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Let me know what you think.
I need help with my bow bouncing...... I played with my friends presto carbon fiber bow and I didnt bounce hardly at all.
I'm still working on proper technique, so ANY critques that are constructive are welcome here.
Also anyone know any good songs to learn in the Irish fiddle realm that are within my realm of ability? I've been messing around with my own hornpipe and jig... But as for known music I dont know where to begin... Please help with some suggestions, Thank you all very very much!!! P.S. I miss chatting with yall in the chatbox; I've been working 54 1/2 hours/week so very busy and i'm in the middle of trying to move.
God bless everyone!!!! Be safe and blessed ^_^;;
Practice makes perfect-Godliness with contentment is great gain!
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Hey Keith, excellent playing for 1 month !! YES the bow has A lot to do with it. I have a presto encore I bought from fiddlerman and it blows my outfit bows away. balance and proper camber and tension makes a world of difference. A quality bow can make a lesser violin sound better. Good strings and a good bow go a long way to improving tone and playability.
Dude, you are coming along GREAT. By the way, I now refer to my other bows as the clubs
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
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PS. britches full of stitches is a great first Irish tune to learn. Not very complicated and still a great standard at jams
Swallow tail jig is another great one and even though it sounds complex, once you master the string crossing its not to hard of a tune either
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
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Hey thanks a lot Barry for the compliment.
I use Zyex strings atm, I like them very much.
I'm thinking of in the future buying a carbon bow when the cash flow becomes more steady lol.
Thanks a lot for your tips and experience.
I'm going to begin my adventure into one of the two tunes you've suggested.
God bless you brother!
Practice makes perfect-Godliness with contentment is great gain!
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I cannot express how much I would recommend this book. out of all the method books I own...and I own a stack...this is by far the best. Great play along tracks and excellent instruction. If youre serious about learning Scot Irish tunes, this is the book for the self taught fiddler.
If I can be of help an any way give a hollar. I am by no means an expert (4th year fiddler) but one of the greatest things Ive learned in fiddling is the willingness of other fiddlers to share.
ie=UTF8&qid=1356149243&sr=1-2&keywords=irish+fiddle
There is no shame in playing twinkle, youre playing Mozart
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Fantastic for 1 month.
Work hard on bow control as your bow is on the verge of bouncing and this will pay off big later on. You need to develop a finger and wrist flexibility for better bow changes. Practice playing bow changes just at the lower half (frog) for a few minutes with say quarter notes just to get a smoother and smoother movement. Check out my bow hold instructions here:
https://fiddlerman.com/fiddle-.....o-i-start/
As I mentioned earlier, you are doing great for 1 month but I have a question as to whether or not you can hear if you are too high or too low on a note? If so, go through the piece and make notes of which notes were too high or low and then try to record it again. This will eventually strengthen your awareness of intonation, enforce memorization of correct intervals in your left hand for the future.
Great job and thanks for the post.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Thanks FM, I am having a bit of a hard time hearing when I'm off in my intonation. I have perfect hearing so thats not the issue. I do believe that I must continue to practice so I can hear these mistake more clearly. Also you said recording myself, that may be a good idea for personal use to make corrections. Also do you think playing with a tuner on and near me as I play through tunes slow will help? I do recognize this as a problem and want badly to correct it. I would pay for a teacher but cant afford it atm, I'm already working 54 1/2 hours/week.
Thank you Barry and Fiddlerman for your help, and tips. Btw Barry I've started "Britches with stitches" in A. I have to say it's a load of fun, I almost have the notes memorize(I'm not that best at sight reading lol). I also bought a new bow, see my post in 'Playing the Violin'.
Anything else that could help me on this adventure would be much appreciated.
Godbless yall 
Practice makes perfect-Godliness with contentment is great gain!
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A tuner could help, though probably not as you play, I think a tuner wouldn't be able to accurately follow your notes as you play. Perhaps if you were to play really slowly.
You might see if someone else would play silent night in tune , then play along with them.
This is a cool tune too, temperence reel:
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wow sweet tune! never heard it before. I think it's a bit advanced for me atm lol. Thanks alot though for posting I enjoyed listening to every second of it.
Practice makes perfect-Godliness with contentment is great gain!
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Thanks FM, I am having a bit of a hard time hearing when I'm off in my intonation. I have perfect hearing so thats not the issue. I do believe that I must continue to practice so I can hear these mistake more clearly. Also you said recording myself, that may be a good idea for personal use to make corrections. Also do you think playing with a tuner on and near me as I play through tunes slow will help? I do recognize this as a problem and want badly to correct it. I would pay for a teacher but cant afford it atm, I'm already working 54 1/2 hours/week.
I personally don't believe in using a tuner when you play. I think it is better to train your ear to hear faults. I was more curious as to if you could hear the problems when listening to your recorded self. If so, it's a great start.
Also, have you tried my Intonation Game?
Remember that you are doing great for just one month. Imagine how it will feel to look back at these videos later down the line.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
Honorary advisor
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Very very nice. After a month of playing I would say that you are doing great. As others have pointed out, you need to do some work on your bowing technique and intonation. Perhaps a wee bit more bow pressure on the strings might help.
But other than that I think you are off to a great start. For one month of playing you are sounding very good.
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I ran across this video and thought of your bow bouncing problem:
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Hey thanks a lot guys! The videos help much! Fiddlerman, I have played your intonation game and do fairly well lol. Thank you all for your support!
Praise Jesus for friends !
Practice makes perfect-Godliness with contentment is great gain!
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Scottishdude, you are great. Some people would say you have the music gene... I think it's all about the fun, if I'm having fun with whatever I do then I don't need to hold off on feeling good until I reach an arbitrary place as judged by others. Yes I want to be judged by others eventually for some measure of comparison, but for now I feel lucky #1 to have a violin and bow that emits violin-sounding sounds, #2, for the fingers on my hand that still work despite the woodsplitter accident on my Left index finger last year, and #3, to have friends and buddies on the site here to participate with and ouch base with. Accepting these three gifts makes me feel wealthy, and grateful. Now... I just need to practice more myself!!!
Mark
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