Techniques for playing reels on the fiddle

We worked on a number of techniques for playing reels on the fiddle tonight. We spent some time going over Jenny Dang the Weaver which is a well known reel in D. We looked at methods we can use to help with phrasing a tune. It can be seen as similar to punctuating a sentence. Playing a tune without phrasing sounds like someone talking without stopping for breath. It’s hard to listen to!
We tried out techniques to help us to play percussive chords using the D string in the B part of the tune. We used the chords to play around with the rhythm. We experimented with the dynamics in the phrase in the B part that goes up to the high A, and found different ways to reach a crescendo as we hit the top A. We also tried out some chords in the A part of the tune, using the open D as a ringing string. We talked about the possibilities for emphasising different beats in the tune to help to change how we’re phrasing it. It can be easy to lose control of timing when playing reels at speed. Emphasising the beats or offbeats can help with learning to keep a steady tempo in our playing.

We talked about what everyone in the class wanted to be able to do with their own playing in two years time.

We played through the waltz ‘My Cape Breton Home’, experimenting with getting more expression into the start of the tune, then played it through again, all playing as if we were our favourite fiddler.

We ended the class with playing a short phrase of a tune in different ways, and then Anne led us off in a set of reels we’d learnt last term.

Oh…and tonight we discovered there was an elephant in the room. I think he enjoyed listening! 😉