How to Play Fiddle Tunes Faster + Bow Hold and Violin Posture
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- čas přidán 10. 10. 2016
- I've received a lot of questions about how to learn how to play fiddle tunes faster. This is a pretty big subject with a lot of factors to discuss, so I decided to make a long video about it. I hope this helps give some ideas about things to focus on and ways to practice increasing your playing speed!
Quick Links:
Bow Hand: 00:37
Violin Hand: 5:27
Muscle Memory: 11:02
Intonation Muscle Memory: 11:07
Tune Muscle Memory ("Motor Learning"): 14:38
Metronome: 15:41
Hornpipe/Reverse method: 18:16
Wrist Importance: 21:50
Written Summary:
In this video, I discuss important things to keep in mind while trying to speed up the tempo of your playing. The bow hold and wrist flexibility are extremely important, and therefore I included a short clip on how I hold my violin bow and demonstrate how the wrist should move with the bow.
Also, the ability to freely move along the instrument with your left hand is important. This is why I prefer to use a shoulder rest. It frees up your left hand to only need to focus on playing the notes rather than holding the instrument.
Keeping the wrist away from the neck of the instrument is also a key detail for learning how to play faster. It feels more unsteady initially, but once you become used to the feeling, you will have much more freedom and fluid movement between the notes.
The left elbow is also important. If it points too much towards the left, it will become difficult to reach some of the lower-string notes. It's important to practice stretching your elbow towards the right more. This will open up your hand and allow your hand to move at a much faster speed, even into the higher registers of the instrument. Please take care to not force too hard of a stretch too soon. There is no such thing as "no pain no gain" with the violin. If it's starting to hurt, it's time to take a break.
Learning muscle memory is the next key step to learning how to play faster. There are two main kinds of muscle memory:
The first focus on where all of the notes are on the actual instrument. This muscle memory can be achieved by practicing scales and playing along to recordings and other players.
The second form of muscle memory is when your hands "memorize the tune." It's a bit of a strange concept, but your hands can become familiar with how a tune is played. I gain this muscle memory from two ways:
Using a metronome is a good, but tedious way. I find a comfortable tempo and slowly increase the tempo each time I practice the tune. When I reach a tempo where I begin to make mistakes, I reduce the tempo by 5 speeds and repeat the tune 5 times. This may seem a bit much, but it's important to practice playing the tune correctly rather than incorrectly. Once I've played the tune 5 times, I start to increase the tempo again. Usually I find that I can surpass my last difficult tempo fairly quickly when I practice like this.
The second method is what I call the "hornpipe/reverse hornpipe" method. First, play the tune at the tempo you are comfortable with. Then, play it like a hornpipe using the long note-short note-long note-short note rhythm. Next, repeat the tune using the "reverse hornpipe" rhythm: short note - long note - short note - long note. Finally, try to play the tune at a faster tempo. It may take a few practice sessions using this method, but I've had a lot of success with it. It works best on tunes written in 4/4 and 2/4 time.
My next point is that I play differently when I play at faster speeds. Going back to the importance of a flexible wrist and good bow hold -- a lot of my speed is actually focused in my right wrist / bow wrist.
The final point is to try to keep your left hand's fingers as close to the fingerboard as possible. It's easy to get into the habit of lifting the fingers off of the fingerboard as you learn vibrato, and this habit can carry into even fast playing where it really isn't necessary to lift the fingers very far from the fingerboard. Try practicing keeping a finger planted in a position and only move them when it is absolutely necessary. This feels very strange at first, but it will help you learn how to strategically place your fingers ahead of time to reach notes that may otherwise be impossible to reach.
I hope this summary helps! I've written it out in hopes that those who may not speak English very well may have a better idea about what I may be talking about using a translator. I hope to add subtitles to my tutorials eventually, but it might be some time before I can complete a task like that.
Shoulder Rest:
Bonmusica 4/4 Violin Shoulder Rest
bonmusica.de/index2.html
www.amazon.com/Bon-Musica-Bon...
