Fiddlosophy

The Hardest Part

You can learn an instrument (or anything) if you simply ask yourself, “What is the hardest part?” Once you identify that, practice it. Then once again ask, “What is the hardest part?” (of the hardest part). Keep going until you find you’re practicing something with the perfect level of challenge. You’re deeply engaged when you … Continued

You Gotta Want It

Do you really want to play music? If so, that’s a precious and valuable thing. If you’re feeling down because you’re not further along, just remember that there are lot of people who don’t even know what they want to do with their time. Just knowing what you want to do can create a powerful … Continued

Make Friends With Your Doubt

I recently took a musical field trip to India to learn more about Hindustani classical music. I took lessons, learned informally by playing with people, went to a lot of concerts and even did a recording session with some local musicians. About halfway through the trip, I started to feel anxious because, compared to a … Continued

Practice Like A Master

A lot of people have written saying that they struggle with playing in tune. Do you also struggle with this? I wrote an article called Repeat A Thousand Times. The hero of this story is Earl Scruggs, titan of the bluegrass banjo. He wrote an instructional book on how to play the banjo in which … Continued

Hey, Play Us A Tune!

As a beginning fiddler, it’s exciting to learn your first tune. Once, you learn a few, you start to see how the process works and then you Β want to keep charging ahead, consuming one tune after another. It’s great to be excited about learning, and I would never want to dampen the inspiration and pleasure … Continued

Three Phases of Learning a Tune

Think of learning a tune as a relationship. Like an old friend, the relationship will change over time, revealing new things about you, your playing and the tune. Tunes are not something to check off a list before moving on to the next thing. They continue to teach and bring joy in new ways each … Continued

The Goal of a Good Process

It’s no wonder I flunked out of that life coaching course πŸ™‚ There are lots of ways to think of goals. But ask yourself, what are they for? If you reach the goal you have some gratification. But that doesn’t last too long. Then it’s time for a new goal. Always working towards a point … Continued

Fiddling On The Golf Course

Dan McLaughlin was 31 years old when he decided to quit his job and become a professional golfer. Minor detail: he didn’t really know how to play golf yet. And what does that have to do with learning the fiddle? It means that you if you play every day with focused deliberate practice, you can … Continued

Developing Confidence

It’s important to develop a sense of confidence in what you can do on your instrument. If you’re always doubting what you are doing, this very doubt becomes an obstacle to playing well. But how do you do that? Maybe if you just say “I am good at the fiddle” a hundred times a day … Continued

What Is The WORST Part Of Being A Musician?

Most of the difficult things about being a musician involve touring. For instance, I could point to the horrible flatulence that emanates from the bodies of my bandmates after they’ve loaded up on corndogs, cheetos and chocolate milk (my own farts smell like warm apple pie). Add to that the fact that our tour manager … Continued