Left-hand fingering on the fiddle

Fiddling with life and learning with the occasional dad joke thrown in...  

 

Should I memorize scales?

A student asked, “Should I memorize scales?” The short answer is “yes.” 🎶 First things first: Start by memorizing a single-octave D Major scale: D0-1-2-3-A0-1-2-3 Practice it with a D Drone: Now, the cool thing is once you’ve got D Major down, you also know… G Major: G0-1-2-3-D0-1-2-3 And A Major: A0-1-2-3-E0-1-2-3 🤔 So, why … Continued

Going From Low Second to Third Finger

FiddleHed Sue recently asked “It’s challenging to go from low second to third finger on the G string. What can I do? That stretch is challenging for a lot of violin students. First off, practice low second to third finger on the E string. It’s easier there. EL2-3 Then practice it on progressively harder strings. … Continued

Take An Intermediate Step

When practicing something difficult, see if you can break it down into a series of small, intermediate steps. I’ve been learning bluegrass solos from a book by a great fiddler named Annie Staninec. It’s been fun and challenging. It’s good because I feel like I’m working at the edge of ability. I’m currently working on the … Continued

Fun With Pedal Patterns

Here’s something fun you can do on the fiddle.  Alternate between a constant note and other changing notes, always alternating back to open D. This is called a “pedal pattern”.   Here’s a basic pedal pattern: D1-0-2-0-3-0-2-0 . Here’s a variation in which we move down the scale notes and then jump back up: D3-0-2-0-1-0  You can … Continued

A little lesson on Little Lift

The practice of Little Lift will help you to place your left-hand fingers on the fiddle with greater ease. It will also help you to play better in tune and faster. Further learning Continuously alternate between focus on purely physical practice and other things, like scales, tunes, and techniques. This will help you in Overcoming … Continued