Metronome:
Matrix MR500 Quartz Metronome
www.amazon.com/Matrix-MR500-M...
Thank you for watching!
~Katy - Hudba
Katy, great teaching.
Years of playing country, a bad habit I had was to cradle fiddle in my belly not under my chin and yes I played it that way. Finally under my chin. And yes- you are adorable. You are a GREAT violinist!!!
Katy Adelson You're my HERO ( sorry HEROINE ) ! Not even seven minutes into the video, So Many of my (MANY,MANY) questions already have been answered. I'm a "Pain in the neck " perfectionist, (to coworkers / friends ) so I'm detail oriented and you managed to get into so many details...so quickly. You play beautifully And are an excellent teacher.
How am I only finding this video now? Thank you so much Katy!!
I'm a bluegrass musician and I mostly play the banjo but I've played some fiddle for four years now but it's very difficult. I compliment your skills, your videos are amazing and I don't know how anybody does it!
Did you know,
Banjo and violin sound great together.
I think you’re a great teacher. You are never negative like many teachers. You explain why beginners form certain bad habits rather than making them feel like they’re being ridiculous. Thank you.
Came for the lesson, stayed for the general happy personality you got. I wish you were my Violin teacher. I would look forward to the energetic lessons. Kinda like that favorite teacher you had in high school (middle school)
I don't know what I am doing here but I've got imnotized by your explanations and your violin skills, keep it up, great channel.
Great instruction. Thanks for posting. I played classical violin for about 5 years many years ago. Now, at 62, I am learning to fiddle. You are an amazing teacher!
I'm more of a classical violinist (and have been for nearly 13 years) and I recently got ito playing some fiddle tunes just to switch it up! Your "Horn Pipe" technique is exactly what my teacher thaught me to play fast. I can also recommend 3 variations of that which are triplets; one long to fast notes, 2 fast notes one long note. It helps me significantly, because like you said it forces the brain to let the fingers think for itself. Great Advice!
As an adult beginner, I've found there isn't a lot of information out there that is detailed enough for adults without also being more complex than a beginner can handle. This video hits right in that sweet spot and is such great information. Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time to produce this!
My posture and the way I have played the fiddle has always been a struggle for me. Your advice for the proper way is so much appreciated. I have a hard time breaking old habits with my playing. Thank you for sharing. I am trying to play properly now.
Many thanks, Katy. Playing the cello but still I can experiment with your ideas. Nice style and delivery. You are very natural.
my god! thank you. for me its not just the info that help, its the inspiration and to see you play, it helps alot
such good advice! I am going to start scales daily! I'm a beginner at the age of 53!
Me too, 53 and maybe advanced beginner :)
I'm 20 and just started playing violin. I was worried that I waited too long to start learning because everyone I know who plays violin started before they were in high school. Do you think there are any significant challenges with being a late beginner?
I'm 20 and just started playing violin. I was worried that I waited too long to start learning because everyone I know who plays violin started before they were in high school. Do you think there are any significant challenges with being a late beginner?
purpleconnies if you don’t already know? Checkout artists: Kevin Burke, Hanneke Cassel, Brittany Hass. 🎻
purpleconnies - Me too 😁
Thank you Katy - I am delighted with all this advice - and so well delivered! - you are a star!
Very good video! Thank you. Every bit of advice you give is spot on !! I do a lot of playing with a tuning app turned on. Find that really helps with improving intonation.
Katy, thank you so much for this. Epiphany after epiphany; such clarity deserves full attention: this know-all found where to put that troublesome long finger on the bow-hand, a fiddler's elbow not previously heard mentioned, that the fiddle drowns out any metronome app on your phone and finally that you can turn a violin into a fiddle just by playing it properly. Whew! Great fun.
