>I am working with a young lady who is a classically trained violinist.
>She is a very good player, and is also very good at improvisation. She
>would like to be able to play bluegrass and country. When she tries, it
>still comes out violin. Being a saxophone player myself, I have reached
>the limits of my knowledge. I would like to get her some assistance.
>So my question is, ‘how do you turn a violinist into a fiddle player?’
>Are there any effective training programs available? We have looked for
>teachers in the Northern Illinois/Southern Wisconsin area, but have not
>had much luck finding one. I would welcome advice.
>
Saxophone!? I was doing a wedding gig in a park a few years ago when a guy
(who said he was just out of the service) came by and listened to my band.
He said he enjoyed our music and asked if it was OK to sit in – with his
tenor sax. I said “sure” (I’d had a bit of the bubbly by then and was
feeling no pain) and launched into OBS. The guy took a fantastic break
without so much as batting an eye! (I’ve had tuba players as band members,
and will definitely NOT turn down an audition from a sax player, not any
more I won’t!)
Back to fiddles.
First of all, try talking her out of bluegrass fiddling. It’s *very*
addictive and tend to boggle the mind of a classically-trained violinist.
Secondly, get her to FIDDLE-L [ http://listserv.brown.edu/archives/fiddle-
l.html ] which is a discussion list with members from both camps; they tend
to talk for months at a time about switching from Bach to BG. It also
happens to be one of the best places to talk about old time and bg music,
with not nearly as much fluff as here on BGRASS-L. The downside there is
that they will also spend herds of words talking about which kind of rosin
to use with left-handed fiddles, etc.
Thirdly, she may want to visit the website of Gilles Apap, one of the
world’s current top violinists, who is also adept at Gypsy, Jazz, Old-Time,
Hindustani, and Irish fiddle styles. [ http://www.gillesapap.com/ ]. He’s
making inroads into bluegrass fiddling as well, with a few setbacks, such
as learning a hot version of Sally Gooden from a bg fiddler friend, but
plays the guy’s mistakes along with the “proper” notes.
Perhaps better she stay in the “classical” field. . .
-Peter
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About Peter Feldmann
Peter Feldmann has long been a musical mainstay in Santa Barbara and Southern California. Besides actively performing bluegrass and old time music with a variety of groups, Peter is also known as a bluegrass historian, collector, music consultant, teacher, and producer, both of live concerts and radio/tv programs throughout the area. His music has been heard in clubs, concerts, saloons, universities, pre-schools, at weddings, wakes, parties, barn-raisings, calf-ropings, rodeos, auctions, fund raisers, wine tastings and chili cook offs.
Peter founded Santa Barbara's Old Time Fiddler's Convention (1972), UCSB's Old Time Music Front (1964), and The Bluebird Cafe (1971). Through these and other outlets, he was the first to bring many prominent folk, blues, and bluegrass artists, including Bill Monroe, Mance Lipscomb, The Stanley Brothers, The New Lost City Ramblers, Fred McDowell, Furry Lewis, Rose Maddox, the Balfa Brothers, and many others to the Santa Barbara area. Peter also helped others access the music by teaching privately, and in group classes for Santa Barbara Continuing Education, UCSB Extension, and McCabes Guitars. He was the first on the West Coast to produce and market instruction Lps - three on How To Play Country Fiddle, and one each on Clawhammer Banjo, and Maybelle Carter Style Guitar. He still presents lectures on country music history at UCSB, Santa Barbara area libraries, and for various interest groups, festival workshops, etc. In 2006, he presented his monograph titled "The Big bang Of Bluegrass Music" (describing the origins of bluegrass 1938 - 1946) to the worlds first International Music Symposium at the University of Kentucky at Bowling Green. He has also been very active in radio, television, and film work, producing weekly shows on country and bluegrass music over a 21 year period on various commercial and public stations. Peter currently maintains three music-related websites, a music blog, and an entertainment service company, "BlueGrass West!", based in the Santa Ynez Valley in Southern California.
Peter performs tunes and songs from the heart of America's musical treasure chest. His shows can include fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin. Well-known as a historian and teacher, Peter is first and foremost an entertainer, sharing his respect, energy and love for the music with his fellow musicians, friends, and audiences.
