It seems so weird to me that most folks appear to be more comfortable with playing melody on the down stroke, like throwing with your left hand, for some reason in my mind I want to start on and play melody in the up-bow. Maybe it's because the first thing I learned how to do when I picked up a fiddle was the Georgia Shuffle, but now that I'm getting a little more proficient the down bow just makes more sense for pulsing as you get a little gravity assist when you grab those other strings.
This is helpful to me as a beginner. I tried before but had awful neck and jaw pain, so I gave it up years ago. Now I want to try again. I see you are holding your fiddle far from your face. Is that position difficult to hold?
Sorry it took so long to get to this. Honestly I started holding it there as a beginner out of comfort and and in all the old photos I saw of fiddlers they were holding it low. After years I see that the reason for holding it low is so you don’t have change your bow movements when you change strings. Basically I just rotate the fiddle itself instead of my bow angle when I go from the high register to the low register. It’s also just more comfortable and I’m not blasting loud fiddle right into my left ear. That being said some techniques are harder holding low, like vibrato but luckily those techniques aren’t terribly common in Oldtime.
My school of thought is that fiddle is supposed to be fun( this isn’t classical violin) so hold it in a way that is comfortable Don’t sweat being technically unsound, just play and you will find what works for your body if your body hurts listen to and maybe try a different position. Everyone’s bodies are a little different so it makes sense that something comfortable for someone would be uncomfortable for someone else. Fiddle Bowing is reallllly hard at first, (I can’t understate that point) it’s not a natural motion for most people until they have the repetitions for it to be natural.
Woohoo you mean I don’t have to hold it under my chin , lol thank you great tips I’m now practicing - inherited my grandads fiddle ans want to learn old time
Awesome! Well let me know if there’s anything you’re struggling with I’ll try to help out. You should learn the tune grand dads favorite to play on your fiddle
@@joedoucettemusic I just looked it up and its a bit far from my abilities at this point but I will make it a goal, I am still working on playing scales smoothly
@@jennymallin9404 scales are great to work on....but soooo dreadfully boring. If you feel like a switch up a great exercise is to try take a simple tune you already have in your head basically something you sing already, sing the note and try to find it on the fiddle work your way through the melody. It doesn’t have to sound great but then point is to try to link the note in you’re head with the note on the fiddle. You don’t have to use the bow if that is proving difficult, just pluck the string. Once you have that worked you can add the bow later.
@@jennymallin9404 of there is one thing that has improved my fiddling more than anything it’s been practicing singing. Granted you still gotta work at the fiddle but there the old adage I’ve heard playing around but if you can’t sing the tune you can’t play the tune