Katy I appreciate how thorough you are! I learned a lot. Wanted to make a few comments - like many online fiddle teachers, you assume every body is built the same. For example, watch Roger Netherton (excellent pro fiddler) and notice his hand/wrist and elbow. It's typical old-time fiddler, I'm sure you'd be horrified - but Roger has very very long fingers for left hand fiddling, and can get enough lift and curve even with wrist collapsed. Also, fiddlers use the middle of the bow mostly, and for a lot of fiddling, holding the bow higher up makes total sense and doesn't hurt tone at all. Also, I am very small and am not blessed with fingers as long as yours - having the violin in the position you do - very classical - would make it near impossible for me to reach the G string notes. So just saying that not everyone has long thin fingers, some people have extra long, etc. One size does NOT fit all.
This is such a lovely video. You have such a natural way of presenting it, and doing so being super clear about the techniques. Thanks for this, we‘ll keep on it - practice, practice, practice.
Katy is so warm and personable, an excellent teacher, as well as a player!
Great lesson. You have way of making your lessons very practical and honest, for a lack of a better word. I believe it is because of your transparency and personalization of the techniques. Keep it up.
Thanks for the tips! I have been learning fiddle music for the last 9 months with tutors and even with their help I found a few nuggets of great information here. Just goes to show there is always something new to learn from everyone!
Excellent rock solid information. Thanks! Many of these things have worked well for me already and your detailed descriptions are still helpful. I have found (yes sometimes dull drilling) that making time often to review and polish the basics gives thrilling results when you go back to some tune that was a "wall" and find out it is suddenly truly "was" and is no more a wall. Thanks again and keep smiling!
I have watched probably every video on CZcams for a proper bow hold, and this video is the first one that actually helped me to get it right! I was putting my thumb in the wrong place and it was super rigid. Now it feels and looks right.
Thank you so much! Everything else in this video was super helpful too!
So helpful! Thanks for the great video! I'm an adult beginner and now feeling more confident learning Irish tunes based on your videos.
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! Very well explained and demonstrated and I've been having difficulty getting all these concepts put together. You are awesome!
Wow! This lesson really resonated with me. I’ve played bass for over 35 years. I’m 47 and just started violin and/or fiddle. I’ve been playing fiddle for maybe a month now but I really want to acquire a good violin tone for slower notes. Playing fast would be nice but I’d rather be able to play slow and sound good. You can hide a lot of sloppiness in fast. This lesson is a great informal tome pointing me in the right direction. Thanx much.
I've been playing for nearly 60 years but you have touched on some technique things that I've spaced out or forgotten about over the years, things that my violin teachers used to drill into my brain but I just didn't get it but this video has helped bring it back to the top. Thank you!! 💙
I'm just now learning to play the fiddle and this has seriously helped a ton! Thanks for the advice!
Your sincere effort at serious sharing of your fiddle experience is so appreciated. Interesting disposition & personality, that doesn't intrude on the quality share that you clearly hope to convey to your subs, students (perhaps) & friends.... It works... Signed, a multi-year subscriber.....
Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate this. I've been off my practice for the last year so this was a very helpful reminder to see what I was doing right or wrong. Definitely subscribing to your channel. I play mostly Irish and Scottish and both by ear and to a lesser degree the dots, but I'm trying to broaden my abilities so I thank you, thank you!
I'm currently correcting a 16 year old bad bow hold! I aspire to be able to fiddle as sweetly as you do, and it is so reassuring to hear that you had the same problems (i.e., hitting that "wall"). Thank you so much for this video!
You post the best videos! Thanks for taking the time and sharing your knowledge and experience! Keep 'em coming!
Thank you very much for clarifying many bow hand issues.
I've been struggling with bow holds for at least a year now. this helps very much! my practice playlist consists mostly of your videos and tutorials ^_^
Thank you so much for this great tutorial. I am learning violin by myself since 3 years now. I don't have the money for lessons so CZcams is my teacher and this video is one of the greatest I've found till now! Thanks alot! Keep going :)) Additionally I love the way you play! I really hope for more tutorials and little "how to do's"
You’re already one of my favorite teacher!!
