Inshore Fiddling
 
Directory of Cd 1 Items are listed in order, with a description of what is taught/practiced in each. CD 1 features musical accompaniment for most exercises. Many of the tunes used are ones that the student will eventually learn. The name of the accompanying tune or tunes follows the item description. Skills covered: Preparation and balance of the body, balancing the fiddle, pizzicato of the open strings, the bowhold, preparation and placement of the left hand, use of the fingers, bow arm relaxation, the concept of arm weight and ‘setting’ the thumb. Concepts: pitch - up vs. down Pieces played: Ed’s Song, Pop Goes the Weasel Order of presentation CD 1 is structured so left and right-hand skills alternate. I have structured it this way so that the student will be creating sound on the instrument as soon as possible, and also so that skills can develop with one hand while new material is introduced for the other. You might prefer to alter the order of learning these skills. The Teachers Manual outlines which items teach left hand, and which right hand skills, and which items can be done without the fiddle. CD 1- Index 1. Introduction. Explains the need for patience, practice and a good attitude. It urges students to enjoy the ‘journey’ of learning and building good skills rather than counting success merely in terms of number of notes learned. Tune: Sally’s Jig 2. Balancing your Body. (P. 10) Gives the students an understanding of how the arm and shoulder structure works and why good use of the body is essential. Tune: Tatter Jack Walsh 3. Fiddle Spot, (p. 11) Instructs the students how to position the head in order to receive the instrument. Tunes: Green Grow the Rushes-O, Pop goes the Weasel. 4. Placing the fiddle, (p.12) Shoulder rests, parts of the fiddle, names of the strings, rest position, balance, placing the fiddle. The technique involves lifting the fiddle over the head in order to free the arm and shoulder structure. Refer to the video in the Teachers Manual. Tunes: Bile them Cabbage Down, Granny’s Waltz, Mussels in the corner. 5. Balancing the fiddle. (p.13) More practice placing and balancing the fiddle. Tune: Auntie Mary. 6. Pizzicato. (p. 13) Proper technique for plucking the strings. Tune: Pop Goes the Weasel 7. Take a Break. Advice on taking a rest when it is needed. Tune:Bile them Cabbage Down 8. Ed’s Song. A mnemonic device to teach the names of the strings. Students pluck the open strings at the correct place in the song. 9. Pop Goes the Weasel. Students play pizzicato open E and A at the appropriate juncture in the song. 10. Preparing the Bowhand (p. 14) Structure of the hand, information about how it works and identification of which places on the hand will touch the bow and why. Tune: Sally’s Jig. 11. Freeing the Bow Arm, Kinesthetic instruction in how to release the muscles of the bow arm by holding it up and allowing it to drop freely. Tune: Coady’s Triple 12. Using the Hand while Keeping the Arm Free, Releasing the muscles of the arm while maintaining muscle tone in the hand. For this exercise the student requires a click-top pen. Tune: Haste to the Wedding 13. Parts of the Bow. (p. 4) Information about the bow, materials, parts and construction. Tune: I Got a Bonnet Trimmed with Blue 14. Placing Fingers on the Bow. (p. 15) How to achieve a bowhold, step-by-step. This item teaches placing the thumb on the outside of the frog. Video in Teachers Manual. Tune: Johnny’s Waltz 15. Moving the Bow. Exercises for maintaining a relaxed bowhold while moving the bow. Tune: Fire on the Mountain 16. Placing the Thumb. (p. 16) Moving the thumb to the bowstick from the outside of the frog. Video in Teachers Manual. Tune: American Eight 17. Preparing the Left Hand. (p. 17) Identifies the places on the left hand which will touch the fiddle; physiology and proper use of the left thumb and hand. Tune: Kitty’s Rambles 18. Preparing the First Finger . Identifies the exact spot on the fingertip which will touch the string. 