kaceysmith2
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 1 week ago
Slow And Fast Learning
It’s hard at first At first learning something new is slow and challenging. You’re building a network of neural connections. Like going to the gym, it […] -
Owen replied to the topic Bill Cheatham in the forum Student Videos 3 weeks, 4 days ago
Thanks, Cindy!
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Owen replied to the topic Bill Cheatham in the forum Student Videos 3 weeks, 5 days ago
Steve, Strum Machine!
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Owen replied to the topic Bill Cheatham in the forum Student Videos 4 weeks ago
Thanks, Deb; it was fun, despite falling out of time a bit!
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Owen started the topic Bill Cheatham in the forum Student Videos 4 weeks ago
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Owen replied to the topic Billy In The Lowground in the forum Student Videos 1 month, 1 week ago
Thanks for posting this one, Patty; I’d never heard it, and well played. Plenty of string crossings!
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Mini-Scale Fiddle Warmups
Overview Scales don’t have to be torture. In fact, a lot of my students devote whole practice sessions to scales because they know how to have fun with […]
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Fiddling With Transposition
Overview Do you wonder, “What can I do to prepare for jam sessions?” The ability to transpose songs from one key to another is a superpower for playing […]
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This was really interesting and helpful. Once I identify what note to start on, things fall together much more easily, especially on known songs. Could you comment sometime on clues to identifying what key a song is when sheet music is not available – in other words, just from listening to the song? Thanks
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Hi Lisa, yes, what great depth shared with transposing in various ways. 🙂 Thanks for sharing how this sits with you.
That is a great point leading from this subject. We’ll take note of this for a future post/lesson.For now, I’ll share my process for identifying the key of a song from listening to it.
-I’ll utilize my instrument, and work on identifying what notes are in the song (even just in the first section or so), and I write down all the different notes I locate (ex: Let’s stay together by Al Green: A, B flat, C, E, F, D, G).
-Once I have a decent range of notes written, I go to my ‘Circle of Fifths’ chart and see what key, in relation to those notes (specifically the sharp/flat notes within those notes I wrote) and narrow down the potential key signatures (ex: F major or D minor).
-From there, I would try to guess the feeling of the song, whether major or minor (also recognizing the key could change throughout song) (Ex: mostly major).
-One thing to note when identifying the notes in a song, there could be some notes added which are not related to the key that the song is in, so I’d also try to keep that in mind and if i think that has happened, I will write that note down outside of the main range of notes I am writing from the song (ex: D flat)
-I’ll also try playing the associated scale with what I have narrowed down and see if the scale ‘matches’ the sound of the tune.This is a great topic to go further into. Thanks for mentioning it.
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Also, here’s a page that supports learning tunes from recordings:
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jason kleinberg replied to the topic Tetris Theme with Dubstep Remix in the forum Student Videos 1 month, 2 weeks ago
Fun!!
My band Diego’s Umbrella used to play this tune at gigs… -
jason kleinberg replied to the topic Billy In The Lowground in the forum Student Videos 1 month, 2 weeks ago
This is good!
This would be a good lesson for FiddleHed.
What source did you use to learn it? -
Owen started the topic Rolling Hills in the forum Student Videos 1 month, 3 weeks ago
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Games and Routines for Group Practice
Are you struggling to practice every day? Do you feel like emotional challenges of doubt or frustration are getting in the way of a productive […] -
jason kleinberg wrote a new post 1 month, 4 weeks ago
Transforming Major Melodies Into Minor Keys
Overview You can reinvent major key songs like “Oh Susanna” by playing them in a minor key. This is a fun way to improve your mental map of scales, mel […]
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I do feel my brain growing! So fun, thanks!
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Yes 🙂 🧠 🎶 💗
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 2 months ago
Improvising With Melodic ChunksDid you know that you can deconstruct existing melodies to improvise and compose new tunes? Further learning Learning Steps Listen to this […]
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 2 months ago
Practice Kentucky Waltz With Alternation Games
Did you know that you can have a musical conversation by playing the same thing two different ways? Further learning Learning […]
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 2 months, 1 week ago
Improvising Melodies On Violin
You can have hours of fun by improvising with pentatonic scales and drone notes. Learning Steps Play an E Minor Pentatonic scale with an E drone: E […]
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 2 months, 1 week ago
What are you practicing these days?
