Fiddlosophy

A blog about music, practice and life with the occasional dad joke thrown in…

 

 

Rolling Waves – basic and variation performance

Hey folks, Here’s a short performance of an Irish tune called Rolling Waves. I play a very simple version and then play a version with some variation added. In this version, I added: Jig Swing Triplet variation Mordents Rolls If you’re interested in adding variation to tunes, start by adding variation to one little phrase. … Continued

Thanks for everything, no complaints whatsoever!​

Are you grateful? How often do you feel gratitude? It’s ThanksGiveMeMoreToEat day! The first thing thing most people think about when they hear the word “Thanksgiving” is food. Then maybe they think about the logistics of travel and seeing everyone they want to see. On the day itself, people reflect on the year and find … Continued

Mary Had A Little Lamb – Fiddle Raga

Here’s a fiddle raga performance of Mary Had A Little Lamb. What the heck is a fiddle raga? The short answer: it’s an improvisation based around a fiddle melody accompanied by a drone. Here is a downloadable mp3 for your listening pleasure (so you can listen to this while walking the dog, doing laundry or … Continued

Mary Had A Little Lamb – Five Fiddle Variation Performance

Hey folks, Here’s a performance of Mary Had A Little Lamb in which I add five different types of fiddle variation on each pass of the tune: -Hoedown -Melodic variation -Triplets -Cuts -Rolls Here is a downloadable mp3 for your listening pleasure (without all my rambling and yammering): I also made step-by-step lessons on how … Continued

Kerry Polka – Basic And Variation Performance

Hey folks, Here’s a short performance of an Irish tune called Kerry Polka. I play a very simple version and then play a version with some variation added. In particular, I added mordents and triplets.  Here is a downloadable mp3 for your listening pleasure:  I also made step-by-step lessons on how to play each … Continued

Kerry Polka – Fiddle Raga

Here’s a fiddle raga performance of Kerry Polka. What the heck is a fiddle raga? It’s an improvisation based around a fiddle melody accompanied by a drone.  Here’s an mp3 for to listen to here or download to your device so you can listen while walking the dog, doing laundry or going to sleep … Continued

Hector The Hero – basic and variation performance

Hey folks, Here’s a short performance of a Scottish tune called Hector The Hero. I play a very simple version and then play a version with some variation added.  Here is an mp3 that you can stream or download for your listening pleasure:  Both versions are taught in step-by-step lessons in the Irish Fiddle Variation … Continued

Practice Notes – October 22, 2018

Trying out something new with this post. I’m going to share a few things I’m currently practicing. Stuff that I’m struggling with, stuff that I’m enjoying. In case you haven’t heard, this post comes in the middle of the Fall Practice Challenge 2018. Today is day 8. For fourteen days, fiddlers around the world will play every … Continued

Practice challenge notes – day two

Today is day 2 of the 14-day practice challenge. This is one way for you to establish music practice in your life. Would you like to be a musician? If so, then just play music every day! That’s what this is all about. It’s not too late to take part. Click here to go to … Continued

A simple tip for getting better sound

I want to offer a simple tip for getting good sound on the fiddle. This part of the Fall Practice Challenge 2018, which begins today! What is a practice challenge? And why should you do it? A practice challenge is an event in which you simply try to play every day for two weeks. It … Continued