Playing a fiddle in tune

Tonight we spent some time looking at what happens when we start playing tunes in less commonly used key signatures, and what we can do to learn to play more reliably in tune. Up until now, we’ve learnt tunes that have been in the commoner keys such as D, A, A minor, and G. It has helped us to get very familiar with where the notes are in those keys.
Tonight we learnt the A part of a waltz by Johnny Cunningham, called Leaving Brittany. The tune is in D Minor, which uses B flats and F naturals. So we need to move the first finger back towards the nut when we’re playing on the A string and the E string. (If you’re not sure where the nut is on your fiddle, here’s a labelled photo). The tune also has B naturals, and a mixture of C naturals and C sharps. We started  off by playing all the semi-tones from an open A string to the D on the third finger. Here’s how it works:

Open A

B flat (1st finger close to the nut)

B natural (slide 1st finger up to its usual position)

C natural (2nd finger, placed close to the 1st finger)

C sharp (slide 2nd finger up close to the 3rd finger position)

D (3rd finger in its usual position)

Once we’d played this run of notes through a few times, we had a sense of where the notes would be. We talked about ways to help with playing in tune. It’s very common when people are learning to play the fiddle that notes are played slightly flat. If you’re playing on your own, it can be difficult to hear slight differences in pitch if you’re not used to hearing what an ‘in tune’ note sounds like. We tried playing the same series of semi-tones from A to D, and played the open D along with out 3rd finger D. This helps us to hear if the D we’ve arrived at is in tune!

It can also be really helpful to play along with an instrument which has a fixed pitch (such as an accordion, concertina, or piano), to help to learn to play in tune. If you’re playing with other people who are also learning to play the fiddle, it can be difficult to work out whether you’re in or out of tune, when you can hear that you’re not playing quite the same pitch as the person next to you in the group. Making sure that you have tuned your fiddle each time you play it is also important.

Once we’d done this, we spent some time learning the A part of the waltz. The written music is on the tunes page. We’ll be learning the B part next week, and consolidating the tune.

We also played through the Vals, and gave some thought to where we might put grace notes and ornamentation to add shape to the tune. We played through the Aird ranters, and also tried playing it in reel time. Because we’re familiar with where the notes are in this tune, we were aiming to play this more subconsciously, hearing the new rhythm as we played.

 

We played through several reels together at the end of the evening – the Barrowburn Reel, the High Road to Linton, Spootiskerry, the Islay Rant, and Ramnee Ceilidh. we finished off with the march Dorothy and John Livingston (which is a lovely tune to play for a Gay Gordons).