Hi Liz, I just wanted to thank you, for your fine lessons! As a struggling, beginner fiddle player, I happily found your videos on RU-vid, and you are my go-to for irish tunes. Thank You!!
I don't think there should be a problem with changing up bowing for classical pieces, as when the songs were initially put down a lot of the notation that exists today might not have been put down.
Great overview of various techniques employed in this kind of music. As a jazz musician I would add to the mix, the importance of listening to loads of music from the genre youre interested in playing. its essential to get the sound a feel of the stuff under your skin and into youre bones if you want to sound authentic. And (controversial for classical musicians) try to learn the tunes by ear and not from the page.
I run up against this dichotomy a lot, since I haven't been playing very long and the whole orientation of most lesson books and teachers is toward classical-style music. The fiddlers I've watched and talked to in Ireland are in a different universe; many of them can't or at least don't read sheet music and they tend to treat their violins as almost a percussion instrument. The rhythmic aspects are vital, and that kind of thing often isn't depicted in the sheet music (if it's even available). Swing. Scotch Snap. If it doesn't have those things, it doesn't sound like anything.
Why not switch methods? There are several methods that focus more on fiddle styles and techniques. My daughter learned by ear (with a teacher up for teaching *fiddle*, not classical violin) for the first 3 or 4 years, but when she was wanting to learn to read music (a helpful shortcut for learning tunes quickly) and a wider range of techniques, she started the O'Connor Method and I've been very impressed honestly (though of course most of the repertoire is Old Time/bluegrass- but there's plenty of crossover, and the technique is closely related.)
I would like to upgrade my membership on your patreon page. Can you tell me if the family plan includes sheet music from the entire library or just the new month tune? TIA