19. Positioning the Left Hand on a Pen. (p. 17) Instructs the student how to form a correct left hand position on a pen. Practice maintaining the correct use while holding up the arm in playing position to develop strength. Video in Teachers Manual. Tune: Mussels in the Corner 20. Practice with a Pen. (p. 17) Further practice in forming/maintaining the left-hand position. Tune: Mussels 21. Placing the Left Hand on the Fiddle. (p. 18, 19) The approach is to carefully place the fingers on the fiddle while the fiddle is in rest position, bring it over the top of the head, and lower it into playing position. If the fiddle has been accurately placed on the left hand in the student’s lap, this will result in an excellent left-hand aspect with no radial deviation (twisty wrist.) Make sure the students understand exactly how the fingers are to be placed, and that the fiddle will tilt away from them while they place the first finger. Please refer to the pictures on p.18 and 19, and the video in the Teachers Manual. Tune: Hot Cross Buns 22. Lifting the First Finger. (p. 20) This trains the student not to release the neck of the fiddle when the first finger lifts, but to keep a gentle contact with the thumb. 23. Using the 2nd and 3rd fingers. (p. 21) Introduces proper use of the fingers. Tune: Coming from the Races. 24. Review your Bow Skills. An exhortation to practise bow skills daily until comfort level is achieved before proceeding. Tune: Fire on the Mountain 25. Balancing the Bow Arm. How to relax the arm in playing position. Patterning bowing motion by sliding the right hand up and down the left arm. Tunes: The King of France, Aiken Drum 26. Bowing on the Shoulder. (p. 22) Patterning proper bowing motion by bowing on the left shoulder with the bow. Tune: Cathedrals of France. 27, Plucking Notes (A string). (p. 23) Practice using the fingers, note names. 28. Plucking Notes (E string). (p. 24) Practice using the fingers, note names. Directory of Cd 2 Cd 2 instructs the student in coordinating fingering and bowing, and equips them with the skills to learn simple tunes by ear. Skills covered: Bowing on the open A and E strings, the “contact point,” crossing between the E and A strings, down-bow and up-bow, using different bow speeds. “retaking” the bow. coordinating the bow and fingers, releasing the arm weight into the bow. Concepts: beat and rhythm, up and down, step and skip, major scale, arpeggio, phrase, note values (Kodaly syllables – Ti-Ka, Ti-Ti, Ta, Ta-m ti and Ta-ah (sixteenth, eighth, quarter, dotted quarter, half notes), in various combinations) transposition. Pieces; One string: Hot Cross Buns, The King of France, Cathedrals of France, Aiken Drum. Two strings: Mary Had a Little Lamb, Twinkle, London Bridge, Bile them Cabbage Down. Order of Presentation I have ordered this CD so that the students practice the beat and then the rhythm on open strings along with the tunes which they will then learn. This has the multiple benefit of training the beat, rhythm, ensemble and bowing skills while the student becomes familiar with the melody. You can present this material in the order given or you can modify the order so that the students are learning the notes for some of the tunes while still playing the rhythm and the beat on open strings with the others. CD 2 - Index 1. Review Your Skills. This will guide the independent learner to judge whether he/she is ready to continue. 2. The "Contact Point," (p.25) Placing the bow in the correct place on the string. 3. Releasing the Arm Weight (p.25) Teaches the ability to regulate sound by allowing more or less weight into the bow. 4. Bowing on the Fiddle. Down-bow and up-bow. 5. The Beat: Hot Cross Buns. Explanation of ‘beat.’ Play the beat on the E string in time with Hot Cross Buns. 6. The Beat: Aiken Drum. Play the beat on the E string in time with Aiken Drum 7. The Beat: Cathedrals of France. Play the beat on E string in time with Cathedrals of France 8. The Beat: King of France. Play the beat on the E string in time with King of France 9. Crossing to the A String. Correct technique for crossing to the A string. *Return to 8-11 and practise the beat with each tune on the A string. 10. Alternating A and E strings. Downbow on A, upbow on E; hand rises up to A, elbow falls back to E. Return to #s 5-8 and practice the beat alternating between the strings. 11. Alternating E and A strings. Downbow on E, upbow on A. (Note that this is a different skill than #10! Try it and see.) Return to #s 5-8 and practice alternating strings in this direction. 12. Rhythm: Ta, Ti-ti, Rest. Definition of ‘rhythm’ in contrast with ‘beat.’ Explanation of quarter, eighth and rest, ear training. 13. Rhythm: Hot Cross Buns. Play rhythm of Hot Cross Buns on open strings. Return to # 5 and play the rhythm with the CD. 14. Slow Bow Speed. Technique for varying the bowspeed. Learned with bow on shoulder first, then on fiddle. 