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Working my way through O neils, this is in a different key to what I am used to
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Nicely done! I liked that. Was it confusing with a key you are not familiar with? Meaning, wanting to do flats or sharps where you would normally? Or, does the sound or melody kind of dictate to you that the next note should be a flat or sharp or natural?
I have not been able to be able to do that. Sometimes, I can hear where the next note should be a half step or whole step before seeing on the sheet music, but most of the time, no. That is probably one reason why switching to an unknown key is so difficult and intimidating to me. But are you able to do that, identify a whole or half note coming up? Does that help you when doing an unfamiliar key?
I know, too many questions.🥴
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Fiddlerman's Fiddle Talk Forum
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I know where the note is from the tune playing in my head, if that makes sense. I havent heard this one before, so played it from the music, a few times then when I got used to how it should sound the notes just fall in the right place, dont really know how it happens to be honest. I do practice a lot of scales though, so the finger positions are there already just different place. If a notes out I hear it straight away and try to correct the finger position (still hit flat and sharp notes though)
I actually did this one a few weeks back, this is a recording from then, hopefully I think its improved now after playing around with it for a couple of weeks. It actually needs a lot more bounce and a bit less speed, I tend to race through tunes which isnt a good idea, I keep trying to spend more time on the rythm.
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Lovely!
Andrew
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It's kind of like singing a tune that you have in your head. It means that you have played enough, and that you have sufficient talent that you can play by ear to some degree.
I'm fortunate to be able to play almost anything that I can hear, or have heard and memorized. However, more difficult technical and fast music becomes a challenge without sheet music.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Thanks for taking a look Gordon and for the kind comment, its nice to be heard 😉
Fiddlerman, I learn most tunes now by ear (always have with other instruments fiddles a lot more difficult though ) unless I cant find a recording to listen to, which was the case with this one, so it may not sound exactly as it should but I think it will be fairly close.
For some reason I struggle with rythms on fiddle, think its because of having to think of 300 different things at once. Getting better at it now but will never be a real fiddle player, I should have started on fiddle when I was about 6, but never had the inclination then. All my family played different instruments, I was Much to busy with action men lol. I am a guitarist really, and a singer ( I tell myself, and is the thing I enjoy most) played guitar for 40 years, until I discovered violin that is, and everything else took a back seat.
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@stringy -
Geez, that tune sounds SOOOOO familiar!
Gdor is a wonderful scale!
YOU ARE A FIDDLER 🤗 I enjoyed listening!
I appreciate you shared this & hope you do more!
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stringy said .......
........For some reason I struggle with rythms on fiddle, think it's because of having to think of 300 different things at once. Getting better at it now but will never be a real fiddle player, I should have started on fiddle when I was about 6, but never had the inclination then. All my family played different instruments, I was Much to busy with action men lol. I am a guitarist really, and a singer ( I tell myself, and is the thing I enjoy most) played guitar for 40 years, until I discovered violin that is, and everything else took a back seat.
Perhaps it's the bowing. Practice the common rhythms and get used to them. I'll post an example when I get a chance. One of the biggest problems with rhythms using a bow is that sometimes the beat is down and sometimes it's up. That makes it a bit more difficult than many other instruments.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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Fiddlerma Much appreciate it thanks.
Emily thanks for giving it a listen, and for the comment, I was drawn to this one because of the slightly darker sound, and also because its a bit different to play as I said to mouse.
Been listening to Scahill a lot, I really admire his rythm playing, sometimes difficult to follow though as he puts so many ornaments of his own in and also changes tunes to his own design, which I like by the way. He also has a great smoothness to his playing, he is really good at getting different volumes from one note to another.
Been doing quite a bit of singing lately and guitar playing as my backs not been too great and the fiddle aggravates it.
Enjoyng our nice weather though, great seeing the sun
Ps , Emily you have a great ear, I didnt know what the scale was, thought it was F, then thought it was d minor, and you are correct its g dorian
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@stringy -
😉 I just play more dorian, minor & mixolydian than anything else!
