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KenC

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How I started fiddle (finally)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

I won't clog up the Forum with my musical story, but will place it here. I hung around with fiddlers in northwestern Indiana all through the 1990s. They taught me many tunes, first on dulcimer and than on anglo concertina, which I can play reasonably well now. Yes, I heard many great players at the Indiana Fiddler's Gathering, our own Mr. C. Smith among them! Also Liz Carroll, Johnny Frigo, etc. I got to know emcee Dave Samuelson when we worked as volunteers on the folk radio show at WBAA/Purdue U., and he taught me a lot about music.

It was Cajun music that first brought me in...at Augusta Cajun week in 1997 I got the bug and bought the cheapest fixed-up fiddle Bob Smakula had in stock in his shop up the road from Elkins, W.Va. I diddled with it and did a few short workshops, but no one I counted as a friend among the fiddlers at home would give me lessons.

Finally, in 2005 work had brought me to the Pittsburgh area, and I took Mark Tamsula's class through the local folk society. It was fun, and I took a few private lessons from him also. This year work finally let up enough for me to take another class. I had also got a better fiddle that is easier to play (though it needs a real setup), and that has made a huge difference. So I am really in my first year of playing when you add up bow-to-fiddle time. I'm after a good bow next, and will post about that hunt. 4 comments