mswlogo - Posted - 03/11/2010:  09:26:23

I purchased Brian Wickland’s 2 books (with CD and DVD) a couple months ago on advice from my teacher.

Supposedly Brian Wickland was (or is) part of the Prairie Home Companion band.

I'm about 15 months into my fiddle journey. Never touched an instrument before I started.

I have bought a dozen or so books, including Gordon Stobbes (12 things for right hand) and Craig Duncans.

I have been taking lessons once a week since I started too.

I must say I have got more out of these 2 books than anything I've done.

The CD's are a joy just to listen too even just for entertainment, especially volume 2. I was playing them at work and co-worker immediately asked what they were with great interest.

Brian’s DVD that covers bow grip and bowing is just as good as Gordon Stobbe’s but different. He uses a different approach in explaining. I like Gordon’s slow motion but Brian very nicely shows him switching back and forth between (wrist action – he calls active wrist) and longer bow strokes where you lead with the wrist (he calls this passive wrist). Brian also keeps his pinky on the bow. But he uses the pinky to help explain that you have the right motion.

I feel he got me over a couple big walls with the wrist and now I feel I’m on a whole new instrument and have to go back through all my tunes and relearn them using proper wrist.

Brian also helped a lot with the left hand. So many people say get your elbow under. I even tied a bungey cord from my left elbow to my right belt loop. That was not the problem. I always thought your finger nails should be as close to parallel with the strings as you could to minimize touching unwanted strings. I thought that’s why you want your elbow over as much as you can so your left hand could come in sideways to the strings. I had that all wrong. You really come in at 45 degree angle (or some where around there, boy does that make it easier knowing that). Your hand comes in from the top as much as it does from the side (very natural position). This is where Brian’s DVD helped a lot (he often uses the phrase your finger nails should be like looking in a mirror – facing you when you look at them). Another piece that cleared it up for me was when he was doing drones and saying you need to scooch your finger over so you don’t hit an unwanted string. Yikes, that’s what I was doing when I first started but I thought that was all wrong and it was because my fingernails were not parallel to strings was the reason I had to scooch. It also hit home when I saw my teachers fingers with permanent grooves on his finger tips at 45 degrees !! To get my left hand correct (it’s far from perfect but much better) I just focused on playing on the ABSOLUTE tips (until they hurt, then play on them more), you do that and everything else falls into place (their should be no white on your finger nails). Again Brian explains this nicely with facts. You want to use the BONE in your finger tip to compress the string for good sound. Not the mushy pad of your finger.

If you are starting out I can’t say enough about these two books, get them with CD’s and DVD’s. Best $50.00 you’ll ever spend on the hobby.

Edited by - mswlogo on 03/11/2010 09:32:52

RobBob - Posted - 03/11/2010:  10:14:24

I have been teaching from Wicklund's books since 2002 and have had great success getting students started and then migrating them to learning by ear. The use of written music reinforced with a sound recording not only helps the student learn to read but also helps them to hear what they are trying to learn. Have a good time on a journey and that last a lifetime.

Dick Hauser - Posted - 03/11/2010:  15:32:46

Some years ago I bought Brian Wicklunds book/CD "The American Fiddle Method", volume 2. At that time the DVD was not available. Last year, I purchased Gordon Stobbe's "12 Things Your Right Hand Should Know". Gordon's DVD got my right hand straightened out. Since that DVD only addressed bowing, I will be buying Brian Wicklund's instructional DVD. The DVD is pretty long and I know I will get my $20.00 worth. A two hour lesson for the price of a half hour lesson.

Brian's book/CD is heavily used and I recommend it to fiddler's who want to add tunes to their repertoire. Most of the tunes are commonly played.

I also bought Brians and April Verch's "Canadian Fiddle Styles" book/CD. I wrote to Brian asking about the possibility of a DVD demonstrating the techniques in that publication, but no luck so far.

Fiddlepiper - Posted - 03/12/2010:  00:56:19

I highly recommend both Brian's Vol. 1 and 2. It is great for jamming along with. I teach from Mark O' Connors Violin Method now.