDF. I added it to the link section to the right as well.
Of course, fiddles don't usually have frets, but it helps to know where the notes are in relation to where a fret would be. If a fiddle had frets.
Check back soon.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007
What's on your mind while you are fiddling?
Hello from the National Folk Festival in Canberra, Australia. While I have my flat white in a pancake house with free wireless, I thought I post a note.
Here are some of the things that have run through my mind while I'm playing my fiddle:
Controlling my fiddle face
Bow hand checking
Note accuracy
Who can hear me?
How do I sound?
What do people think?
How's my jam etiquette?
My hand/neck/jaw/shoulder/back/leg/[insert body part here] hurts.
Am I doing [whatever] the 'right' way?
Darn, I should have paid closer attention to what key this tune is in!
Is this the first A part or the second A part?
Is this the first B part or the second B part?
Is this tune crooked or is this the first B part?
What the heck? Is this a 3 part tune???
Ugh! I hate rags / 3 part tunes / modal tunes/ 1 part tunes / waltzes / fast tunes / slow tunes / [insert pet peeve of choice].
Isn't that baby / guy / gal / tee shirt [insert distraction of choice] cute!
I'm so hungry / drunk / sleepy / nauseous / stuffed / confused [insert mental or physical state of choice]!
I find it helpful to turn off or fix as many of the above as possible. Narrow down your thoughts to things that are related to the perception of the tune and the psychomotor skills necessary to hit something close to the melody. Or, if you're more advanced, something close to the harmony or chord structure for your double stops. If you're hungry, eat something. If your back hurts, sit down or stand up or take some medication or get a different chair and so on. If you're too drunk, well that's beyond the scope of this blog. See if there is an I'm_too_drunk_to_jam.blogspsot.com or start your own blog.
How's your fiddle face? It doesn't matter. You're not trying to perform at Carnagie Hall. You're just trying to learn how to fiddle enough to have fun. The day that I stopped trying to control my face was the day that my fiddling improved 10 fold. Seriously. I think there is something diametrically opposed between our ability to make music and our ability to relax our faces. Even artists in Carnagie Hall sometimes twitch an eyebrow or spasm a cheek from time to time. Forget about it. I say to folks that I can either be pretty or play the fiddle, but I can't do both. :-) Well, perhaps I can't do either, but at least I enjoy my fiddle time. If you spend time thinking about what others might be thinking about your facial expressions, you're taking away concentration from the things that really matter to getting the tune out.
Ta ta. Next stop.... Ashland, Oregon.
Here are some of the things that have run through my mind while I'm playing my fiddle:
Controlling my fiddle face
Bow hand checking
Note accuracy
Who can hear me?
How do I sound?
What do people think?
How's my jam etiquette?
My hand/neck/jaw/shoulder/back/leg/[insert body part here] hurts.
Am I doing [whatever] the 'right' way?
Darn, I should have paid closer attention to what key this tune is in!
Is this the first A part or the second A part?
Is this the first B part or the second B part?
Is this tune crooked or is this the first B part?
What the heck? Is this a 3 part tune???
Ugh! I hate rags / 3 part tunes / modal tunes/ 1 part tunes / waltzes / fast tunes / slow tunes / [insert pet peeve of choice].
Isn't that baby / guy / gal / tee shirt [insert distraction of choice] cute!
I'm so hungry / drunk / sleepy / nauseous / stuffed / confused [insert mental or physical state of choice]!
I find it helpful to turn off or fix as many of the above as possible. Narrow down your thoughts to things that are related to the perception of the tune and the psychomotor skills necessary to hit something close to the melody. Or, if you're more advanced, something close to the harmony or chord structure for your double stops. If you're hungry, eat something. If your back hurts, sit down or stand up or take some medication or get a different chair and so on. If you're too drunk, well that's beyond the scope of this blog. See if there is an I'm_too_drunk_to_jam.blogspsot.com or start your own blog.
How's your fiddle face? It doesn't matter. You're not trying to perform at Carnagie Hall. You're just trying to learn how to fiddle enough to have fun. The day that I stopped trying to control my face was the day that my fiddling improved 10 fold. Seriously. I think there is something diametrically opposed between our ability to make music and our ability to relax our faces. Even artists in Carnagie Hall sometimes twitch an eyebrow or spasm a cheek from time to time. Forget about it. I say to folks that I can either be pretty or play the fiddle, but I can't do both. :-) Well, perhaps I can't do either, but at least I enjoy my fiddle time. If you spend time thinking about what others might be thinking about your facial expressions, you're taking away concentration from the things that really matter to getting the tune out.
Ta ta. Next stop.... Ashland, Oregon.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
What's in your bag?
Here's a way to improve your fiddling without even fiddling.
Take a look at what you have with you when you're on your way out the door. Do you always have your tuner? Do you have extra strings? Or, are you loaded down with things that you don't use or unlikely to use? Maybe it is time to take a little inventory, either to be better prepared or to lighten your load.
It used to be that my shoulder rest gave me a hard time. It didn't fit in my bag easily because of its irregular shape. Twice that I can remember, it fell apart. I spent the better part of an afternoon at a festival a few years back trying to find a replacement screw. When my last one busted for the last time, I said 'to heck with that!' and guess what - I stopped using the bloody thing altogether. Now, not everyone is blessed with no neck, so I understand that it's not an option for everyone. But, catch my drift? Take what you're likely to need and find a way to carry it that is convenient and reliable.
That is one of the true joys of playing by ear. Leaving 20 pounds of books at home where they belong. Saves room in the backpack and case for my:
tuner
Sony minidisc recorder
2 extra discs, sometimes more
a good microphone
extra rechargeable AA batteries
Swiss Army knife
nail clippers
rosin
mute
cards with my contact info
extra strings (leftovers from changing out old strings)
tune list
pen
handkerchief
a card from an old friend that says "Life was hard for the pioneers. But, then someone would bring out the fiddle and make it all worse." [Humor is a great ice-breaker.]
busking license
extra peg
tuning fork
One of these days, I really should get a spare bow. My frog broke once and luckily a friend had one to lend me. But, gosh, I'd hate to be somewhere with good tunes going on and me with no bow.
Take a look at what you have with you when you're on your way out the door. Do you always have your tuner? Do you have extra strings? Or, are you loaded down with things that you don't use or unlikely to use? Maybe it is time to take a little inventory, either to be better prepared or to lighten your load.
It used to be that my shoulder rest gave me a hard time. It didn't fit in my bag easily because of its irregular shape. Twice that I can remember, it fell apart. I spent the better part of an afternoon at a festival a few years back trying to find a replacement screw. When my last one busted for the last time, I said 'to heck with that!' and guess what - I stopped using the bloody thing altogether. Now, not everyone is blessed with no neck, so I understand that it's not an option for everyone. But, catch my drift? Take what you're likely to need and find a way to carry it that is convenient and reliable.
That is one of the true joys of playing by ear. Leaving 20 pounds of books at home where they belong. Saves room in the backpack and case for my:
tuner
Sony minidisc recorder
2 extra discs, sometimes more
a good microphone
extra rechargeable AA batteries
Swiss Army knife
nail clippers
rosin
mute
cards with my contact info
extra strings (leftovers from changing out old strings)
tune list
pen
handkerchief
a card from an old friend that says "Life was hard for the pioneers. But, then someone would bring out the fiddle and make it all worse." [Humor is a great ice-breaker.]
busking license
extra peg
tuning fork
One of these days, I really should get a spare bow. My frog broke once and luckily a friend had one to lend me. But, gosh, I'd hate to be somewhere with good tunes going on and me with no bow.
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