am thinking about taking up the fiddle for quite some time, but until now I doubted if I could manage that since I tried to take up guitar and zuki some times in the past and failed everytime → strings are not made for me. Additionally I have quite flattened fingertips from playing the piano and computer for years now…no idea if the small string spacings of a fiddle are manageable for me.
I already tried a friend’s fiddle some times…but what should I say, I played like somebody who never played fiddle.
Maybe someone had the same starting problems like me and wants to share his/her thoughts…thanks in advance.
I got to fiddle by way of mandolin and found that to be a nice transition since they’re fingered the same way. With mando, you don’t have the whole aspect of bowing to worry about. You could probably pick up an inexpensive used mandolin and give it a try.
Having done that, I taught myself fiddle using Matt Cranitch’s book. Having a teacher would have been ideal, but not possible at the time.
Yes, I’d say do it, but it’s critical that you can find some time, maybe a half hour, to practice every day. Otherwise, you’ll get discouraged, if you only pick it up every few days.
I’ll say yes, because I love my fiddle, but I don’t know of any inexpensive starter instruments, nor would they really be worth having, so it could be a bit of a gamble.
Have you thought about possibly leasing an instrument and taking a few lessons? That would give you a chance to see if you’re likely to stick with it without going through the expense of buying an instrument.
It took me a lot of trying before I found my string instrument! In my case, my fingers just couldn’t tolerate pressing the strings against the fretboard (it wasn’t a callus issue, but an arthritis issue), so three guesses as to which stringed instrument I play now?
The problem with the mandolin is that I already tried it and wasn’t able to produce a good clear tone without hurting my fingertips…just like on all the other fretted instruments. The zouk I had once was still more or less okay and playable without cutting the strings into my fingers, but on that one I didn’t manage the string spacing which was VERY narrow.
I know that the fingertips ease into pressing down the strings and develop a callus with time, but another factor is that I need the “sensitive” fingertip for my woodwind playing (have to feel the vibrating air on the tips).
Visited the local session this evening and had some bows on a friend’s (expensive) fiddle again - the bowing doesn’t seem to be so difficult to me (of course good bowing will be very difficult, I know ), and in the beginning I think the “right note” outranks the “right good-sounding note”…there will pass quite some years before I have the heart to take the fiddle to sessions.
@Redwolf; Regarding lessons, I won’t be able to financiate that since I’m preparing for the conservatory’s qualifying examination on recorder and piano and can’t pay the lessons for a third instrument. Do you think that lessons are the only way to go?
A friend bought one of those chinese cheapie violins some months ago, I helped her to choose the best-sounding instrument and we finally bought one which sounded considerably nice for such a cheap thingie (99 euros with everything needed to start) - not that sweet expensive violin sound, but also not scratchy like some people on the list call it. Of course the slope was dramatical, some other violins of the same make sounded simply awful (same bow of course).
I think it is possible to learn without lessons, if you have the time and the passion to do it, and the willingness to study technique on your own, but since you’re uncertain whether this is the instrument for you, I think that you’d do best to lease an instrument and take a few lessons…that would probably make it clear to you fairly quickly whether you’re likely to stick with it (and might save you some pain, since incorrect technique is responsible for a fair amount of playing discomfort with any instrument). Perhaps you could arrange a barter situation…recorder lessons for fiddle lessons, maybe?
Since you’re so busy with your other instruments, another option might be to wait on the fiddle until you have more time and resources to devote to it.
With any string instrument, there is going to be some initial discomfort, and there will be the ultimate need for some callusing. The bottom line is, you’re pushing a string into a fretboard, and that creates irritation, no matter how mild the action of the instrument. If you’re worried about the sensitivity of your fingertips, it may be that a stringed instrument just isn’t for you…at least right now. Though I must say that there are certainly players out there who play both strings and woodwinds.
If you want to play the violin, and love the sound of it when played well, then go ahead and give it a try. You have little to lose, but much to gain. It could be the start of beautiful relatioinship-and the sooner you start, the better for learning. If you have the desire to learn and practice-you can do it!
There are certainly inexpensive violins that are fine for a beginner-as you have found with the Chinese fiddle you picked out for your friend-it was a great idea to compare all you could side by side, and with the same bow. It’s amazing how good some cheaper violins sound today. And don’t forget-a good set of strings, and a good set-up on the fiddle will add greatly to the tone and playability. Oh, and buy a mute too!