15. Rhythm: Ta-ah. Explanation of half notes, use of slow bowspeed when playing them, ear training. 16. Rhythm: Cathedrals of France. Explanation of half-note beat; instructions for playing beat and then rhythm with #7. 17. Rhythm: Aiken Drum. Proper technique for playing a pickup on an up-bow. Return to # 9 and play the rhythm, starting with a pickup. 18. "Retake" the Bow (on the shoulder). Proper technique for lifting, moving and replacing the bow; up with the hand, down with the elbow. 19. Retake the Bow in The King of France. Definition of “phrase”; location of the ‘retake’ at the end of the first phrase, slow practice. Return to # 8 to play the rhythm with the CD. 20. Fingers and Bow together. Coordination. Go back to CD 1 and repeat 27 and 28 with the bow this time. Correct position and relaxation essential. 21. Notes; Hot Cross Buns. Coordinating fingers and bow when lifting fingers. Notes by rote. (Although the notes are printed in the book on p. 26 is better for the student not to use a score at this point. Attention to position and technique tends to fail when the eyes are occupied with notes. Have the student learn from the CD; and if you need to, hand out the rhythm/solfegge/note/fingering chart in the“materials” section of this CD rom.) 22. Hot Cross Buns: Phrase 2. Coordinating fingers and bow when setting fingers. Notes by rote. 23. Notes: Cathedrals of France. Definition of movement by step and skip. Notes demonstrated by rote using step and skip. This piece can be played as a round, and sounds good with some students playing alternating A and E strings on the beat (the “cathedral bells.” Encourage the students to use the bow all the way from the middle to the tip. 24. Notes: The King Of France. Listen first to determine direction of notes, steps and skips. Learn by ear. This piece includes both a pick-up and a retake of the bow. 25. Independent Fingers. Proper technique for using the fingers individually. 26. Notes: Aiken Drum. Description of techniques for learning by ear. Play with independent fingers. 27. Mary Had a Little Lamb. Preview of string-crossing spot (c# - e – e). Instructions for learning the tune by ear. 28. Playing Tunes on the E String: Play all one-string tunes (Hot Cross Buns, Cathedrals of France, The King of France, and Aiken Drum) starting on the E string. Place fingers on their inside edges so the wrist will be straight – the middle of the finger tip does not touch the string. 29. Crossing to the 3rd Finger . Preparing the third finger, coordinating the finger and bow, practice crossing from open E to 3rd finger D on A string. 30. Transpose Tunes to D. Concept of transposition. Transpose Hot Cross Buns and Mary Had a Little Lamb to D major by starting on first finger f# on E string. This provides practice in crossing to the third finger. 31. Leaps; Play by Ear. Definition of leap, ear training including steps, skips and leaps. 32. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star 33. Scale of A Major. Explanation of scale, key or tonic note, octave. 34. Chord (Arpeggio) of A Major. Explanation of the triad, play up and down the triad, and arpeggio, difference between chord and arpeggio. 35. Rhythm: Ta-m ti. 36. Ta-m ti: Play by ear. 37. London Bridge. Listen for descending triad (chord), play along on open string using slower bowspeed for half notes, learn and play the tune. Incorporates Ta-m ti, string crossing to each finger from E string. 38. Playing on the D string. Proper left hand and right-hand technique for moving to the D string. Left hand and arm rotate anti- clockwise in relation to the fiddle and base joint of the first finger slides up a margin. Right hand leads up to D, elbow leads back to A. Mapping the notes E, F#, G on the D string. 39. Playing on the G String. Left hand technique for playing on the G string. Right hand technique (hand must move forward in order to keep the bow parallel to the bridge. Bow is also roughly parallel to the floor when playing on the G string. 40. Rhythm: Tika. Explanation of 16th notes, ear training- patterns with eighth and sixteenth notes. 41. Bile Them Cabbage (first part). Description of typical fiddle tune (two parts repeated) learn first part by ear. Tune terminology. 42. Bile Them Cabbage (turn). Tune terminology; 2nd part is called the ‘turn.’ Definition of ‘motive.’ Preview string-crossing section. Learn notes by ear.