• 

    Once you learn a tune, take a journey by adding practice variations. This adds Desirable Difficulty which helps you learn it more thoroughly. But mainly it’s fun.

    We’ll mostly work with the first q […]

  • Written by Jim Guinn

    A Brief Overview of Old-Time Music
    Old-time music is a unique form of North American folk music with its roots tracing back to the traditional folk music of England, Scotland, […]

    • What a wonderful article. Thank you.

      • This is a comment / question I have a really old fiddle that was given to me it has geared tuners on it is fully intact but fragile wood not play it but was played alot during its younger years finger board has dips on it from being played so much for a very long time anyway was just wandering if you’ve ever seen or heard of one set up with geared tuners

        • Hi
          I don’t know why you are asking me about this. Did you hit the wrong reply button? in any case, what I do know is that my Best Buddy installed a set of geared tuners on a cheap violin about ten years ago. He purchased the product from George Hienyl ( or Heinyl – I’m not sure of the correct spelling). Apparently there were several types of tuner available but not all would be suitable for a valuable instrument since alteration to the instrument would be required, not something to do on a fine old violin I’d guess.

          The Heinyl company has been around a long time and might be a source of information for you. They are located in Toronto, Canada and known for high quality, at least they were ten years ago. Times are changing so it’s hard to be sure these days I guess.

    • Outstanding article and very informative. Thank you !!!!

    • This was terrific – thanks so much for all the info!

    • This is great! Thanks for sharing.

    • Love this article. I moved out of an area in Florida that only played old time and landing in the middle of bluegrass in East Tennessee. Jam sessions have been an challenge. I never had to play “breaks” or sing before. All new. This article puts is all in perspective. Thanks.

    • Thank you so much for this wonderfully informative article. I am really enjoying rhe article, links, recordings and pictures.
      Kudos to you, Jim and Jayson !

    • Fantastic article and examples! Thanks for a powerful Music History course in miniature!

    • By the way, you really should *categorize* this page so it’s easier to find and return to! (For now I’ve saved it as a Favorite, but that doesn’t help others who may never stumble across it!)

  • 

    At the FiddleHed monthly hour hours, Mike said, “Bow bounce has reared its ugly head again. Mostly on down strokes.”

    Practice tone-building with the bow to overcome unwanted bouncing

    Throwaway bow […]

  • This year we had 305 practicipants sign up for the Fall Practice Challenge 2022! I am so proud of all of you who did this. The comments had me on the verge of tears (the good kind). It’s like you guys have […]

  • Here’s some feedback on Kevin’s playing.

    https://player.vimeo.com/video/761257444

  • Fiddling With Desirable Difficulty You’ll see more results if you learn to practice well.  One way is to find that perfect level of challenge so that you’re neither bored nor […]

    • Thanks Jason these emails really help me and I look forward to them. Your teacher for this old woman

    • Thanks for that, I often need a bit of inspiration to move my practise on a notch!

    • Thank you ever so much. I did it with the tune of Ashokan farewell 2nd Quarter. I had to listen Close to catch the chord’s I love it. Thst really Help me a lot… Fiddlehed Jsn I sure R.Grateful …made me Feel like yeah fin doing something Right. I never play this tune or sing before. I will continue. Doing some more of this. Thank you. Again for your Guidance helping me. I think I made My Stars in the Atmospheric. Happy. lol 🤗🤗❤️⭐️⭐️🌟

    • Having lots of fun with these lesson Fiddlehed Jsn .I practiced the tun small chunks . Then I couldn’t sign in on some of the Others. sites . To login in but still practice. The Excerise with. Kerry Polka. Thanks Fiddlehed Jsn. Yes I was having lots of fun to day. Need more practice. On these tunes I never played them before. So ther new to me. I’m thinking about sending. Smoke Signals. Your way. If I can’t get through to my lesson so you know I need your Help. 🤣 Lol I’m just grateful. That u got me on these lesson. Has Reslly help Me. ❤️⭐️

  • You’ll see more results if you learn to practice well. Deliberate practice is a process which helps you to learn more efficiently. In a nutshell: Focus on hard parts that need work. 

    5 things to re […]

    • Hey Jason, thanks for the motivation in this post. I’m a beginner fiddler who over the years keeps losing my way. I’m on a 3-month hiatus from fiddling now and I don’t want it to go any longer. Traveling and life stuff got in the way but I had my fiddle with me so it’s totally all my fault!

      As I exercised on the treadmill this morning I listened to you and I’m ready to hit the strings again! Thank you for being the awesome teacher that you are and for being so supportive and motivating! You ROCK!

    • Thanks for the email sending me this link. My approach to how I practice gets a little off because I never know where I left off or remember where to commence. I’ll heed your instructions and re-start my practice journal, which is already a mess—the extra help in learning how to live with my fiddle is invaluable and you can send me as many emails as your want.

  • Yay! Great to see you both playing together…sounds sweet.

  • Good playing James, good teaching Jocelyn 👍

  • This is so sweet! You really sound good. I like hearing the baby in the background.