I appreciate your tips for using the metronome. I personally have under utilized this in my practice, but will use it more often now. When I do use it I can increase my speed.
Amazing video, your teaching technique is excellent . I am self taught and started playing eight years ago, in my mid 40's. I find your logic refreshing, and your humility charming. You've created, by far the the most helpful and detailed explanations of proper technique I've come across. Thank you for the effort you put into this, it really clears up a lot of the mistakes I have been making over the years.
Great video Katy. Thanks for sharing these techniques and tricks. I found these work amazing and noticed an improvement..
I wish i had seen this when i was first starting, but i am very glad that i eventually found it, you have solved my questions, thank you teacher!
Love the hornpipe and reverse hornpipe tips. Also the comments about difference between playing fast and slow are very helpful. And, I bought a quartz metronome after watching this video. I've been using software metronomes, but this video made me realize there are lots of times when I ought to dive into a little micro session with the metronome to polish a phrase, lick or section of a scale. I think I'm a lot more likely to do it if the physical device is right at hand and I can just click it on and spin the dial. Now I'm considering the shoulder rest you are using also. I've been playing for 50 years; it's wonderful to have so much great info readily available nowadays and fun to learn how much my playing can be helped by taking advice from young players. Thank you for this great video!
Great Vid Katy. Even as a "seasoned" player it's great to be reminded of these fundamentals.
Thank you so much for this video. You like the sun. Warm and inspire their creativity. Special thanks for making and subtitles (Russian)
Great tutorial. I got inspired by your music. I borrowed a violin to try out. I play a little bit of classical guitar. I know how important a good posture is. I learn from classical guitar that bad habits die hard. So, it is really important to cultivate good posture from the beginning, because will hit you later in the practice. Thank you so much. YOUR MUSIC IS RELLY BEAUTIFUL!! Keep posting your videos.
Thank you so much I find your videos so helpful, you were born to be a violin teacher, so great thanks 🎼🎼🎼
Wonderful advice! I'm going to try all your techniques. Thank you!
I really love your videos. Please keep doing what you are doing. You are so much fun to watch and learn from. Thank you!
You are really inspiring, and seem really kind and humble in addition to being talented and skilled!
What you are saying makes so much sense. I was forced to learn the violin when I was six until I was eighteen by the guardians that bought me for a thousand dollars. What I went through learning it was very much like the violin version of what the Russian gymnasts went through in the eighties training for the Olympics. They were forced as I was forced. I quit playing altogether 20 years ago and never looked back. I decided after a lot of therapy to try violin again on my own terms for my own reasons. One of the things I remember was the practicing and the scales and the Suzuki method and the being forced to leave activities that I payed for by earning the money to do them by babysitting. After about 5 hours I reaclimated to playing again. It actually sounded as good as it had after I had been playing 7 years and now I'm as good as I was when I quit just not quite as fast and it's only been 2 and a half months. So yes the muscle memory thing is very very real.
Great advice clearly and charmingly presented. Thank you!
I've been playing fiddle for 15 years At home and on stage. Started at about 35 years old. I must applaud this young lady for her absolute accurate guide to fiddling. Every tip will produce quality results. SCALES and INTONATION are PARAMOUNT! These two alone are the language of an endless journey in music. Effort produces perfection.
Great lesson Katy I needed to practice these tips thank you
Began at 66. I have fun with scales by doing the pentatonic scale up and back and then again including the 4th and 7th. I learned by ear with a teacher (dyslexia makes reading music torture). But at a open jam where key changes from song to song I'll do a quick run through the pentatonic scale for that key which (I think) helps me pick up a new song quicker?? And with the kind of music we play the pentatonic scale can help with improvising a little if they turn to you to take a break. So it's been 3-1/2 years of way too much fun.Thanks for the great video. Always looking for more philosophies on holding bow, speed techniques, and everything. Shoulder rest looks really nice; I'll be contacting Santa. Cheers!
