Mandolin to fiddle (again)

[Cochiti Don]

I haven’t been on this forum for quite some time. This reflects the fact that I’ve been neglecting my beautiful Mandolin also. I’m determined to gain some facility on the fiddle but it’s taking a lot longer than I anticipated. At 73, my mediocrity is assured but these daily baby steps are taking all of my energy and patience.
Take this as a warning to any of you thinking of repeating my diversion into the fretless world. It is fraught with demands.

[LongBlackVeil]

I made some strides with fiddle

I think my biggest frustration is that it seems like, if you dont use it, you lose it.

I play banjo, guitar, and mandolin too. So i like to focus on one until i reach a wall, and then shift to another. I find i cant do that with the fiddle. Its so physically demanding, that if i put it down for too long, i completely lose the progress that ive made.

Thats why i dont fiddle anymore really. Just doesnt work for me

[UsuallyPickin]

The fiddle is a jealous mistress. Play her daily and alternate days on her fretted kinfolk. That seems to work for me. R/

[MoreThanQuinn]

I'm grew up playing fiddle. Now I've become a mandolin man. Listening to Andrew Bird got me itching to start fiddle again. My first lesson is on Friday.

Wish me luck. Anyone who's set a fiddle down for any long amount of time knows that it doesn't let you pick it back up willy-nilly.

[Stephen Perry]

Such whining. No frets to trip over and you get a great big stick.

They're really difficult to play. I found the trick was to lower my standards a whole bunch!! That plus a bit of deafness will carry you through. It's also more healthy than mandolin, because the disease-ridden population will avoid you, and the cats will go away.

[Bob Buckingham]

I played fiddle for decades. Did not even own a mandolin for one or two of those decades. Keep that fiddle and that darned stick. I enjoy the mandolin much more today. The devil didn't make the fiddle, he made the bow.

[Lane Pryce]

What RobBob said! 100% factual. Lp

[peterleyenaar]

Nothing is as bad as a poorly played fiddle, except perhaps bagpipes.

[Jim Garber]

I have been playing fiddle as long as I have been playing mandolin, 44+ years. I will never be a virtuoso on either but there are certainly moments of joy in expressing my music through these instruments. I took up mandolin partially because it was a transitional instrument from guitar to fiddle: tuned like a violin but plucked like a guitar.

I run an old time jam session near here and a good friend runs another. There are a handful of fiddlers who started playing in their 70s and I admire there persistence. I know it is not easy. In both our jams we encourage everyone to play, pick the tunes they love to play and play them at whatever tempi they prefer. To me that is one of the ultimate joys of a community jam session. We also have had over the years some younger folk show up, though not quite as consistently as the old timers.

For all of you on whatever instrument, stick to it. I will never give up either and will learn new things until I keel over.

[MontanaMatt]

I wanted to second the issue of fiddle requiring constant effort. I backed off fiddle for about a year recently, after 30+ yrs of high caliber skills, and suffered a huge backslide in ability. Part of the issue is intonation maintenance. The scale length of mando and fiddle are different, and the frets make that analytical part of the brain atrophy.

The bow is super fickle too

[bruce.b]

I’ve been playing fiddle for about two years. I’ve been neglecting my tenor guitars for most of that time. I recently started playing tin whistle again, I played years ago, after injuring my right elbow while climbing. That has worked really well and it’s great for playing in the car. I plan on playing fiddle and tenor guitar about equally, and see where the whistle goes, but fiddle is what I want to pick up whenever I practice.

[catmandu2]

I recently started a job where fiddle/banjo/mandolin/guitar are effective. Havent played any of that in at least a couple of years.. Interestingly, fiddling came right back to nearly where it'd been. I think the reason is - its ergonomics aren't as physical (as the fretted strings), save for the bow - which does suffer from the layoff. Biggest problem - trying to remember tunes..

I wanted to second the issue of fiddle requiring constant effort. I backed off fiddle for about a year recently, after 30+ yrs of high caliber skills, and suffered a huge backslide in ability. Part of the issue is intonation maintenance. The scale length of mando and fiddle are different, and the frets make that analytical part of the brain atrophy.

I did not find that my intonation suffered at all. In fact I was quite surprised I could just pick it up "off the couch" after 3+ years. Now, my guitar playing is severely compromised, however.

I had managed to live without all that - performing on other instruments - but, people like hearing that guitar and bluegrass stuff.