Fiddlosophy

Practice Blocks

Pick a song and a skill, and then practice in 25-minute blocks with intention. Strategy Pick a strategy to guide your session. Use this card for a week to understand how it works. For example: Chaining Plan-Do-Reflect Play Slowly Loop Fiddling With Micro-Motions Song | ⏱️10m Learn a song you like. Discover what’s challenging about … Continued

Things I’m Grateful For – November 2023

‘Tis the week before Thanksgiving, maybe my favorite holiday. So much so that I try to celebrate it every day in a small way. I make a short list of things I’m grateful for. So today I’m going to share a typical daily gratitude list with you. I invite you to leave a comment below … Continued

Swallowtail Blues

Did you know that you can take an Irish tune like Swallowtail Jig and turn it into a blues song? I played it with a 4/4 beat (1-2-3-4) instead of a jig beat (1-2-3-4-5-6).  And instead of a heavy triplet feel, I played with a swing feel. I also added a lot of slowwwww slides … Continued

Guided Practice Session – Hesitation Blues

Here’s a guided practice session on how to take recently learned tunes to the next level. I used ​Hesitation Blues​ as an example. This is an experimental format: part lesson, part open practice session. Some of the practice suggestions: Play a single note, focus on breath, posture, good sound. Plan-do-reflect for different hard parts of … Continued

How To Play Chord Backup On Fiddle And Violin

Overview Did you know that you can play chord backup on the fiddle and violin? This is a role normally played by the guitar, mandolin or piano. But you can do it on fiddle with two-note double stops chords. Why learn chord backup? Knowing how to play chord backup will help you to play with … Continued

Should I memorize scales?

A student asked, “Should I memorize scales?” The short answer is “yes.” 🎶 First things first: Start by memorizing a single-octave D Major scale: D0-1-2-3-A0-1-2-3 Practice it with a D Drone: Now, the cool thing is once you’ve got D Major down, you also know… G Major: G0-1-2-3-D0-1-2-3 And A Major: A0-1-2-3-E0-1-2-3 🤔 So, why … Continued

Learning A New Song Routine

Do you ever begin a practice session wondering, “What should I play today?” Do you find that you tend to wander from one thing to the next without making progress? If you said “Yes” then give this “practice journey” a try. It’s a simple routine that can be adapted to any song you learn. 1. … Continued

Play Slowly

Go Ridicu-Slow 🐢 If you can’t play something, chances are you’re going too fast. Speeding leads to anxious hands and a cluttered mind. 🤯 Slow down to overcome almost any obstacle. 🧗🏾‍♂️ Ridicu-Slow Chunks 🕰️ Pick a challenging Chunk of a song or exercise. Play it once at a snail’s pace. Continue to play single … Continued

Wandering Mind

Last night, I was practicing and hit a rough patch. I kept stumbling over a section of a song called “Climbing and Falling.” Then it hit me: my mind wasn’t in the game. I was distracted, stewing over something annoying my mother-in-law had said. 🤯 So, I switched gears and practiced a different song that … Continued

What’s helped you the most on your fiddle journey?

When I was college orchestra I sat in the last row of the viola section. I met with a student teacher who patiently helped me fumble through difficult music that I usually wasn’t excited about. This patient graduate student taught me the principle of Chunking. It was something I’d probably done unconsciously here and there. … Continued