Fiddlosophy

Leave Her Johnny Leave Her – Sing What You Play

Overview  If you sing what you play you’ll become a better musician every day. We’ll use this powerful (and fun) strategy to practice Leave Her Johnny, Leave Her. Overview  If you sing what you play you’ll become a better musician every day. Learning Steps  Here’s how you do it  Sing the first word of this song, … Continued

Fire On The Mountain With Tresillo Rhythm

Overview  In this micro-lesson you’ll learn how to add the Tresillo Rhythm (3+3+2) to Fire On The Mountain. Learning Steps  Start by clapping or chanting the rhythm Then play it on a single string Slowly play it on A Major scale: A0-1-2-3-E0-1-2-3  Then add this bowing pattern: Slur Three-Slur Three-Separate 2.  Add Accents. Slowly play … Continued

Leave Her Johnny Leave Her – Microlesson

Overview Learn this great song in a super short lesson 🤓 Verse 1st line: (D0-0)-G0-2-D0-0-3-2 | D1-0-G2-G0 2nd line: G1-1-1-0-2-D0-0 3rd line: (D0-0)-1-1-0-G2-3-D0-G2 4th line: (G0-1)-2-D0-0-G0-1-0 Chorus 1st line: G1-1-1-0-2-D0-0 2nd line: D3-2-1-1-1-0-G2-D0 3rd line: (D0-0)-1-1-0-G2-3-D0-G2 4th line: (G0-1)-G2-D0-0-G0-1-0   Further learning Leave Her Johnny, Leave Her / This is a deep dive workshop. You’ll … Continued

Devil Went Down to Georgia – Speedup!

 Overview If you want to play a song faster, start by speeding up a small chunk. We’ll practice with a key riff from “The Devil Went Down To Georgia.” Learning Steps In the video I’m speeding up by 10 bpm each repetition. However I recommend more like 3-5 bpm for students. You want to … Continued

When The Saints Go Marching In – Variation

Overview In this journey you’ll add variation and expression to “When The Saints Go Marching In.” Main takeaways Practice adding variation to single notes and scales before trying on songs. Add a single variation or expression idea to one Chunk of the song. Alternate between the basic and variation versions. Approach learning with an improvisational … Continued

Brahm’s Fiddle Waltz

Did you know that you can take a classical melody like this Brahms waltz and transform it into a fiddle tune?   Further learning Offbeat Accents On The Fiddle Improvisation Workshop Improv Playground   Return to the Fiddlosophy Blog >>

Jamming with the Pogues and the Dubliners

I finally get to jam with these musical heroes on the Irish Rover!   I’m also making some lesson videos for this on my Youtube channel.   Further learning Offbeat Accents On The Fiddle Improvisation Workshop Improv Playground   Return to the Fiddlosophy Blog >>

How To Play Violin In One Minute

 Here’s how to learn a fun song like The Irish Rover.   Play the first note, then Chain the first two…   Now you have the first musical Chunk   Go slow, allowing the fingers to easily reach the destination.   Then Loop on that Chunk until if flows.   Memorize it before you … Continued

Call-and-response Improvisation With Mary

Hey there fiddler, Join me for a short guided improvisation. We’ll play around with Mary Had A Little Lamb, the pentatonic scale, rhythms and call-and-response. This is yet another example of how you can practice advanced skills with simple, familiar songs.  Below you’ll find a simple, plug-and-play routine that you can use with any song. … Continued