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Howdy, howdy.
Last october I got my hands on a challenge prize, namely a beautiful clog fiddle. About one month ago I decided to pick it up and start teaching myself how to play the "violin".
Unfortunately it seems that the violin is in a real need of a make over, but I'll try to do it myself and hopefully the result will be awesome.
That's enough introducing the story, over to the practice journal.
Today's practice:
* Without bow:
All major arpeggios in the first position. (20 min)
Figuring out how to play Snack, from Anna Massie's recording The Missing Gift. (10 min)
Practising drawing the bow, but with a pencil (5 min)
* With bow
Practising drawing the bow smoothly on open strings (10 min)
Figuring out a good bowing pattern for Snack (5 min)
Practicing Snack (20 min)
* Without bow
Reading and memorizing a couple of measures of Bach concerto for 2 violins in d minor, part 2. (15 mins)
* With Bow
Practice "string skipping"
My ego yearn for your compliment,
my integrity for your honest opinion.
Bear in mind what you want to grow, and carefully consider the feedback you give.
/ Olle Kjellqvist
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Oh how wonderful. I would love to see your clog fiddle. I did google it just now and saw images.
Welcome to violin.
What a great practice journal/ session.
Welcome to the forum.
Toni
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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Very cool. Is it Danish?
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright
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@coolpinkone
Here ya go 
@Uzi
Nope, Sweden.
Looking forward to tomorrow. Moar practice!
My ego yearn for your compliment,
my integrity for your honest opinion.
Bear in mind what you want to grow, and carefully consider the feedback you give.
/ Olle Kjellqvist
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That is a really cool instrument. Thank you so much for the video!!!!
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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I didn't know it was called clog fiddle. Loved it.
The technique is spiccato
Welcome to the forum!
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Thanks @OK. I have not seen many examples of those, but knew they existed. It doesn't look like much work to get it in fine working order. The hardest part will probably be reaming the peg holes if they aren't round, but there are reamers made for that very thing. There are also tools available for shaping the pegs, if it is the pegs that aren't round. A new tailpiece should e pretty easy to come by and you can put fine tuners on, if you think you'd like to have them.
BTW, I think the technique you were using in the William Tell Overture there is called ricochet. Also, nice job on playing it.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright
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@Uzi
yeah, I looked up Ricochet, and that's what I've been playing around with, thanks for all of the info.
My ego yearn for your compliment,
my integrity for your honest opinion.
Bear in mind what you want to grow, and carefully consider the feedback you give.
/ Olle Kjellqvist
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2015-04-10
When I went to the gym this morning I listened to Blackstreets song No Diggity, and I was really impressed by that beat, especially in combo with the melodies in the vocals.
Practice session:
Arrange no diggity beat for violin: 20 min
Practice the beat: 10 min
Practice the lyrics: 20 min
Practice the beat: 30 min
I still get a bit stiff in my thumb, since playing chords on the fiddle puts my left hand in a little bit of an awkward position, since I also have to support so much of the weight with it.
Anyway, here's my current level of playing this arrangement, hopefully with a bit more practice I can clean it up and make it sound more crisp.
Watching it, I noticed the following areas that needs improvement.
Unvoluntarily bouncing when drawing it after skipping two strings.
Intonation of double stops (I have a plan for teaching myself doublestops, but it'll take a while before I get to start the plan).
Tone, tone, tone! I don't know the ratio between the violin's subpar condition and my lackluster bowing.
I think that right now, it's most important to solve the bouncing bow issue. I know it doesn't happen all of the time, but I want to remove all of the unvoluntary bounces, giving it a smooth attack after string skipping. Does anyone have any thoughts on solving this?
Cheers / OK
My ego yearn for your compliment,
my integrity for your honest opinion.
Bear in mind what you want to grow, and carefully consider the feedback you give.
/ Olle Kjellqvist
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Hej Olle och välkommen till forumet.
Very cool Clog Fiddle. A neighbor of mine and great friend when we lived in Djurslöv, between Staffanstorp and Malmö had a few clog fiddles and at one time I considered doing some recordings of the Bach sonatas on the fiddles as a fun thing. Never did, moved back to the states and our great friend is no longer with us.
Glad to see you here and I look forward to hopefully many more cool posts from you.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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@Fiddlerman
Hey, thanks for the welcome, and creating the forums in the first place!
So today I played with a friend of mine. First just jamming together, then doing call and response, really cool guy, he gave me some advice on my bowing!
After that I found room for a short practice session. Playing the G major arpeggio in the first position, just up and down, really focusing on the bowing. Slurring all notes, playing it staccato, etc. In any way possible. Grouping the notes by slurring them two by two, three by three. I don't really know for how long, but I'll stick to this exercise for a while. When I get too bored, I'll just play an Ab major arpeggio, or a G minor instead.
Bowing is by far the hardest part for me.
/O
My ego yearn for your compliment,
my integrity for your honest opinion.
Bear in mind what you want to grow, and carefully consider the feedback you give.
/ Olle Kjellqvist
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Cool OK,
I assume you have a real fiddle too right?
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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So yeah, I've been doing other stuff for two weeks, school ya know. Sometimes quite demanding.
Anyway yesterday I learned to play Wave by Carlos Jobim and a Swedish polka.
Today I learned half of another swedish polka and practised the two previously learned pieces a bit.
@Fiddlerman
Cheers, sorry for the late reply.
No, sadly I do not own a "real" fiddle. I've been playing for about two months now and I'm thinking about locating a live teacher to help me accelerate my progress.
Maybe you could recommend someone in the vincinity of Lund/Malmö?
/O
My ego yearn for your compliment,
my integrity for your honest opinion.
Bear in mind what you want to grow, and carefully consider the feedback you give.
/ Olle Kjellqvist
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Hello! It is nice to see you back.
It sounds as though you are progressing well on your Clog Fiddle.
Boy life sure does get busy.
Happy Clog Fiddling. 
Cheers.
Toni
Vibrato Desperato.... Desperately seeking vibrato
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Give Britt Forsströmson a call.
She plays in MSO. I have lot's of names but she is extremely likable and humble.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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I don't feel like my bowing is progressing as it should, so I'll give Britt a call, and work on other stuff in the meantime 
I think it's time to expand the repertoir a little further with some more folk music.
@Fiddlerman
Thanks a lot, I'll do that!
My ego yearn for your compliment,
my integrity for your honest opinion.
Bear in mind what you want to grow, and carefully consider the feedback you give.
/ Olle Kjellqvist
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