Alan & Brenda Leonard

1/11/03 19:59:

> Her teacher uses another kind of very easy to read notation that shows string
> and finger. So far since they're doing everythign in whatever key you get
> naturally on a violin (G? F? something not C), it's simple to read. I
> even read some yesterday.

A is easiest, D is next easiest.

brenda

Alan & Brenda Leonard

Warning: Long and boring unless you really care about fiddle music!

I'm not Sandra (and I won't apologize for it! <g>), but I do teach violin.

Buy String Magazine; they show up on the rack at big bookstores, or you can
probably get a trial copy at www.stringsmagazine.com They do lots of
articles on fiddling and fiddlers, along with other string related stuff.
Plus they're full of great ads for that sort of thing. Strings also
publishes a Buyer's Guide (which used to be much better named a Resource
Guide) listing societies and violin shops by state and country. You might
be able to acess that online, I'm not sure. Never tried, since mine lives
on my desk.

Check with the nearest violin shop or folk-music type shop. These are not
the kind of places that sell mainly electric pianos and guitars. Look
around for a good one, because they can steer you in the direction of
teachers and other great resources. If you want to email me off list and
tell me what state you're in and what towns are nearby, I'll look in my
Strings Buyer's Guide and see what I can find. You really ought to be
drowning in folks out there in the Blue Ridge Mountains!

Some of the books I use for fiddling are:

Kidfiddle: 46 Easy Folk Songs for Fiddle with Chordal Accomp. (Mel Bay
Productions) -- very easy, which makes them a good play-through book to have
around.

Fiddlers Philharmonic Encore!: Traditional Fiddling in the String Orchestra
(Alfred) -- designed for school use, but fine for 1 person. Includes the
solo line and then a 3 part version (tune, break, backup) for playing with
other people. nice for playing with your teacher or a couple friends.

The Scottish Folks Fiddle 3rd Position book (Taigh na teud: Harpstring House
Publishing, distributed by Music Sales Corporation) -- this one is really
nice, but not so easy to find; it's published on Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Anthology of Fiddle Styles (Mel Bay) -- comprehensive, my personal favorite.
Even the cruddy music stores at the mall stock Mel Bay stuff, so it's easy
to find.

The Renaissance Fiddler's Tune Book: A collection of 21 olde tunes composed
between the years 1100 and 1650 (homepublished by Deborah Greenblatt,
available from her or through Shar) -- not in your son's "area", but a nice
collection. Some are more Celtic, and all are easy enough to play.

I get most of my music from Shar Products -- 1-800-248-SHAR, I think, or
look for their website. They have piles of fiddle music, neatly sorted by
style, and most include enough description that you'll be able to figure out
whether it would be too hard or easy.

I do get red flags in my mind about you son not wanting to play (NOT
practice! ugh!) his fiddle between lessons. Even if he really likes his
current teacher (which may or may not be true -- ask pointed questions),
three teachers in 2 years can be tough. Ask him if his new teacher is
asking him to change his position/posture/bow grip, etc. Everyone plays a
little differently, but having to change a bunch of times to please
different people is a surefire way to make students hate playing. If that's
the case, you might talk with the teacher and ask her if she could lay off
that stuff for a bit and work on "developing his repertoire" (as in,
learning more music so he has more stuff he can just play through and have
fun).

If he still wants to go to lessons and is asking you why it feels like a
chore, I'm betting he hasn't changed his mind, but needs something different
than what he's getting. At 10, and 2 years playing, he may not be old
enough to know what that is, or even articulate the problem very well.

He has heard of Mark O'Conner, right? He's the biggest name in fiddling I
can come up with right now (it's getting late here in Germany and my brain
is fading). Good stuff to listen to, that man can PLAY!

Let me know if I can help you in any other way.

brenda


1/11/03 19:59:

> Dillon (10) aspires to be a Celtic/bluegrass fiddler. He has been taking
> "violin" lessons for about 2 years and doing pretty good. We've changed
> teachers twice(the first time our choice, then that teacher stopped teaching
> so the school assigned us a new teacher). He never complains about going to
> his lesson, but he never touches his fiddle outside of class anymore.
>
> Here's the question. Can you give me more info about the type of things Holly
> practices? What book is she using, what CD's are her "required" listening.
> Dillon is never asked to listen to anything, but his teacher is Asian and
> frankly doesn't know anything about roots music. She is very good with Dillon
> and is more than willing to teach his music that we bring to her. Luckily his
> dad loves roots music and Dillon listens daily to all sorts of fiddlers and
> other musicians.
>
> I just talked to Dillon about his lessons the other day. He says that he
> wants to keep going to lessons although he feels that practicing is too much
> like a chore (I remind him rather than force him). I've tried to find a
> fiddler to teach him with no luck (although we live in the Blue Ridge Mtns).
> Dad takes him to shows and introduces him to the musicians (Dad is a taper and
> knows lots of them that way). Dillon even asks me why I think fiddling feels
> like a chore. I've asked him what he thinks, I've offered ideas and
> reinforced that learning to fiddle is his choice and I will do what I can to
> make it work for him. But that if he has tired of it or changed his mind it's
> okay to stop.
>
> Any other ideas?

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In a message dated 1/11/2003 3:47:32 PM Central Standard Time,
abtleo@... writes:

> Warning: Long and boring unless you really care about fiddle music!
>

Ooh, I'd LOVE to have a post like that about ukulele's! But I'm not holding
my breath. :)

Tuck


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