…So are there any other fiddle-playing dopers out there? Classical violinists…viola players?
Me: I’m pretty much a traditional Irish player, with some twists. Influences include Tommy Peoples, Kevin Burke, James Kelly (whom I’m studying with now).
Love the Bach solo violin stuff, too, but I can’t pull it off yet.
My fiddle: a German Hopf, about 120 years old. Found it in a pawn shop in Lebanon TN for 390 bucks and said “Man, that thing is mine! Now how do I play it?”
Four years later I’m still figuring it out. But I got so lucky with that violin.
Anyway, I want to hear from more of y’all. Be gentle. It’s my first OP.
My fiddle: $30 at a flea market. With case. Most of hte money was paid for the case. The fiddle itself is a piece of crap and the pegs aren’t threaded so they don’t stay in place when I try to tune the bottom two strings, so I’m stuck playing just the top two. I gave up after three weeks due to the crappy condition of the instrument, and the only song I can play is “Cowboy Take Me Away” by the Dixie Chicks.
Slight hijack…don’t play a fiddle all, though do I know many fiddlers, but…
You just mentioned Tommy Peoples…out of the blue.
He’s great! And he wrotes some lovely tunes as well!
BTW My own faves fiddlers are Martin Byrnes, Bobby Casey and Brian Rooney…Probably a bit obscure for this list, but I would recommend these people to anyone with an interest in Irish music.
End of hijack, Irish tradional music is my passion and pet subject
I’ve played violin for about 6 years. I love playing classical stuff. My favorite piece to play is Serenade for Strings by Tschaikowsky. The 4th movement gives me shivers Also, I love anything by Bach, especially the Brandenburg Concertos. Irish stuff is fun to play too, though. Molly on the Shore is a great piece.
~Kittie
I haven’t played for years, but I took lessons for about 3-4 years. So I guess I am a fiddle-playing Doper. I gave my violin to my sister, who in turn gave it to her daughter, so I don’t even own one anymore…plus my fingernails are too long to play. My violin teacher would take out his nail clippers and clip my nails when I showed up with them too long. I hated that.
Seven years of the violin here. My favorite piece to play was the theme from Schindler’s List.
Boscibo, I’m like your opposite, or something. I haven’t played since high school, but I still can’t let my nails grow longer than 1/8th inch.
I’m in the market for a violin, but not a full-size, playable one. I’m looking for a miniature. I got one for a friend (who was also a violinist) from a local Hallmark shop here, and I haven’t seen one like it anywhere since. eBay has a few, but it’s hard to judge quality from a picture.
Played the cello (it rests on the floor - does this count?) regularly from 4th grade until 12th grade, and sporadically since then.
My cello was stolen from my junior high school. See, one day in ninth grade I was a bit rough with it and popped a string. I took it home to replace the string, but it took a while, and after I finally got it replaced I just forgot to ever take it back. Funny thing is, my old music teacher knows I still have it, and she’s never bugged me about giving it back - it’s that much of a piece of crap.
It’s beat-up, scratched-up, badly in need of a new bridge, and while we’re at it, a whole new body, seeing as how there’s a 2-inch crack running up the left front side. But one day I peeked inside and found a date - either 1921 or 1927 - on a little slip of paper written in Italian. How the HELL did that thing get to my junior high school?
It sounds like pure crap, too. But I’ve named it Pedro, and I wouldn’t trade him for any other cello on Earth. And no matter how crappy it sounds, I can still whip up a mean Strauss waltz on it.
Jinxie, there’s no real right or wrong way to put the rosin on your bow. But it seems like everyone’s got their preferred method. I used to run the bow hair along the rosin in long, continuous strokes, back and forth. Others made shorter strokes. It’s up to you.
tsarina, I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who named their instrument. My violin was the Red Hot Chili Pepper.
