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Sweet Child O Mine Contest

By admin on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 | No Comments

Catch the buzz on the rock violin contest featuring Sweet Child of Mine. This was originally a YouTube video by Adam DeGraff.

It’s on Facebook, too. Dueling Fiddlers on Facebook.

Watch the video. See a violinist playing well. You don’t get that without about 10,000 hours of hard practice.

Apparently he got many requests from violinists wanting the sheet music. Based on these emails, he chose to put on this contest.

As an exercise in teaching, the contest does as well as any YouTube based learning experience. On the one hand, you can watch and rewatch parts of the video.  Adam explains violin playing concepts as he goes along.

On the other hand, questions take time, via comments. They may or not be answered by video.

Another good source of violin instruction online is Prof. Todd Ehle. Prof. Ehle has put an abundance of material covering the basic technique of playing violin. I don’t know of anything free that even comes close.

Personal one on one instruction also allows seeing a technique demonstrated as many times as needed. And you get your questions answered, and demoed immediately.

Your personal fiddle or violin coach is also looking at you to see what the next step is for your progress. A video doesn’t do that.

But, the YouTube is free. Personal instruction rarely is given out that way.

I used to advise fiddle students to seek out a fiddle teacher, not a violin teacher. Unfortunately fiddle teachers are not easily found.

Maybe YouTube is taking up the slack. There are dozens of “How to play fiddle” videos. Each offers some insight, I’m sure. (Although I have only seen a few, I admit.)

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Play This Fiddle Tune 100 Times

By admin on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 | No Comments

The first inspired idea I got from Grassapelli was the 100 times repetition of a tune. I resisted the discipline. My thing was improvisation. I didn’t want to play the same tune 100 times in a row without a side trip to another tune.

Besides, having played Bluegrass for several years, I had got into the habit of faking through tunes I didn’t know very well. This was challenging my habit of laziness!

Eventually I gave it a try. I chose Last Night in Leadville. That was an old time tune i had been playing over from time to time, but without mastering it. I had started, but had not finished learning it.

Sticking with one tune for a hundred times went against the grain. I found a way to keep count that made it a little more fun.

I worked with sets of five repetitions, five reps when you’re pumping fiddle tunes. Every time I played five reps i dropped a silver dollar into my footed bowl. It was a way of acknowledging the value of what I was into.

Five coins equaled a session. Four sessions totaled 100 repetitions.

When I had the tune by memory, I would play it walking from room to room. Just changing rooms with the beginning of the tune kept count without really thinking about it. Studio to living room, to kitchen, to living room, back to studio. That’s five times.

At the end of the day and the first 100, the results were better than I expected. I had the tune solid, played it with a little style, and enjoyed it tremendously.

I still play Last Night in Leadville for my own satisfaction. It isn’t part of my public repertory. maybe some day it will be.

Grassapelli Writes and Posts

By admin on Saturday, May 15th, 2010 | 1 Comment

At a Tarpon Talkers Toastmasters Club meeting, I once gave a short talk introducing Grassapelli. I spoke as if he was speaking through me as a medium.

My voice did not change, but something happened. Maybe it was just the intention. How I felt, how I perceived my talk was a little different. I only did it that one time.

In a similar mood, I chose one morning last week to let Grassapelli write my journal. This is the result.

There is more than a higher self in each of us. There are selves nested within us that are developed personalities from previous lives. They are no animated by soul power as we who are in the body are animated.

If our soul lends them a little power, they may express themselves. They are not all knowing. The personality is limited, but it may have reached a high point of development by its experience on this plane.
It is not so different from our normal waking self. But it may say things differently than we would say them.

This is different from multiple personalities. Those are undeveloped personalities. They ae at best partial expressions of soul power. The higher personalities were, in their time, full expressions.

Nothing is now left but n empty husk. But, that husk can color the flow of thought in hues that are not customary for us in our usual speech and action.

Grassapelli Returns to the Net

By admin on Friday, May 7th, 2010 | No Comments

It was a long indecisive time to think about how to handle the Grassapelli reality.

For a while I had an elaborate music web template that was to unwieldy for this fiddler. When I saw how other sites, including Reverbnation.com, could help cut the Gordian knot….

It’s simply a matter now of going ahead with this personal blog. Call it a life style blog.

Here is what Pete Gallagher said about the Grassapelli spirit.

Late at night we sit around the campfire. Dancing in the flames, weaving in the smoke, the Grassapelli spirit lurks. When the time is right, the ancient musician leaps into the mind of Elan Chalford and his fiddle becomes one with the smoke and fire.

The creative artist and musician recognizes a higher power, an inspiring source, a muse that informs and extends his output to its full potential.

Grassapelli is the name of that muse for me. The earth magic of Kokopelli, the energy of bluegrass, the elegance of Grappelli combine in this spirit that channels through me.

It was Grassapelli that whispered the secret of 100 tunes 100 times. Grassapelli hinted of the sonic wealth to be found in A 432 tuning. Grassapelli said I could combine Irish fiddling with bluesy sounds like Eileen Ivers. Or, make Irish tunes have a Texas flavor. Or, use Irish ornaments in old time American tunes.

When Grassapelli Speaks, I heed his counsel.