Fiddlin' Around

So, I'm thinking I'll catch y'all up on what I've been doing lately. I think I can summarize it in one word -- alot. Okay, okay, that's not very descriptive. Here's another word that might be more useful -- fiddlin'.

Since I got back from Merlefest and the Jam Camp, I've been severely fired up to play music. It's been great! I've been playing almost every day, and I'm seeing a lot of improvement. But I'm at that point where I'm really excited and enthusiastic about learning as much music as possible, but I'm also at the point right before knowing how to go about that. So, I've been thinking a lot lately about what to learn, how to learn it, and how to get the most bang out my very limited fiddle practicing time.

Let's face it, it's much easier as a kid to learn an instrument. You're a freaking sponge as a kid. You're already learning so much, what's difficult about picking up an instrument or two? Music theory? Schmusic feery! Seriously.

But as an adult, I'm very restricted on how often I can play, and to be honest, it's just not coming as fast as I'd like. Luckily I've played music since I was a kid. (God bless you Mom and Dad!) But I never took it very seriously. I always just sort of faked my way through. Now that I'm an adult trying to learn this stuff for real, I feel like I have a better footing than someone who's never learned a thing about music, but I still feel that it's difficult.

Okay, so bitching and moaning aside, what do I do? How do I go about this? Well, to start out with, I already know enough that I'm in a band. Playing with other musicians helps a great deal. How did I learn enough to be in a band? Well, I also take fiddle lessons from a very talented Bluegrass fiddler here in town, Jan Johansson. However, I've been taking these lessons for almost four years now, and I've been in the band for a couple of years... but I still feel that there's lots I'm missing out on.

So, starting a couple of weeks ago, I've started two new lessons. One, I've started taking classical violin lessons in addition to the traditional and Bluegrass fiddle lessons I'm already taking. I'm taking violin to improve my technique -- get a prettier tone, have more control in the bow arm, fret the notes faster, and be able to do a better vibrato. I find that the fiddling is great for thinking on my feet, and it's a helluva lot of fun, but I think the idea behind fiddling is playing TONS and TONS of fiddle tunes, for HOURS and HOURS a day. I'd love to, but it's just not feasible at this point in my life.

The classical tradition, though, is all about technique, not playing songs. I once had a violin dealer, the guy who actually sold me my current fiddle (which I love), say in a derisive tone that "yeah, fiddlers just start playing songs before they worry about getting a sound out of the instrument." I really had no idea what to tell this guy. I mean, he was wanting me to buy an instrument from him, right? Did he really think telling me that fiddlers don't get good tone, or that we concentrate on playing the instrument rather than being abused by it was really going to endear me to him? Oh well, I bought the fiddle anyway. Despite him calling it a violin to correct me. (whatever!) "Violinists" and "fiddlers" I guess just don't get along. Actually, the fiddlers could care less, it's just the violinists don't like us, I guess. He was just lucky he had the best fiddle around.

So, I'm really enjoying the classical lessons, although I end up just playing fiddle tunes there anyway. (heh!) Come to find out, that when violinists get tired of playing excercises, they get assigned fiddle tunes by their instructors! HAH! So, I'm working on fiddle tunes that excercise a particular technique I'm wanting to strengthen. It's working out well -- violin lessons for technique only, nuts and bolts, and fiddling lessons for repertoire and style. Not a bad left-right combination.

This reminds me, one thing I heard that really struck home with me was this. "People don't realize that most of the sound you get while practicing violin sounds horrible. It's not supposed to sound pretty." This is an interesting quote from my violin teacher. What she's saying here is that to get to where you do sound pretty you have to do all these crazy exercises, like playing songs with your arm up against a wall, or only moving your wrist, not your arm. They sound horrible, horrible, but then when you play it normally again, you can hear a big, big difference. I find I get the most enjoyment when I really hear a difference.

Alright, so that's helpful, but what else? The best way to learn new tricks, and to get all this stuff you read and practice alone to really gel into something fun is to play with other people. They can answer questions, pose questions, and just be an example. I've learned far more far faster by playing with other people than I think any other thing I've used to learn music.

Okay, so back to my fiddle teacher. He does this cool thing called a "band lesson" where he takes his various fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and bass students and puts them in a "band." (They usually scrape up a banjo player from somewhere too.) We meet once a month for a lesson where we're coached in playing together. They often meet more than that, but without the teacher.

I know, I know. I'm already in a band. A real band. Yes, but I'm also the worst guy in that band. (It's not hard to be the worst in this band because everyone else is so good!) So I'm looking for extra practice, extra training, and especially extra coaching.

So, I met for my first band lesson last night, and it was a blast. It's just so much fun to play with other people. I had a fiddle lesson tonight, and I'm already learning a new song based on feedback from folks in the "band." Very very fun.

What else? Well, I'm reading like a maniac whenever I can. I really recommend The Skeptical Guitarist for basic music theory. It's really, really good, even for folks who aren't guitar players. (In my opinion, every person in this world should learn G, C, D, and A chords on the guitar. That and a capo will let you play thousands of songs!) If you happen to be a guitar player, I really recommend this book because it's so easy to read, never gets ahead of itself, and really boils it down to things you can remember. Most music theory books get really full of jargon really quick, making them near impossible to read.

Alright, well, that should keep me crazy busy for a while. Two weekly lessons, a monthly lesson, weekly band practices, and reading theory every night? When am I going to blog?