This is a really brilliant teaching video, thank you for sharing this.
Excellent video! You are a great communicator and enjoyable to listen to and to watch.
Hello =), I'm Dimitri and I pratice the violin ( by myself ) since 1 year and play fast is a big problem ! Your videos help me to understand a lot of important details. So thank you very much and keep going because you are so positive and helpful =D.
(Excuse me for my english =/ I m french sooo... xD )
You are a very good violin teacher. Thanks 👍
your training parts here were very helpfull to me.. i am a very beginner. and your showing me things that will be very helpfull when i do play. thanks
THANK YOU SO MUCH!! so helpful... so grateful!!! You are amazing!!!
Thank you Katy for the awesome tutorial! Really helpful for me.
Good advice! I love scales, intervals and arpeggios.
Very helpful information! Thanks for taking the time to make this :)
thanks for your video. Without a doubt it is one of the best explanations I have seen on CZcams and you play incredible. New subscriber! 🙏🏻 ♥️
You have covered so much in this video, and with an awesome attitude as well ;) very useful!
Thank you , I learned a lot . You're a good teacher .
Thanks Katy - very useful advice
Thank you so much, I really needed this, going to buy the shoulder rest too
Thank you! This has been very helpful!
Thank you so much for this video ❤ I'm sure it Will be very helpful.
Greetings from Italy 😊
great job.very true. don't practice bad habits. they are very hard to break later!!
Thank you so much! =) I learned that lesson the hard way! =/
Thank you so much for this video!!! I've been playing the violin for five or six years, and have been mostly self-taught. My bow hold has been off since the beginning and it has really affected my playing. I've managed to get by, but certain songs are not playable, because of my bow hold. I've hit that "wall", as you have mentioned, and your video has helped me climb over it! :)
I'm so glad you've been able to fix some things with the bow!! It's a really frustrating thing to try to fix, and I remember thinking I'd never be able to play again, but it's really worth the extra focus! I'm glad that this video has helped you! ^_^
your bow looks like a Codabow Classic. thank you for the great tunes and tutorials.
thank you for this amazing video!!!! I was so excited when I saw this video!!(:
I really want to get better at this,so thank you a million times over!!!
Yay! I hope it helps you learn how to play faster! =)
Such good advice. Thank-you.
Wonderful lessons 👍 from a special lady 🙏
excellent presentation!
Hey, nice, I like your fiddle-videos a lot! They make me happy and motivate me to play!
I'm so happy to hear that! =) I hope you have fun practicing! ^_^
Great tutorial, thank you 😊
Thanks a lot for sharing this advices.
I miss this kind of videos
Really helpful video. Thank you!! 😁
Omg this helps me alot HONESTLY💗💗
THANK YOU!
You explained it very well and clear, thank you very much :)
Hey Katy, I'm a self taught cellist and am finding your videos are much more helpful than most videos for cellists ! I appreciate your posts so much please keep posting so I can keep learning !
You are a great teacher.
Great lesson! Thank you :)
I am obsessed with your channel!!
Great video ..Thanks a lot !!
Wow great advices!
Great advise, thank you!
So helpful!! Grateful for this video
Yay! I'm glad it has helped a little! =)
Hey there I always have put my thumb on the bottom of the frog, but I’m going to try your technique!
Very helpful. Some of these basics are kind of skipped in most fiddle training videos.
Amazingly sweet person you are... thank you! Peace
Lots of great advice, thanks :-)
Thank you for watching! =) I hope you have fun practicing! ^_^
Pretty clear ! even for a french person, thank you :)
How timely. I've been so inspired by your videos that I managed to get one of my old fiddles back together and new bridge back on this morning. Being self taught, my instructor didn't really have any experience. How much do I owe you ?
Excellent advice! Love your cat/fishy sweater, too :)
Good solid video thanks