So I was thinking about my weirdest playing habits!
When I'm cooking, and something has to simmer or cook briefly (like 5 min) I get kind of bored waiting. So I think, that's enough time for a tune! And I'll grab my violin and stand there in the kitchen playing a jig or reel, then set it down and go look in the pan. If the food needs more time...well, another tune helps the time to pass!
I like to go into the garage sometimes in the evening. Leave the light off, so it's pitch black. And stand there and play. The sound echoes all around me, and I can't see a thing, not even my instrument ... I find it very musically satisfying...
Hopefully I'm not the only one with weird playing habits? :-)
I used to do that cooking too...lol...haven't done that one for a while. I think I got lazy and now if I'm waiting for something to cook I check out FB or FHO...easier to put down and get back to cooking. I did end up burning a lot of fried chicken when I grabbed a few kitchen minutes of extra practice...lol. But hopefully it helped my fiddling...some, maybe????
Ain't no garage around here, but sometimes I do greatly appreciate the feeling of playing in the pitch black darkness, or even just with my eyes shut. Sometimes I do just shut my eyes to hear it without the thinking that your eyes will afford you.
Just being a fiddler is weird enough. Torturing yourself during the early years, playing those first few times out when you really aren't good enough but have to try, continuing for decades tuning caring for changing expensive strings continuing with lessons knowing you will never live up to your fiddle heroes ....... yeah, R/
There is a penny whistle in my desk drawer. Sometimes, to not bother my lovely wife, I'll use the unholed side of the whistle as a bow.
Is a penny whistle metal?
Well, one of the hats I wear is that I'm a substitute teacher, and while it would likely be frowned upon for me to bring my fiddle to class (tho I've never exactly asked) there is no rule that I can't have tunes in my head nearly non-stop. I can't exactly listen with earbuds either, while the students are there, but I can sometimes keep my metronome near with the sound off, and it drums along like a champ. If I'm feeling like pushing the limits a little, I let the metronome sound go along in my hearing aid for a short time - my secret power. :)
Short of that, I can zero in on the tune(s) that wants to find me, and just let it mellow in my brain for a few hours until I can get back to it. Anyway, you might be surprised at the good that can do.
quote:
Originally posted by groundhogpeggyIs a penny whistle metal?
Yes. It is smooth and makes very little noise.. just enough for me to hear what I'm playing.. I use it to quietly work out Fingering.
I don't have weeard habits. 
"Well, one of the hats I wear ... " I thought you were going to tell us about your fiddling hats ... !
quote:
Originally posted by EarwormWell, one of the hats I wear is that I'm a substitute teacher, and while it would likely be frowned upon for me to bring my fiddle to class (tho I've never exactly asked) there is no rule that I can't have tunes in my head nearly non-stop. I can't exactly listen with earbuds either, while the students are there, but I can sometimes keep my metronome near with the sound off, and it drums along like a champ. If I'm feeling like pushing the limits a little, I let the metronome sound go along in my hearing aid for a short time - my secret power. :)
Short of that, I can zero in on the tune(s) that wants to find me, and just let it mellow in my brain for a few hours until I can get back to it. Anyway, you might be surprised at the good that can do.
Our mutual acquaintance, Paul, takes his banjo to school on days he has lessons scheduled. He says he often plays some between classes.
I often play standing in the bathroom (the only room with a door in our 135 year old house) with the lights off. And also occasionally play in the kitchen while cooking. Not so weird after all.
Hm, maybe Paul knows his schedule better than I do from day to day. I'm lucky if I can keep track of my lunch some days. I'm highly in favor of fiddling in bathrooms and kitchens though - great acoustics. I'd happily pull the carpets out of the rest of the house too, just for the acoustic value, except that I'd have to give them up the rest of the time too, and my tiny toes would shiver.
Edited by - Earworm on 11/12/2022 10:46:18
I think that's maybe why I gravitate towards playing in the kitchen and the garage...good sound there!
I like the bathroom too...
Martin Hayes mentions in his biography that he spent a lot of time as a kid playing while sitting on the edge of the bathtub!...Guess we "bathroom fiddlers" are out there...:-)
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Originally posted by tonyelderI don't have weeard habits.
Liar! 
I appreciate all you weirdos. And now I understand you all that I now play the fiddle.
My NEW weird habits:
- Every song I hear now I imagine a fiddle/violin added.
- Every song that has fiddle/violin now is all that I hear.
- I worry about the stupid zipper on my cheap case!!
- I don't practice what I SHOULD be practicing!
- I'm afraid to play outdoors.
- I'm obsessed with the fiddle now...
Hmm I think I have all of those habits!
Except for the worry about the zipper! :-)
( I think it's because my case has these metal latches, so you latch it closed, THEN zip...? Yours doesn't have those? With the latches AND the zipper, there's no way that thing is springing open by surprise! )
Edited by - NCnotes on 11/14/2022 13:53:25
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaverquote:
Originally posted by tonyelderI don't have weeard habits.
Liar!
lol...
Alright Mister - You're not holding up your end of our deal. Give back the 20 bucks, if your going to be that way.
quote:
Originally posted by UsuallyPickinJust being a fiddler is weird enough. Torturing yourself during the early years, playing those first few times out when you really aren't good enough but have to try, continuing for decades tuning caring for changing expensive strings continuing with lessons knowing you will never live up to your fiddle heroes ....... yeah, R/
Wait . . . You're supposed to change the strings?
Ha .... gathered from reading FHO for a while, sometime between one month and a few years. I usually change strings every few months. . . . . . but that's me. R/
I've got a penchant for fiddling tasteless lead guitar licks.
NCnotes - You're very brave to go and play in the garage in the dark. I'd be afraid that a mouse might crawl up my leg. And the spiders - you know they're falling down into your hair, but you don't want to pick them off for fear of squishing them. And of course if there are any spaces to the outside around pipes and things there might be snakes. You can tell because mice are furry and scurry around while snakes of course are smooth and just slither up your leg.
Just a few things to keep in mind.
I use my cheapest bow first ...then switch to a better one so I can say...WOW I IMPROVED TODAY.. :)
Creole- LOL! And a luxury - I only got one bow...but going shopping soon... :-)
Doug - EEK!
Why did you have to set my mind on that track...the only thing I am sure we do not have is Termites (the inspectors come and check our garage thoroughly every year)...
Eric/Erock - I was fiddling/jamming along for fun with some random folk/acoustic songs playing on Spotify today...I created some truly horrible stuff! Takes me about a verse to figure out what key they're in (and some are in truly weird keys) then go from there...so glad there's nobody alive around to hear me!! (except the dog, who would probably cover his ears if he could).
"I'd be afraid that a mouse might crawl up my leg." I don't worry about that, because I was always told there were no mice around a fiddler's place ... you know, because there's nothing to eat .....
I think fiddling in the bathroom wins the weirdness award. I only do that occasionally if I want to look in the mirror.
I regularly fiddle during cooking breaks, but it tends to be for certain kinds of activities like waiting for water to boil for pasta. So I don't consider that weird.
For many years I play fiddle while watching TV, but I think of that as annoying to others (my wife), not weird.
If you live in a 2 storey or more house, try the stairwell. Sounds great!
