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Hello all,
New member here. I'm a multi-instrumentalist who is just starting to learn the fiddle. I bought a student-grade violin in the 1990's on a whim, and after a few hours of messing around, it has lived in its case ever since. Somehow, I acquired three more (nice) violins over the past couple of years, so I'm taking it as a sign that I need to learn how to play for real. I'm finding it quite easy to pick out tunes by ear - what I need to work on is bow fluidity and intonation. I have a wide range of genres I'd like to play, but my main goal is to be able to play church hymns - perhaps with piano accompaniment. Maybe also some Southern Gospel, Blues, Jazz Standards, Classic Country, and maybe even a few classical pieces. And, of course, Christmas tunes!
My "main" instrument is bass, but I also play guitar, ukulele, saxophone, clarinet, drums, banjo, piano, organ, melodica, recorder, diatonic & chromatic harmonica, kalimba, ocarina, theremin... The one instrument that doesn't like me is the flute. 
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OregonJim
Welcome to the forum, I like your choice of genres as they parallel mine.
Have fun on you fiddle journey.
Mark
Master the Frog and you have mastered the bow.
Albert Sammons
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Welcome to the forum, OregonJim. Great to have you here.
I just sent you a Welcome Emil with information about the thenforum. If you do not see it in your inbox, please check you other mailboxes.
🐭
The Bumblebee Flies!
Please ignore any typos. My typing ability on a real typewriter did not transfer to these device key pads.
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Welcome to the forum if you have any questions just ask and if anyone can help they will.
One of the best ways to learn is to record yourself frequently, this will help your ears to develop, which is quite a long process, but if you stick at it you will get there in the end.
As for intonation, a lot of people use tapes at first to show were there fingers go, I never used them and believe it stops the ears developing up to you though and it is abit of a debate
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stringy said
Welcome to the forum if you have any questions just ask and if anyone can help they will.One of the best ways to learn is to record yourself frequently, this will help your ears to develop, which is quite a long process, but if you stick at it you will get there in the end.
As for intonation, a lot of people use tapes at first to show were there fingers go, I never used them and believe it stops the ears developing up to you though and it is abit of a debate
Thank you for the advice. I do record myself - in fact, I have a YouTube channel with videos of me on other instruments already. I need to wait a bit before posting links, due to the forum rules.
I bypassed the fingerboard tapes as I have already played fretless instruments (bass) - however, this is my first time handling a bow. I think the hardest part (for me) is figuring out how to divide the bow, so that I'm not always changing direction on every note.
As far as intonation goes, I've been practicing my scales along with cello drones. That has helped significantly. I find that my intonation is pretty good until my mind shifts to what I'm doing with my bowing arm, then the intonation starts drifting as I'm no longer listening carefully to the notes. At least I *think* that's what is happening.
We all know it's a matter of practice. I'm pleased with my progress so far - it's just that this "bow" thing is new to me and I don't want to fall into bad habits at the early stages. Bad habits are for when you're good enough to choose them deliberately.
P.S. - thanks to everyone for the warm welcome!
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welcome to the forum @OregonJim !
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Having played a fretless bass will help immensely.
Bowing correctly is hard, no doubt about it, one of the hardest things, apart from everything else is keeping it straight.
Good luck with it, look forward to seeing your vids:)
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@OregonJim -
Welcome to the forum!
Wow - what a great background, wonderful music interests & exciting goals!
Good thing to see you're concerned with bowing - it IS the most important thing (I believe). At 1st I realized how important the elbow movement is for bowing, but then I found there's MAGIC in a good bow grip/hold (has taken me the longest to work on).
I can recommend all the Fiddlerman Tutorials (but I've been having issues viewing them on the Home Page lately) - there's one of his (amongst other good info) in the Bow Grip Thread. Pinchas Zukerman has a fabulous video on how the right arm works for bowing: Violin Position - Bow In & Out.
I also love many music genres.
Glad you found us!
- Emily
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Thank you, Emily! (and Mark, Mouse, stringy, & ABitRusty)
I'll be sure to check out those videos. I've been subscribed to Fiddlerman's YouTube channel for a few months now and have found him super helpful. I hope to be able to participate in one of the collaborative projects soon (this year's may be TOO soon lol)...
-Jim
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