In my little bio down-yonder it mentions I am a clasically trained violinist. It would probably be more truthful to add lapsed before that phrase – unfortunately due to masses of work, lack of inspiration and reminders of the horrors of the exam, I haven’t picked up my fiddle much since I passed my Grade 8 in 2007.
Having said that, it was the first thing I packed on Friday when I set off for the Shrewsbury Folk Festival because hidden in amongst the world’s most confusing programme was a workshop headed by the incredible fiddle player, Sam Sweeney.
I came away totally converted, and whilst mildly disappointed that all those hours spent learning 4th finger vibrato may have been wasted, I’m determined to practice all the tips and tricks he mentioned – in particular the cheating vib and the joy of legitimately being able to double stop everynote!
For me the hardest thing was playing by ear. Whilst I can transcribe a lot of music just by listening to it, I have never really learnt anything solely by ear before and it surprised me just how much I rely on the music in front of me. I don’t know whether it’s because my head is full of camera angles and editing techniques at the moment, but my memory is shocking, which may prove problematic.
Nonetheless, I will persevere and will follow his parting words of wisdom to listen to as many different violinists as possible and just copy what they do as you play along.
Lack of time forces me to split this post in two (MA deadline = next Friday), so please tune in again for highlights of those acts which just took my breath away.
But in the mean time if anyone has any techniques they wish to share with a violinist who wishes to regain her form but also swap genres, I’d be most grateful.
Post by Mary Stokes - Meet Me
Located in the UK, music has been part of my life for a long time. I'm a classically trained violinist but have a wide range musical knowledge.
