Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

The Fiddle Thread

#36

Great job Dave

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#37

Thanks Guys!

Stuart, that version is mostly from a John Cockman break.

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#38

Nice fiddling!

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#39

Here’s this

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#40

This must be fiddler on the hanging bridge! :wink:

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#41

I like it! Nice job!

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#42

I’m really new to fiddle/violin but thought I might post the song I am learning. When I video myself I really see how stiff I keep my right wrist. If anyone has any suggestions or advice, please let me know. When you start learning something new at 50 you need all the help you can get :yum:Song for Maria

UPDATE: I guess I’m doing a poor job of showing my video. I am only getting the link to the youtube video on my post. I guess forum posting is another thing I need to start learning.

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#43

Love the Mohican’s tune Gunnar. You really did it justice too man. :+1:

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#44

hmmm…There ya be Stuart.

Your wrist isn’t all that bad position wise. but actually your whole arm is stiff. This causes two problems…playing form the shoulder will just flat wear you out, and the bow is constantly changing it’s angle to the strings.

I do have a suggestion though.
If you have a mirror available it will work better than a camera for this.:…try using only your elbow and wrist to move the bow…the goal is to keep the bow at a right-angle to the strings…go slowly, long strokes, concentrating only on the bow (no left hand work), clean even draw and pressure, and relaxing when you play.

Do this for a few minutes each time when you begin a session and see if it helps you to loosen up your arm and wrist

Also you an spend a couple minutes on playing short quicker notes using only your wrist to move the bow.

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#45

Thanks @Fiddle_wood for for the embedding and even more thanks for the advice! I’ll definitely get infant of a mirror and practice the bow drills you mentioned. Thanks!!!

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#46

you’re welcome!
Keep in mind, you don’t need to have a “classical” limp wrist to play fiddle. Many great fiddle players have fairly stiff wrists much of the time…Ron Stuart and Mike Cleveland are two I can think of right off the top of my head.

The key is relaxation…

Dave

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#47

Thanks Emily!

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#48

Can you repeat exactly that, but balancing a book on your head too? :smile:

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#49

Maybe if you give me a graduation hat I could…

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#50

I’ve been thinking about learning the fiddle; what would you guys recommend for rentals? Not ready to buy one yet.

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#51

Around here you can pick up decent beginner fiddles on craigslist or at garage sales for less than $100.

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#52

I’d recommend buying a used one, it’ll end up being cheaper because if you stay with it, you already own it, and if you don’t stay with it you can sell it on for about what you payed if you buy used

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#53

My daughter had taken lessons when she was really young and we got her one from sharmusic.com. When I got interested I got an entry level full size violin from them. Sharmusic does have a rental program but I can really give any recommendation on it since I’ve only purchased from them. I see there are a couple of fiddles at the Banjo Ben store as well.

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#54

Bow tension info. I have a wall hanger for my fiddle and bow. I hardly ever loosen the tension in my bow, the only time being when I put it in the case. I really don’t think about releasing the tension since I usually grab it from the hanger and immediately start playing, then just hang it up when I’m done. Any way, is there any rule of thumb for loosening the tension on the bow?

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#55

I loosen mine whenever I’m not playing it for over about an hour. .

Mostly because it’s old & wood & it could warp being constantly under pressure.

Just what I was always told to do.

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