Fiddlosophy

Re-post: Everything Is Unfinished

A lot of you have written me saying that you are frustrated. You can’t get a good sound, you struggle to play in tune or you can’t figure out how to play a certain song. You want to get to the point in which your dog won’t leave the room when you start practicing…   … Continued

Fiddling with friends online

Meeting with other students online can help to you going with your fiddle practice. In the quarantine era, all social interactions are more limited. But limitations lead to creative solutions. How can we stay connected in this strange time? Bernadette, Kay, and Deborah met through the FiddleHed forum. Now they meet on zoom each week … Continued

Re-post: Going Backwards

Going backwards seems like a bad thing. We all want to go forward. Progress and accomplishment! Going backwards means you’re getting worse, right? But wait. What does it really mean to go backwards? It’s really just a change of direction.   I recently updated an older post on this called Going Backwards. Thanks for reading, and … Continued

Student Story: Katrina

Katrina from Australia shares her story… This was taken while my husband and I were traveling and camping around New Zealand in February. I take my fiddle everywhere because I want to play every day. As Fiddlehed is online, it doesn’t matter where I am, I have access to the music lessons. Your fiddlosophy has … Continued

Lesson with Dayved on strumming and bowing chords

Dayved has been my student and friend for 8 years. He plays viola along with violin and loves Eastern European music.Here’s a clip from a zoom lesson with my student Dayved on strumming and bowing chords.   Dayved is a big part of why FiddleHed exists today. Back in the day, we would have a … Continued

Lesson with Jim on Arkansas Traveller

Here’s a clip from a zoom lesson with my friend Jim… He’s working on on the B part of “Arkansas Traveller.” This is a great tune for micro-practice. Play just the first four notes until you feel your body and breath relax: E3-L2-1-3. Once this starts to flow and sound better, move on to the … Continued

Newsletter July 24, 2020

Hey Folks, There’s still time to enter the zoom lesson giveaway. It ends on Monday at 12 pm PT. Six fiddle students will win a 30-minute online lesson with me. You have a decent chance of winning this since less than 200 people have entered so far. Follow the link below to the homepage for … Continued

Student Stories: Dan H.

Here’s a clip from a zoom lesson with my student Dan on the Georgia Shuffle. Dan is one of the most inspiring students I’ve worked with. A few years ago he suffered a massive stroke. He lost motor control for much of the left side of his body. He was out of commission for a … Continued

Re-post: Renew With Review

Think about the word “review”. It doesn’t sound as fun and exciting as the word “new”. It sounds like maintenance, which sounds like cleaning toilets. But review can be a lot more fun than cleaning toilets (unless you are a fully enlightened being who has learned to equally love every single activity in each moment … Continued

End on a High Note

Try to end your practice sessions on a high note instead of in a state of frustration. At the end of the session, I want you to be saying, “Yes!!” instead of “Rats!!”  Say you’re learning something hard like a fingered double stops scale. You spent half an hour practicing this, your time’s almost … Continued