Super Cool Fiddle Sounds

Overview

When I was a kid practicing violin, I’d sit in my room and make weird sounds like this…My Mom would yell at me from the other room, “Is that what you’re supposed to be doing?”

No! I was supposed to be practicing classical pieces like Sarabande.

Anyway, in this video, I’m going to do a survey of the amazing sonic potential of this instrument. I won’t go into too much detail on how to do each sound. 

But I’ve made individual lessons for a lot of these textures on YouTube and the FiddleHed course.

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Some of my favorite weird violin sounds

Tremolo 

  • Super short bow strokes with the wrist in the upper third of the bow.
  • For each texture I show you today, first try it on single notes, then on simple tunes like Twinkle.
  • Learn more here: Tremolo

Sliding

Harmonics

  • Place your finger lightly on the midpoint of any string. This divides the string into segments which resonate at a higher frequency.
  • Octave harmonic
  • Octave + fifth
  • Two octave
  • Two octave + major third
  • Two octave + fifth
  • A fun sound effect is to slide your finger up and down as you lightly touch the strings

False Harmonics

  • Hold down the first finger and then play the fourth finger to make a false harmonic. This is a cool but eerie sound. Combine with sliding for extra weirdness.
  • Practice playing with just index

Bouncing

  • Start with a natural vertical bounce
  • Then move the arm back and forth to create tone
  • Learn more here: Bouncing The Bow

Double Stops

Ponticello

  • Play right next to the bridge for a sound like a distorted guitar.
  • You may have done this by accident and thought it was a mistake!
  • Helps to play with a light left-hand touch and to do a little sliding vibrato.
  • Once you’re able to get a good sound, do it intentionally.

Pulse

  • A brief acceleration of the bow
  • Combine with double stops
  • Learn more here: The Pulse Bowing

Whammy-Bar Plucking

  • Thumb-pluck and then do a wide sliding vibrato.
  • I used this a lot when I was playing electric violin in a band…

Bamboo Flute

  • Emulate that sound by bowing over the fingerboard

The Chop

  • Usually the bow is parallel to the bridge, but with the chop, it helps to angle the frog (bottom of the bow) away from you.
  • Dig in for a percussive sound.
  • Mute the strings with the left hand.
  • I’m learning this now. I’ll make some lessons once I get further along!

Conclusion

These sounds can be used to add variation to melodies, improvise, and compose. Or you can just enjoy the sound for its own sake!

If you’re a beginner, I suggest you still focus on getting a good sound on a single note. This is still the holy grail for any new violin player. Learn more here: How can I improve the tone on the fiddle?

Thanks for reading. Now go make some weird sounds. 🤓

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