And, the violin is very easy to play considering the pressure on your fingertips-unlike all the fretted instruments which require a lot more force to play, and thus the caluses. The tricky part is playing in tune, because you have no frets, but it will come to you the more you play. The bowing can be hard sometimes too, but it too isn’t all that hard.
It’s a great instrument-you will love the slides you can’t do on regular fretted instruments, and it’s very expressive.
If you can’t afford lessons, be nice to a fiddler-they will be glad to show you some basics (just pick a good and patient one).
Above all, have fun with it-it’s not a chore-it’s making music!
I NEVER discourage anyone who wants to make an attempt at a new instrument. And the fiddle is the queen (IMHO). It’s very rewarding, and lots and lots of fun.
That said, I came to fiddle as an adult who was already a pretty strong mandolin and guitar player. Even so, it was (and is) a challenge. The bowing is not quite like anything you’ve done before, and it takes some work and patience. So, be prepared to give it some time, and don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t happen for you overnight.
I think the hardest part of playing a fiddle well is the bowing. Also pushing the strings onto the neck is more like gently holding a kitten than pressing the strings of a mandoline down.
Please disregard if you feel this advice is too confusing.
If you’re playing recorder and keyboard, violin could be an ideal way to learn to listen
and not rely on the instrument to be the factor that places you in tune.
That factor should be your ears and taste for the sound.
There’s nothing mechanical about it. You might have no idea how much you aren’t listening to until you try playing it on an unfretted string instrument.
As for lessons, are we talking violin or fiddle?
The fiddle lessons I’ve taken were in a group setting. The teacher played a tune phrase by phrase and the class learned by ear.
Never were we shown how to hold the violin though we were given a few pointers about the bow
but none of that was more than what I might have been shown by some friendly fiddlers I might have met in a pub somewhere.
Unless you have a good friend who really knows violins and bows, I suggest you rent for the first couple months. Some places will give you a discount towards the purchase of a new instrument after you rent from them.
Teachers of fiddle group classes will always assume you have a basic knowledge of how to play the instrument, they’re not there to show half a dozen people how to hold the fiddle and bow.
For that you should ideally take some lessons one-on-one, or have a helpful fiddle playing friend guide you, or try to learn from a book or the internet and risk learning bad habits.
Just go for it, Gabriel. You’ll sound dreadful for the first couple of weeks, probably (I know I did), but then it’ll all start coming together. As long as the fiddle is fairly well set up to start with (take your fiddler friend along to the shop) a cheapy Stentor or Chinese fiddle outfit will do to begin with. It’s not rocket science and it needn’t be expensive.
Perhaps where I studied in Chicago is the exception. The school offers opportunites to take private lessons but it really prides itself on offering group lessons. They don’t mind if you repeat a class several times. The same tunes aren’t taught every semester.
They suggest their Fiddle 1 group class for beginners.
If you’ve ever studied fiddle or violin they suggest you start lessons in the Fiddle 2 group class.
When I got to Fiddle 3 group class there were a couple people in class with me who’d been playing Classical violin 8 to 20 years.
Fiddle 4 is were we get to choose the style of music we want to play (Irish, Bluegrass, Oldtime, Cajun, Canadian, …).
After that there are classes for mixed ensembles.
That’s a good point, and notice everybody is saying get help from live teaching at the start. That is where all the bad habits need to be stomped out, and you’d be amazed at how easy it is to develop bad habits as well as how easier it is to play right but simpler from day one.
Ex-elementary & middle-school violist here.-Your fingers won’t be pressing the string between frets as on mandolin, guitar and the like, making it easier. The only way to allay your concern about flat fingers is to give it a try. Small fingers are not a requirement, and various instrument sizes are available.
-As others have said -good, rhythmic bowing can be difficult to learn, and is maybe the least likely thing to pick up without lessons or regular exposure to fiddling peers. Trad tunes can be covered (faked) with classical bowing technique-but will miss the authentic, rhythmic swing of a tune by doing so. School violinists have a maestro’s oversight correcting when an up-bow note should have been down-bow, but fiddlers are on their own. Great country/swing fiddler Vassar Clements (RIP) didn’t read music but let his ears and sense of rhythm guide him.
-Good luck with it! Good fiddling is a treat to hear.
for years now…no idea if the small string spacings of a fiddle are manageable for me.