  • In this lesson, I’ll show you how to sing while playing backup with an instrument. I’m going to break it down into a step-by-step process for anyone who wants to sing and play backup at the same […]

    • This was really helpful. I play guitar and uke as well as the violin and thought that I would have to give up the singing part when I took up the violin. It is good to see that it is still possible. It is so encouraging. Thanks so much.
      Diane

  • Playing Fiddle Backup On Girls Just Want To Have Fun In this video I sing and play fiddle backup for Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. After I play it, I’ll talk about what we did…kind of a video “ […]

    • Very cool! Yes, the mix of simple rhythms, chords and arpeggios, and short riffs really works well. And the “Norwegian Wood” interlude is frosting on the cake!

    • Yeah! Really liked the lesson with a sneak peak into a creative mind. I used to be quite creative with a baseball or soccer ball. This is a learning process for me and I am enjoying it. Thanks for the video‼️

    • This sounds great Jason, amazing what you can do with one voice, one fiddle and one drone. Thanks for the clear explanations and break down on how you work on each aspect of the song, backing and riffs. Please keep posting these videos, we’re learning so much from you.

    • Hey, back again because there’s some great call-and-response with a fiddle on Cyndi Lauper’s recording of the Country song, “Begging To You.” Fits perfectly with the “how to play on songs” theme!

    • Just read your email, “How To Sing And Play Backup” and couldn’t believe that the original “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” was in F#! Checked the official YT video on my keyboard and found it was true. Seems like such an UNidiomatic key for any of the instruments involved. I wonder if it was really done in F or G, then slid with the recording equipment of the mid-80s. Or maybe F# really fit Lauper’s vocal range better! Anyway, it was an intriguing bit of trivia. Thanks, Jason, for all your great lessons!

    • Absolutely LOVED this lesson! Opened up so many ideas… and yes, Norwegian Wood was an inspiration in this tune! Thanks, Jason!

    • This was absolutely wonderful! YES! Do more like this! I heard this song in a totally different way that captured my imagination and helped me think about ways to reframe many of the songs I know into something special. Norwegian Wood fit perfectly in there. I loved the Bb chords and key! What a wonderful lesson! Thank you, Jason, for taking the music to another level. ~Cindy

    • Wow, glad to see I could still login to make a comment. This is definitely resubscribe material. The comments that came in ahead of mine really say it all (especially about the fish) this is the level I feel I need to focus on. Total teaching to it’s best at waking the mind up. I want more for sure.
      The simplicity of chords used for singing was a light bulb on hi voltage.
      Thank you.
      Dan….

  • Joanne wants feedback on on Her playing Garry Owen.

  • Sweet! Sounds good. It will be fun for you to listen to this in 4 months, a year, 2 years, etc…

  • In this video I sing “Your Song” by Elton John and play backup on the fiddle. Then after the performance I explain what I did.

    I’ve been learning to sing songs and play backup on the fiddle. Here are some […]

    • This was so interesting Jason, I learnt a lot from you explaining your creative process. The listening, finding the triads for the intro, chord back up rhythms, descending bass line, slides. All the building blocks we can play with to make a song backing. Thanks for another great lesson!

    • Playing on songs is a high water mark in the Fiddlehed program. This is the best explanation of playing along with a song ever!!!

    • Wow 🤩

  • Hey folx 🤓

    Would you like feedback on your fiddling from a teacher? FiddleHed is now offering video feedback lesson 🎉
    Here’s an example:

    There’s two ways to do this.

    1. Public feedback
    -Post a video to this forum (Student videos)
    -Title it like this: “Feedback on {tune, technique, etc.}”
    -If…[Read more]

  • Written by Jim Guinn

    When first taking on the task of writing about the history of the violin, I ignorantly assumed it would be an easy and straight-forward task which I would be able to write up within […]

    • My cousin was allowed to photograph the Amati 1649 and the Strad 1716 in person as part of a project to republish the book about Amati, in 1984. That was picked up by the car company that released an ‘Amati’, around 1991. Just some added trivia. Thanks for your work.

    • This is a wonderful study. Thank you, Jim Guinn, for writing this and to you Jason for getting this out to us FiddleHeds.

    • Jim! Hello – happy to be in touch with you again!

      I was making some updates to my fiddle blog recently – thinking about you due to the comments and encouragement you left all those years back, and hoping you were still fiddling!

      It makes me so happy to read this post and know you’re still at it – and a fascinating post it is, too! Thanks for all the research and work that went into it! Hope all is well!

      • Hey Aywren. I think I replied to you privately, but I am not sure it went through, so I will post my response here again.

        So good to hear from you! Jason asked me about writing for Fiddlehed again, and I accepted his offer. My fiddling has been almost non-existent for the past year because of severe shoulder problems. I practice when I can, but I have fallen way behind. I am on the mend, but it has been a very slow process. I thought if I wrote for Jason, that might help me get back into the swing again. I told Jason I would write 6 articles over the next 12 months. I still love fiddle music,but playing it has been a real ordeal. I hope you are making good progress. If you should want to contact me directly, you (or anyone else) can use [email protected] So GOOD to hear from you, my friend!

    • Wow this was awesome!

  • What defines it? How many notes are there in a scale?

    My simple definition: A scale is a group of notes used to practice a musical instrument.

    It’s a series of small steps defined by a root note and […]

  • Solid.

  • Sweet!

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