chords

I'm extremely new at fiddle. I'm catching on though. But I cant' seem to get a clean sound for the 2 string chords that go in a song. The notes either sound off key or I get a scratchy sound. By the way, this is the best thing that has ever happened to me...

Randy

I'm fairly new as well, so don't have any 'expert' tips. One thing I found though, is that it seems natural to bow heavier for chords, but actually, I needed to lighten up on the bow for chords. Someone also told me to imagine there is a string in between the others eg: Playing chords on the D and A strings aim for an imaginary string in between the D and A strings.
An exercise I do, is to start on one string, and as I am bowing start using both strings to get the feel of bowing on one string vs bowing on two.

Hope this helps, and if anyone else has any tips I would be interested as well!

I really appreciate that tip!! I'll try it when I get home today. They both make sense. I'm starting to get a sound I like but now my hand hurts and again the squeky chords. I think that in fact I am pushing down a lot on the chords. It seems natural to me to do that. Thanks for the tips.

Yeah I haven't been playing long either but that tip really helped. I know exactly how you feel when you say it's the best thing that's ever happend - keep it up!

Also just to say you shouldn't need to press down harder for the 2 strings compared to 1. Keep a close eye on whether your bow is at the right angle (i.e. landed on both strings if you just rest the bow) - then you will find yourself bowing both without using more force.

kkwlam, that was a good reply. When you play your fiddle you dont need to press hard on the strings. If you do you will experience pain on your hand and fingers. Also make sure that you are playing your bow in a straight line(parallel to the bridge) and not crooked. Oh and make sure you are in tune...thats really impotrant...other than that, keep practicing and soon enough you will become an awesome fiddle player!

hey anonymous !!!! i too am fairly new and this is the best thing Ive done in a long long time !!!! you may be able to eliminate the scraches by nuetralizing the preesure off you bow hand and letting the large muscles of your arm /shoulders provide the pressure to you bow anyway good luck and also must tell that I had issues similar in the beginning and have moved th/worked through them as you too will and there are more to come so just keep on trukin !!!!!

Windshadow--where in Oregon? I'm in Portland.

Howdy! I am a relative beginner also (been playing for four years) but I have two things to say about your chord problem. For tuning, my teacher made me practice double stops in this way to begin with: Keep playing the low note until you're absolutely sure it's in tune, then do the same with the top one. Then and only then attempt to play them together. Keep adjusting, either individually or together, no matter how long it takes, until they ring true. Regarding the scratchiness, I still have this sometimes but find it is almost entirely down to tension somewhere in the right side of the body - the shoulder, wrist, whatever. As one teacher told me recently, don't think of bow PRESSURE; think only of WEIGHT.

I agree with you - the fiddle is the best thing that could happen to anybody! I love it and can't wait 'til I'm retired and can play fiddle all day long!

Hi, I'm new to this too, from a classical background but branching out and having a great time! Anyway, I found that having the bow a bit looser (just a bit) than what I might play classically allowed for the bow hair to wrap a bit better around the 2 strings, instead of just hitting one.

Hi all,

I had a fiddle teacher tell me if I was having problems getting the right sound, to turn off the lights, close my eyes and practice the trouble spot in the dark using just the sound to adjust. It's a little awkward at first, but it works pretty good if you give it time.
Plus, I figured I had better listen to her, she was a national champion fiddler.

fiddlinang,

Please explain more about "don't think of bow PRESSURE; think only of WEIGHT." It sounds interesting, but I am not sure if I fully understand.

Thanks in Advanced