when you are learning on your own...

I have so many decisions to make about how I'm going to play my fiddle, and I need to make them soon so I don't have to re-learn anything down the road. Right now I'm trying to decide if I need to play at my jaw or breast...and if I play at my jaw (which I think would be easier), then I need to go purchase a shoulder rest, because the fiddle is not easy to always keep stationary.

Week One

My Fiddle. A nameless beauty...but what do I know.



My teacher: Brad Leftwich. Using his DVDs. In old-time, after all, it's common to learn instruments by ear and by unconventional means...




I can't put the thing down. Learning 'Shortenin' Bread.' I forget everything in between times that I practice. I am going to have to learn some serious patience. I've been playing the banjo for a year now, and I hope that the fiddle will not take my concentration away, as I still have much to learn on the banjo. If you're a banjo player, perhaps you can understand such curiosity of that thing called the fiddle - which nobody seems to play (and if they do, certainly not the good old-timey stuff) except on recordings. Anyone else out there trying to tackle the banjo and fiddle at relatively the same time?