Jinxie, the first few times you put rosin on your bow, rub the rosin cake with a piece of sandpaper first. It’ll loosen up the grains so they slide on the hair better. There IS no right or wrong way to do it, just do it a) until the bow isn’t slipping off the string and b) before the bow starts sticking to the string because you’ve put too much on.
Good luck with learning how to play! AudreyK and I would definitely suggest naming your instrument - it’ll help forge that special bond.
BTW, do any other long-time players find the smell of rosin to be the one of the most comforting smells around? One whiff of that sweet-spicy-woodsy scent and I feel like I’m in my junior-high instrument storage room again, horsing around with my orchestra friends and massaging my tired fingers…
I used to fiddle. I lost my violin about 17 years ago when I lost most of my stuff all at once (don’t ask). I had all the early Chieftains records up to a point, and learned all my Irish fiddling off of there. The ones I played the most were “Comb Your Hair and Curl It” and “Brian Boru’s March.”
I also did plenty of jazz/blues/rock jams when jamming with my friends; they appreciated the variety of having a fiddle around instead of just guitars & bass all the time.
I played for almost five years, but quit for stupid teenage reasons when I was fourteen. However…I’m starting lessons again this coming week, and I’m so excited!
I noticed you’re in Hawaii, which is where I grew up. Kailua, to be exact. (Kalaheo High School, Class of '88). I was a band/orchestra teacher at Kaiser once upon a time. Did you learn violin in orchestra class? What school? From whom? I might know some of them.
Yeah, tsarina, the rosin smell reminds me of all our rehearsals and sectionals and performances. Great memories… well, not the sectionals, but the rest are pretty good.
Neat!
Okay. I started off in elementary school, and continued through high school. (Class of 1995, btw.) Here’s hoping I remember my teachers’ names…
Lanakila Elementary- Edean Kinoshita
Kawananakoa Intermediate- Daniel Mew. Stanley Shimata was the band director.
McKinley High School- We had a bunch. Donna Lum was there the longest (I hear she does counselor-ish work now), but for a year we had Keith Gushiken. Helen Nguyen helped with the orchestra for a number of years, and she was excellent. I think the current band director is Grant Okamura, who used to/still does work with the Hawaii Youth Symphony Association.
Times like these, I’m tempted to start a “Dopers with Hawaii ties” thread just to see who knows who.
Ok. I wonder if that’s the same Donna Lum that taught music at Kailua Intermediate when I was there? She ran the GT music program then, which was basically a string program, but she had this thing for anklungs, which is like a bell chorus, except instead of bells, you rattled these bamboo thingies.
Grant Okamura’s an excellent teacher. And I met Kieth Gushiken a time or two, as well, I think.
All those Japanee names! Yep, that’s the Hawaii educational system alright.
I’m a violinist. I taught private lessons to little kids over the summer. I would looooove to be a professional when I grow up, although I’m nowhere near good enough.
I made it a point to learn to play the basic melody lines on all string instruments. I wow (well, maybe not “wow”) all when I am given a free moment and an instrument!
Once, a friend of mine asked what was in rosin. I replied maple sap, and he in turn asked if it could be eaten. I shrugged, and he licked a sliver. The odd contortions of his face conveyed the message that it didn’t taste so good.
Does anyone else use an Oliv Gold E string? Mine is a beeyatch and it sporadically decides not to make a sound when played. Two friends of mine (with the same brand) also experience the same problem. Any advice?
A pickup line for musicians:
You are A Major babe!
I haven’t named my violin, but maybe I will now. I’ve always liked the sound of Stringy McNeedsATuning. I’m giving that name to either my violin or my first born.
P.S. The front page of today’s (August 19) Chicago Tribune has an interesting article about how the Nazis had a plan to take the finest musical instruments in the world.
12 years, I played. Then I went Navy, and stopped for way too long. My calluses are distant memories, and I’m regretting that right about now, as my bow is out getting re-haired.
Also, I love anything by Bach, especially the Brandenburg Concertos. Irish stuff is fun to play too, though. Molly on the Shore is a great piece.