I have been wondering if it takes alot of work to take an instrument that produces a Mozart Violin Concerto and make it scratch through Soldier's Joy or the other way around.
On Fri 03/27/09 7:05 AM , [email protected] sent: > > I too have flirted with the idea, and my partner said in a pleading > nearly desperate voice....'ooooh, I wish you wouldn't do that'. I > suppose he is thinking of all the screeching and yowling that comes > out when one is first confronted with using the bow. I gather one > can mute the thing which could ease local suffering some. Robin, the > concern might be if you would be abandoned by your family ..ha..at the > outset of an effort. I have talked it over with some fiddlers here > and they seem to think the first year is mainly about the bow side of > things using mainly open strings. I wonder if I have the patience for > a year of that. I confess I do watch how various folks use their bows > and have seen ..the good the bad and the ugly with that, there seems > to be a lot of delicate wrist work involved. > > On Mar 27, 7:46 pm, Robin Gravina robin > [email protected]> wrote:> Funny reading this discussion first thing in the > morning: I was just> thinking about this on my way to work - after > watching that incredible> youtube video from yesterday. Actually I had > already decided learning fiddle> was an insane idea, without either giving up > sleep, > or abandoning my> family... Hmmmm. > > > > On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 6:42 AM, Nelson > [email protected]>wrote:> > > > > > > > Thanks, everyone, for the advice. I enjoy my > mandolin and try to stay> > true to the fiddle side of things when I am > playing old time stuff.> > The one instrument that I truly love is the > fiddle, though. It> > doesn't matter if it is Bob Wills, Celtic stuff, > old time music, Honky> > Tonk or Hank Williams. The fiddle does it for > me. I have been> > listening to Eck Robertson alot lately. He has > one tune where he> > drones alot and it sounds so much like pipes that > it is amazing. Less> > polished than Monroe achieved with Scotland, but > still very effective.> > > > Do any of you have a suggestion for particular > books or DVDs that you> > have found useful or know are useful? I've > played around with bowing> > and stuff, and think I can get the hang of it > pretty quickly. I just> > don't want to form bad habits. > > > > > Thanks again, > > > Nelson > > > > > On Mar 26, 10:37 pm, solofiddle solofid. > [email protected]> wrote:> > > Go for it! Just remember, the first 30 years > are the toughest and> > > after that I hear it's a piece of cake. > haha> > > Seriously, if it calls you, then you will have > to do it. Don't let age> > > discourage you - it's all a matter of how badly > you want it> > > and that will dictate the time you put into it. > I know of many> > > examples of people coming late to some > instrument only to really shine> > > on it. > > > > Determination goes a long way to gettin' some > of that talent that you> > > might think others were born with. > > > > > > I was playing fiddle before mando, so I > essentially play the mando> > > like a fiddle - lotsa two-note chords, same > fingerings for everything> > > I would play on fiddle, etc. > > > > I'm pretty scatterbrained, so I am into > studying lots of instruments> > > and types of music at the same time. > Variety is > nice! Also, the more I> > > learn the more I find some things related and > they can help feed each> > > other. For instance, I play clawhammer banjo > and in the last couple of> > > years I have gotten heavy into lap slide style > resonators and> > > bottleneck style guitar. And guess what - one > of the major tunings for> > > the slide style is closely related to the open > G banjo tuning, so that> > > helped give me some bearing right there. The > same tuning moves onto> > > the Tele with the low string removed and then > you're off into Keith> > > Richards tunes, which almost play themselves. > Then I might go off into> > > some James Brown funk on drums or guitar, and > then I hear banjo and> > > fiddle great Dan Gellert (in Fiddler magazine) > talking about James and> > > his emphasis on stressing the ONE beat and how > he does that in old-> > > time to open things up and make them funkier > than stressing the 2 and> > > 4 like most folks and so things move around in > circles!> > > > > When I took up banjo, logically it seemed like > a crazy idea - I was> > > still taking fiddle lessons and I had returned > to college as an adult> > > and I had no time for banjo. But, I was exposed > to it and it called me> > > and I met a great banjo teacher and things just > lined up perfectly!> > > The fiddle really helped the banjo, as I > essentially play the banjo> > > with the left hand the same way I finger the > fiddle, just on a larger> > > scale. Old time fiddle and banjo often use > altered tunings, and they> > > match up really well on the two instruments, so > once I discovered the> > > connection I could immediately play tons of > fiddle tunes on the> > > banjo. > > > > > > Let's look at drums - I took up drumset late in > life, just because I> > > had always wanted to. Finally got the guts to > try it! And so now I> > > play in an Oldies trio just for fun; and what a > blast it is! Seems> > > totally unrelated to my old-time music > pursuits, right? Well, drums> > > are all about rhythm, of course, and the > banjo > is largely about rhythm> > > and now I am starting to combine drums and old > music, like acoustic> > > blues slide stuff. Getting into playing drums > and slide or banjo at> > > the same time! Turns out, that is an old Blues > tradition and there is> > > a specialty drumset now made to be entirely > played with your feet. Way> > > cool! So, things seem to connect in odd, fun > ways.> > > > > However, I recently saw the one and only banjo > player Leroy Troy, and> > > he said worried early in life about doing too > many things, and someone> > > warned him of having a split brain if he did > that and that he should> > > maybe focus on one thing. Well, it's obviously > working for him,> > > whatever he's doing, but my brain is split > several ways and that's> > > just the way I am! > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Taterbugmando" group.To post to this group, send email to > [email protected] unsubscribe from this group, send email to taterbugmando+ > [email protected] more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en-~---------- ~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Taterbugmando" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/taterbugmando?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
