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Fiddle Tunes

Fiddle Tunes

Hi folks, I recorded myself playing 3 reels on the fiddle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDN7F0ZZ13c

I've been playing fiddle since last November (2010) but have played traditional Irish music since early '09 on bodhran, guitar and 6 string banjo.

I don't know the name of the first tune, I have learned it by listening to a recording of friends playing it so if anyone knows it do let me know! The second is Miss Monaghan's and the 3rd is, by my expectation, a poor rendition of Cregg's Pipes, I always make an exponentially larger number of timing and phrasing mistakes on video it would seem.

Anyway would much appreciate your feedback, however negative it might be.

Paudy

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by Paudy

Re: Fiddle Tunes

You're very brave, Paudy! My fiddle playing after a few months led to protest marches from the neighborhood cats - you're doing much better. The first tune is Trip to Birmingham.

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by RichardB

Re: Fiddle Tunes

ha! Cheers for the tune name! My fiddle learning journey co-incided with me finishing my PhD thesis so I have spent many full days playing since then, filling in the void as it were

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by Paudy

Re: Fiddle Tunes

Wasn't the Trip to Birmingham itself a protest march?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_campaign

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by Jon Kiparsky

Re: Fiddle Tunes

'Wasn't the Trip to Birmingham itself a protest march?'

Definitely not! Josie McDermott composed the tune to commemorate the time when he and Peg McGrath travelled to the city to adjudicate at the All-England Fleadh.

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by MacCruiskeen

Re: Fiddle Tunes

Joke, son, that was a joke.
You know, like with the funny and the ha-ha? One of them.

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by Jon Kiparsky

Re: Fiddle Tunes

I saw that the Trip to Birmingham was also known as Josie McDermott's allright

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by Paudy

Re: Fiddle Tunes

Apologies, Jon,

I'd forgotten that you were such a great comedian.

# Posted on July 19th 2011 by MacCruiskeen

Re: Fiddle Tunes

I guess I'm not getting any feedback

# Posted on July 22nd 2011 by Paudy

Re: Fiddle Tunes

I would consider yourself lucky then

# Posted on July 22nd 2011 by frauschmittle

Re: Fiddle Tunes

On the contrary, my first post said

"Anyway would much appreciate your feedback, however negative it might be."

I'll take your smart remark as an indication that you noticed something that I'm doing wrong, any chance you might tell me what that is? I'll be really impressed if you say "everything" or something else smart to that effect.....

# Posted on July 22nd 2011 by Paudy

Re: Fiddle Tunes

It's missing some accents, and other markers to denote the tune(s). The first one is pretty good in terms of recognizability; the other two need some pizzaz and thickness to lay out the tune. You got to lay it on thick and leave a trail of breadcrumbs for the listener. Intonation could be enhanced on the second two. Bring them up to the first one or better. Not far to go to do that, then proceed further. And so on and so forth.

# Posted on July 26th 2011 by dogmageek

Re: Fiddle Tunes

On a technical note, it looks like your bridge might be crooked. The E edge looks closer to the fingerboard than the G side.
Technical stuff. Appears to be on forwards rather than backwards, like some I have seen, though. Note: if you straighten it this could completely affect your playing in the short run, but in the long run, ....

# Posted on July 26th 2011 by dogmageek

Re: Fiddle Tunes

not bad overall, Your intonation is pretty good & your rhythm is decently steady for someone playing as long as you have. Some suggestions: relax, you look tense & the music sounds a bit tense too. Try to avoid clamping your chin down on the fiddle & with a tensed jaw etc. Slow down a bit & play with a bit more swing, Think DOW-dle DEE-dle as you play (reels & hornpipes). Also you could use a few breaks to allow for some phrasing, listen to plenty of music to get the feel of how to phrase.

# Posted on July 26th 2011 by B Rad

Re: Fiddle Tunes

thanks Mad and dogmageek, yeh my bridge is not 100%, I really would like to get it sorted out asap but probably can't for a while cos I've no money and need to get rosin and a cycling friendly case too. I do struggle to play other players' fiddles so the bridge may have a lot to do with this. But the steep angle between A and E certainly holds me back.

Also, I'm pretty attached to the first reel right now but actually know the second and third ones a lot better, I just played pretty well by my standards for the first tune and not so great for 2 and 3. Unlike other videos I posted here of me playing guitar tunes and 6 string banjo, I've been recording lots of fiddle playing in the past few months and ended up not posting the vids so I kinda decided I would post my first cut regardless of whether I was 100% happy or not.

Did you mean intonation on Miss Monaghan's or Cregg's Pipes or both?

# Posted on July 26th 2011 by Paudy

Re: Fiddle Tunes

Thought I'd make a video response to myself!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjcWKgCNun0

# Posted on August 3rd 2011 by Paudy

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