This young woman who I met BC (before Covid) somehow got the 'bug' to learn to play a fiddle. Covid put a stop to her plans....for a while. SHe is wheelchair bound, unemployed and has a mild form of cerebral palsy... Apparently she has been bitten by the fiddle bug and is trying to find a way to hold the fiddle and use the bow. Her left hand fingers lock up and she is thinking about trying a left handed fiddle.. Looks like Nothing is going to stop her from pursuing fiddle playing.
Over the years I've met other people who 'got the bug'.. It seems to have nothing to do with innate talent but rather seems to be an insatiable urge that some people get and nothing will stop them from learning to fiddle..I know the day it happened to me..
What have you noticed in people regarding 'getting the bug'?
quote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaverWhat have you noticed in people regarding 'getting the bug'?
Very few follow through. Playing/being the fiddler seems to be a romantic notion.
quote:
Originally posted by farmerjonesquote:
Originally posted by TuneWeaverWhat have you noticed in people regarding 'getting the bug'?
Very few follow through. Playing/being the fiddler seems to be a romantic notion.
True, most don't follow through but I'm referring to those who HAVE decided that nothing will stop them.. Hopefully the young woman I mentioned will stick with it because she DOES seem to have been bitten by that bug..
Earlier today I DID want to start a topic about 'lazy fiddlers'... those who play minimally, often well, but who don't like to challenge themselves... Maybe someone else will start such a topic..
What I have noticed in myself: from the very first moment I had a violin in my hands I just couldn't get enough of it. I LOVE making sound! I just have a hard time sometimes to put it back in the suitcase. I am not lazy but I obviously lack a teacher still. I have been offered classes by Irish folk players but I don't want that I want old time / bluegrass.
The guy who sold me my new violin showed me a four finger scale exercise for fast playing which I noticed is very useful for me. He immediately understood what I needed. It was ages ago since I had a face to face explanation. I use it now as my start of practising; long bowstrokes getting more rhythmic and then his exercise.
I wasn’t bitten by the bug so much; it was more of a process.
Learning folk guitar in high school.
Learning Seeger style banjo just to be different from all the folk guitar players in college.
Slowly getting bit by the old time banjo bug, and later reading that many old time banjo players worked with one particular fiddler and they could swap instruments in order to rest fiddlers arm.
Buying the cheapest fiddle available at Sears; and finding out I had a knack for it.
Tracking down the fiddle that my mothers mothers father brought over from Ireland with him in the 1890s and having it restored.
Playing that fiddle is almost a “spiritual “ experience.
Later, my father mentioned that his father played both fiddle and mandolin.
Hopefully, one of my grandchildren will be bitten by the bug so I can pass the fiddle on.
quote:
stumpkicker
Somewhat similar. I came through folk music which I started singing just about as soon as I could talk. I also had classical music experiences (piano, recorder, clarinet) but eventually taught myself guitar at 15, progressed to clawhammer banjo at 30 and to fiddle at 32.
I've mentioned this before on this website but I finally decided to indulge my since-early-childhood yen to play the violin/fiddle when my significant other threatened to throw me out of the house because of my relentless piano-playing. Hey! You can easily take a fiddle outdoors!
quote:
Originally posted by Lonesome FiddlerI've mentioned this before on this website but I finally decided to indulge my since-early-childhood yen to play the violin/fiddle when my significant other threatened to throw me out of the house because of my relentless piano-playing. Hey! You can easily take a fiddle outdoors!
smart decision.
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