You've heard the song many times before, but did you ever really notice the violin part?  Yes, pull out your Motown compilation or Best of Marvin Gaye CD, and check out the violin!  Ever since I started my fiddling lessons, I've been hearing more violin/fiddle in pop music.  In addition to the artists I mentioned in the last blog entry, The Beatles, Kansas, and 10,000 Maniacs would come to mind right away, but then I started hearing the violin in U2 ("One Tree Hill") and in songs by The Arcade Fire.  Caught a little bit of "Your Song" by Elton John on the radio, and... oh yeah, a whole string section I forgot about.  Somewhat immersed in my new learning, I find connections more easily, with each one reinforcing my choice and my interest in pursuing my new instrument.

As a guitarist, I've also been in the habit sometimes of imagining what riff I would add to a song I'm listening to.  (That habit actually started before I played guitar, when I worked at The Gap in high school; the piped in music was so redundant I had to quietly whistle some additions to the songs in order to stay sane).  But now, instead of trying to hear room for my guitar solo, I'm listening to songs trying to hear where I'd add a fiddle track.  So, in my head, I'm off to a pretty good start!

As far as actually, you know, playing the instrument, progress is slow.  One issue I'm dealing with is never having learned to read music.  Now I'm at a point where I'd like to - I see the advantage - but I also want to learn to play more songs more quickly, and I can do that by ear more than by reading.  When I try to read music, I'm looking at too many things at once.  My fingerwork with my left hand is in decent shape for a beginner, because of prior experience with mandolin and guitar, but I do still need to watch what I'm doing.  I also need to watch my bow a fair amount of the time.  This is the part that's totally new - trying to keep the bow straight, and changing the angle so that I'm bowing the correct string.  Trying to look at the sheet music at the same time is generally too much.  How do I look in three places at once?  So even when I'm motivated, I find some substantial obstacles to address.  Shortcuts right now might be gratifying for a while, but will I form bad habits that inhibit my progress even more later?  Or is motivation the key that will get me through any door?

One thing I have going for me is the willingness to be "aggressive" with my playing.  My instructor, Jack, says that when your fiddle isn't producing the right sound or enough of it, the solution is often in playing harder, leaning into your mistake rather than backing off. Too light a touch on the strings produces screeches and whistles.  Turns out I had a decent, intuitive feel for this idea - not applying it consistently yet, but when I made the mistake, I knew what I had done wrong right away.  With my students, I like to talk about leaning into our discomfort, taking risks, allowing that mistakes are part of learning if you're learning anything worthy of your time and effort.  

Lessons are on a short hiatus as Jack and I can't coordinate schedules.  How much longer can I play the same few songs and scales?  Maybe long enough to make them sound good enough for my TLN blog...?  Or maybe that's just going to be my tease line for a long, long time.

 Tonight, I had my first fiddle lesson.  Actually, it was also my first musical lesson of any type.  I've muddled through as a self-taught guitar player for over twenty years, and even taught myself a little mandolin.  (I bought one after John Hiatt came out with Cry Love  - anyone else know that one?)  I plan to use this blog to record my progress and collect thoughts about learning and teaching.

I inherited the instrument from my grandfather.  He was an opera singer in his early adulthood, and would sing for anyone, anywhere, anytime at all.  I'm sorry to say I always felt a bit embarrassed when he'd begin to belt out a song in a deli or something like that, but he really could sing.  He also played the violin, though I only saw him do it once or twice.  Grandpa Jack passed away almost a decade ago, and his violin went into its case and then into a thick roll of bubble wrap, which I later found at my mother's house.

The idea of that instrument sitting in its case for decades displeased me, so I decided I had to learn to play it.  The mandolin is not too different in size, and has the same tuning, so I even came to the violin with some of the left hand skills.  First I took the violin to a local fellow who builds and repairs violins.  All the comments about his business online suggest that Larry seems a bit crazy, but he does great work for reasonable prices.  He's a one-man operation in a small second-story office above a local florist shop.  Larry informed me that the violin was a German model, over eighty years old.  He refurbished the instrument - new strings and chin piece, repaired bridge, and he sold me a new bow for less than restringing the old one would cost.  But just as important, Larry got me excited to play, so I went right home and gave it a shot.  

My family was amazed at my instant success.  My family is way too easily impressed, because while I might have avoided some of the dying cat sounds you think of when a child starts violin, my pitch needed major adjustments and my bow was all over the place. I knew I'd need some lessons, so I began calling around.

In my next entry, find out what I figured out about violin lessons, fiddle lessons, teachers, and myself as a student.  And since this blog tool has a "Post Audio" feature...