Fiddlosophy

The Magical Practice of Bowing On Open Strings

Playing on the open strings is your magical amulet for more fun and productive sessions. Do this at the start, middle and end of a practice period. It’s a way for the mind and body to relax and reset. This practice is for everyone, beginner to expert. Start with open strings Play an open string G. … Continued

Seven Ways To Play Faster On The Fiddle

Here’s a question I hear all the time: “How do I play faster?” It may take time to ramp up your speed, but you can do it. Go into this with the right mindset: work at your edge. Don’t worry if you can’t play something as fast as Mark O’Connor. At the same time, if … Continued

Make A Tempo Sandwich 🥪

A good rule of thumb is to play everything at a medium speed, then a slow speed, then your fastest speed and then ending on a medium speed. An easy way to remember this is that you make a Tempo Sandwich. We begin and end with easier medium speeds and then the meat of our … Continued

Site Updates – November 2021

Here’s a short video explaining some recent updates to the FiddleHed site. In a nutshell: Core lessons now have links to the next lesson in the module. This means you can more easily navigate through the site. There’s been some re-shuffling of core lessons. For example, Drunken Sailor is now a core lesson in Module 1.7. We’re … Continued

What I’m Practicing Now: October 2021

Hey folks, It’s day 11 of the Fall Practice Challenge 2021! Fiddlers around the world are playing every day for two weeks straight. We help each other by coming together in live zoom meetups. Here’s a summary of stuff I’ve been practicing Technique: –Fifths double stops –A and D pentatonic scales with slur patterns –Slur … Continued

Alternate between listening and playing

Here’s a simple but extremely powerful practice strategy to develop your ear and improve your technique. Take a small piece of music, and then alternate between listening and playing that piece. If possible, do it continuously in a loop. This practice is training you to listen constantly stop and listen. Do your best to make … Continued

15 Ways To Practice Sail Away Ladies

In this lesson, I demonstrate fifteen ways to practice the tune Sail Away Ladies. You’ll learn the tune more deeply as you improve various aspects of your technique. What I really want you to learn is how to practice well. Take a journey with each session. Learn more about that here: A Travel Guide For Your … Continued

Fiddling With Transposition Loops

Here’s a powerful practice strategy called “Transposition Loops.” Take a small musical chunk, transpose it, and then alternate between the original and the transposed piece. Say you’re trying to learn the first quarter of Shady Grove D0-0-0-0-0-0-1-0-G3-1 This is in the key of D Dorian. Once you get the basic idea, then try to start it … Continued

Alternate between a tune and its scale

Here’s a simple yet powerful practice technique: Alternate between a tune and its scale. If you’re practicing Arkansas Traveller, alternate between playing the tune and the D Major scale. Use a D drone to help with tuning and to make the practice more fun. Also alternate between playing small phrases from the tune and the … Continued