Posted by mudbug on Sunday, August 16, 2009
I'm starting to see that this instrument could be a metaphor for patience. When you come to it from other instruments, you think "How hard could it be? It's got strings, and I already play stringed instruments". Little did I realise the time one needs to spend to get halfway decent on this instrument. Not that I'm begrudging the time spent (and mucho future time). I'm at the point where I can appreciate the years of dedication that it will take.
We live in a society now that WANTS instant gratification in all aspects of life, and refuses to wait for anything of substance. You see people now, who instead of wanting to be musicians, want to be stars. Instead of playing with soul, they seem to want to amaze you with their technique. Singers especially, but blues guitar players who all want to show you how they can play like Stevie Ray Vaughn doing Jimi Hendrix, instead of like B.B., Albert and Freddy King who were also influences. Jazz horn players, who want to play like Charlie Parker, or John Coltrane in his "sheets of sound" period, instead of like Ben Webster, who could make you cry when he did a ballad. People like this don't even want to play one song/tune that doesn't highlight their " unbelievably amazing" technique. And maybe the audiences don't have the patience to let an artist grow over time and show many different facets to their music.
Maybe this is partly why I enjoy the fiddle so much. There is a tradition here going back centuries. Just playing a simple old tune (or hearing one played), goes against the "flavor of the month" syndrome that is endemic in our daily lives.
And meanwhile, I'm plodding along, practising every day, and hopefully, after awhile, my playing improves, in small almost unnoticable increments, in the short run, but noticeable in the long run. I'm in for the long haul.
OTJunky Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @7:31:34 AM
An excellent and insightful blog entry.
Thanks,
--OTJ
mudbug Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @8:00:00 AM
Thankyou, OTJ. I appreciate that.
Cyndy Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @8:55:42 AM
Your post captures a lot of what I feel about the fiddle. I want to learn to play it more than anything else I've ever wanted to do and I've given myself three years get the basics down and then, as you say, I'll enjoy the rest of the "long haul." I've played every day since my first lesson simply because I want to--couldn't imagine doing otherwise--and I notice that viewing fiddle as a long-term goal has taught me to view some other things in my life in the same way. It's been a very powerful experience for me so far . . . Hope it never changes. Cynthia
bj Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @8:58:15 AM
You just said what's been in the back of my mind for a long time, but maybe not crystallized the way you've succeeded in doing.
It'll be interesting to see how this "instant gratification" thing holds up when Peak Oil coupled with Climate Change starts to show enough serious ramifictions that all those neat little lives are suddenly uprooted (which has already started to happen.) I have a feeling our skills will be much in demand at some point in the future, if we're still around to see the results these changes bring.
brya31 Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @9:38:45 AM
Mudbug I bow my head to you. You summed up many many of our FHO members own thoughts.
mudbug Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @9:45:32 AM
Wow! Thankyou all. I think we all feel the need for "substance", and that's why we're here on this journey together.
fiddlepogo Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @2:30:46 PM
Re your first paragraph- I think I actually kind of ENJOYED my 15 year fiddle hiatus simply because I wasn't a slave to having to maintain my fiddle chops!
Definitely a big time investment just to maintain what you've got, let alone make progress!!!
fiddlepogo Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @2:36:23 PM
Re the rest of the paragraphs....
definitely with you on the emotion thing- to me, that's what music is all about, IMO.... I may have to do some research on that Ben Webster guy- now THAT may be some jazz I could get into.
I got into B.B. King on the basis of his ability to convey emotion, and then on the Lucille Talks Back album, there was this sax player (whose name I now forget), but whose playing moved me as much or more than B.B.'s- and with a sweet tone that I didn't know blues sax players were allowed to use!
mudbug Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @4:24:02 PM
Pogo, you'd deffinitely love Ben Webster. When he was in Duke Ellington's band, Duke would write parts especially for him. He also recorded with Billie Holladay. He has a sweet, sexy tone, that he whispers in your ear. It's dripping with honey and musk. Please check him out, you won't regret it!
fiddlebarb Says:
Sunday, August 16, 2009 @10:40:41 PM
Mudbug I agree with you this is an instrument that will teach you what patience is about, and if you are lacking in patience then it will definitly help you to develop patience. It is probably one of the most difficult instruments that I have tried to learn how to play although for me I think the guitar is still ranks as number 1, I tend to do better on instruments in which I am able to play melody (I blame it on all the years of choir training). I was told by some people that I would not be able to learn to play this instrument on my own, stubborness said watch me although I still want to take some lessons my learning to play is not dependent on having them.
Humbled by this instrument Says:
Monday, August 17, 2009 @12:55:29 PM
Perfect!
Humbled by this instrument Says:
Monday, August 17, 2009 @12:55:29 PM
Perfect!
Mandogryl Says:
Monday, August 17, 2009 @4:43:51 PM
You said it all Mudbug! I tell ya, having played mandolin for years, I figured this would be a cinch, after quickly learning the bow technique. Lol. It is very humbling, instead. But, I am determined. I practice 1 1/2 to 2 hours a night, and my guitar and mando have taken a back seat even though I can whiz along with them. And to make matters worse, the fiddle is such a small and light-weight thing. It reminds me a little of a model airplane - all wood, light, etc. My practice tonight was horrible, maybe because of the heat and humidity, maybe because I am tired, but I put my time in, coz I know that after a few years I might be able to make music with it. Fiddles are such beautiful instruments. All of them.
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