I’m currently practicing singing and playing backup on songs like Wildflowers (Tom Petty), Don’t Think Twice (Dylan) and others. I started voice lessons […]
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Continuing to work on technique based on “Soldier’s Joy”. Went back to working on “Wagon Wheel” fiddle breaks and vocals. Plan to start on “”Move It On Over”. Basic and then hopefully get more advanced giving it a blue sound similar to George Thorogood’s influence.
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Very cool. I’m also working on wagon wheel singing + backup.
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I went to my first jam session a few weeks ago. Now I’m reviewing tunes to see if there are any I might be brave enough to lead and practicing backup and chords.
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Nice! You’re making such good progress with playing out.
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Do you have fiddle music for Don’t Think Twice? My partner sings this and plays guitar, I would love to be able to join in…
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Hey Lindsey,
I don’t but I recommend Musescore for this. You can transpose things there. I pay for the app…
Let me know if that works.
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Yes, it did, and I subscribed to MuseScore. Thank you!
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I’ve been practicing some jazz tunes like “Fly Me To the Moon,” and “All of Me.” I’ve also been working on playing back up on some contemporary Christian songs. I play the keyboard in a Praise band, so I’m trying to include the violin. I got a mandolin for Christmas so that’s another project (moving a little slower with that; not enough hours in the day)!
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Nice! I know a few older country gospel songs, but that’s pretty unexplored.
That praise band sounds awesome.
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That was great yesterday with the Wellerman. Playing in a different key made it hard for play and respond. But that’s on me. I’m still working on cleaning up Josefins, dopval, Halsa dem Darhemma and Ganglat fran Appelbo and will be adding Visa Vid Vindens Angar and Dansen Ungdom once I can get them transcribed to Alto.
Cheers
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Nice, sounds like Scandinavian fiddle. I learned a bunch of that last year.
Did you learn how to transpose to alto with a notation program like Muse?
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I do use Muse, but also just try to keep it note for note. Playing with a group I’m trying to keep it in the same key and I don’t know how otherwise. Muse can bounce the key around. The group leader has been tossing me a few scores that she arranged for the viola which I love.
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This w/e practicing for private jam I go to on Mondays. An older guy there has introduced Maple Sugar, Snow Deer, Down Yonder and Under the Double Eagle. I’m pretty strong on learning tunes, but I still need to work on faster tempos…And I learn melodies, but I feel I need to better learn the tune chords. 🤓🎻
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Definitely a wicked twist; heart attack on Christmas Eve with bypass operation April 26. But, about 10 days later, I was able to play my fiddle while I recoup. I have been working on playing pentatonic scales as backup to Angeline, changing the key as the chord changes. A little “clanking” but I’m getting there. Also, working on “Rolling Waves Variation.” Can we still post student videos?
The new format will leave me a bit disadvantaged, as there is no solid high speed in my neighborhood. However, I will use archived lessons, jams and Strum to keep me going!
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So glad you are able to keep playing. Please post videos when you can!
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Thank you for sharing this Owen. Yes, please still use the student video page for posting! And if/when you have a setup for the new platform, please do check it out. Agree with Debbie, great you can play fiddle moving forward 🙂 Happy music making to you all!
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Owen replied to the topic Pretty Little Dog in the forum Student Videos 2 months, 1 week ago
The switching of octaves in “Pretty Little Dog” can make it difficult to get creative in the song; but not for Debbie! You made it fun.
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 2 months, 3 weeks ago
Fiddlosophy #2 – Taylor Swift, Finding Your Vocal Range, Project-based Learning
In this episode of the Fiddlosophy podcast I’ll talk about my current learning project: arranging songs for fiddle and voice with the goal of making a […]
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jason kleinberg wrote a new post 3 months ago
Accelerate Your Fiddle Progress: Why You Need an Audio Practice Journal
Overview Did you know that you can use audio recording to get immediate feedback on your performance? Not only that, but you can use it as a practice […]
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Jason, it’s good to know that the frustration and sometimes setbacks are part of the continued process. It has beaten me in the past but then there are those breakthrough moments. Your reminders if it’s supposed to be fun definitely help as one of the incentives to not give in to the frustration.
Cheers!
Henry