1.2 Lingering with Fingering

Musical multi-tasking

In the video above, I explain what you’ll be learning on the fiddle and how to navigate this page. To learn more, take the Fiddlehed Site Tour.

Here’s what you’ll do in this module

  • Four new tunes
  • Playing better in tune with tools like drones, electronic tuners and finger tape
  • Learn to read fiddle tabs
  • More precise and relaxed left-hand fingering with “Little Lift” practice
  • Training your ear with the Call-and-response game
  • Fun and productive practice with drones

🎻 Get ready for a fun journey 🤩 through this beginner fiddle course module! You’ll sharpen your skills by playing in tune using tools like drones, electronic tuners, and finger tape 🎵 , while also learning to 📖 read fiddle tabs and mastering the Little Lift technique. Engage in 📞 call-and-response exercises and put your 🆕 talents to the test with four entertaining tunes: Freres Jacques, Fais Do Do, When The Saints Go Marching In, and a hoedown version of Mary Had A Little Lamb. Let your fiddle skills flourish 🌸 !

Module 1.3 Progress

Core lessons started in Module 1.2:

Core Lessons

Week 1

*Make a video of this tune or another core tune after you learn it. Make a second video 2-3 weeks later to see how it’s improved and what still needs work. Share your progress with the FiddleHed community by posting to the Student Video Exchange.

Week 2

Week 3

Practice Tips

  • Play every for at least six days a week for at least twenty minutes a day.
  • Make you practice fun and productive by using the D Drone. This helps you to play in tune and to play with a relaxed feeling.
  • Practice “little lift”. This helps with precision. It’s also a way to be kind to your hands.
  • Don’t be intimidated by all these lessons. Focus on doing one thing well. Do this for even just five minutes and you’ll see results. Each moment of quality practice is a huge success.

Bonus Lessons & Practice

Don’t feel obligated to do these bonus lessons. The tunes complement the core lessons above, so they are a good way to supplement your learning. But it’s more important to do one thing well than lots of mediocre things.

Bonus tunes

Supplemental lessons

Note-Reading Lessons

Note-reading is not absolutely essential, so these lessons are optional. But if you are interested in learning to read, I will teach it to you in a step-by-step manner as you work through the main course. You can also learn this later on in the Note-Reading For Fiddlers course.

Student Story

STUDENT STORY: JAMES

One day James was walking down the street with a friend when he saw a violin in a shop window and said “I’ve always wanted to play the fiddle.” That Christmas his friend gave him a fiddle (best gift ever).

James says:

I started playing the fiddle not long after I turned 50. It was always something I wanted to do but somehow I never got around to it. I started on Christmas Day thanks to an awesome present and safe to say nothing has been the same since.
I scoured the internet looking for some way to learn and pretty much instantly found FiddleHed. Jason knows how to teach this amazing instrument in a calm, understanding and relatable way.
I honestly don’t know how I could have made it through the COVID minefield without Jack (my violin) and this course.

Start here: Drone tuning the notes on the D string >>