LOVE Fergal's playing... pretty darn perfect! Took me a LONG time to feel I was able to appreciate everything he does - I couldn't hear fast enough, and too much to catch in only a few viewings. 😵💫 He really is worth studying!
Finally, a few nice days here, too!!! 🌞
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@stringy good job on this one! keep on fiddlin sir!
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@stringy Nice fiddle tune--your playing sounds great! 
Characterize people by their actions and you will never be fooled by their words.
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@stringy
Made this this morning. What should simplify rhythms in this case is using down-bows on the beat. Hope that you find it useful.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
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In bar 16 (& 20 & 21) an alternative is just to reverse bow direction every note. Depends on speed. And bar 17 could be hooked. But the patterns in classical music are less predictable than in folk, and bowings are often chosen to lead more naturally into what follows. I suppose in folk you could even use extempore syncopation to achieve that.
Andrew
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Abitrusty, thanks for taking a look and the comment, got to keep on playing, its an addiction, (as you know) 😃
Sharon Thanks for having a look, still having problems seeing your vids for some reason. I uodated my Android tab to the latest system and have had nothing but problems since, wheen I upload vids to you tube now random pieces of tunes ar missing, just a millisecond but its very noticeable, I uploaded this one a few weeks back before I upgraded so this is ok, did one yesterday though and recorded it 3 times every time I uploaded it dropped bits of code, dont know whats going wrong.
Fiddlerman thats really useful, been giving it a go already, its quite good fun, and sèems like it may help a lot with my rythm. I am also practicing other things specifically to do with fiddle playing as well, main one being to use the middle of the bow and only about 1 inch of it, quite tricky, as I am in the habit of using too much of the top part of the bow, getting into it now though, makes the playing a lot quicker without trying, (and saves energy as well.)
Gordon good ideas those, but if I tried to reverse bow direction every note, I would end up needing the fire brigade to untangle me from the bow hair;)
Emily I agree with fergal, his playing is excellent, one of the modern greats in my book, really is effortless and a joy to watch
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stringy said
Gordon...if I tried to reverse bow direction every note, I would end up needing the fire brigade to untangle me from the bow hair;)
The trick is to relax and play the semiquavers as lightly as possible and only stress the quavers. I have a similar problem in two pieces of Mozart at the moment. And of course use your wrist, not your elbow. (and when you do use your elbow, don't move your upperarm, i.e. use the elbow, not the shoulder!)
Andrew
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@stringy -
That's a great practice sheet from Fiddlerman & using a very small area in the lower half of your bow is great, too.
The only time I use my upper bow for fast notes is when I have the birl ornament thing (easier to get the down shake of the wrist). In fact, my fast notes come from wrist & fingers (plus a little lower arm).
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yup ..but i dont use the lower half of bow near as much as the upper half for most any tune.. slower ones more of a whole bow thing i think.. my irish type triplett thing..birl.. whatever its called is more at the tip. and for me its more of a wrist flick kind of thing with a longer last note. that longer note is harder to remember but when that tripplet isnt right and sped/rushed through..it tends to mess things up i feel.
i want to use the fiddlerman rhythm for practice. i think this will be interesting and a challenge to set a metronome up and play through this as far as possible. maybe keep a record and see how speed improves but monitored closely with a click to make sure im not cheating it.
thank you @fiddlerman pierre
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Abitrusty must agree, I am trying to use the middle of the bow more, for tunes like drowsy maggie its a must. But I am finding it very hard to get out of using the top half for everything, as you say for slow ones I use the entire bow, think its why I prefer slow air type tunes, gets a bit of feeling into them.
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half to tip for the reels and fast stuff seems to me. what i see most of my fiddle heros using in the style, in general.. everyone is different and for any one given tune things may change.. also.. you can get boxed in if not careful though. but for the most part...half to the bow tip works best for me.
sometimes though.. i think a revist and getting back to practicing with sheet music and bowing/slur marks helps me when things arent going like i want. like just stopping and figuring out where i can maybe change something or get back to somewhere thats easier to bow.
