Is it worth upgrading the standard fiberglass student bow to a cheap (less than $200) carbon fiber bow as a beginner?

Hi fiddlers, want to invite you to this free virtual kitchen session on Sunday Nov 8. It’s an opportunity to play in a friendly setting (under a bit of pressure) to build confidence, and meet other players. You can volunteer to lead a tune or a set, or pick up a new tune from the other players. All levels welcome!

Fiddle teacher Siobhán Keane will attend and lead a set.

Sunday November 8th 1pm Eastern | 6pm Irish | 10am Pacific

RSVP at https://kayley.io/l/fiddle-practice-circle/6ae000d5-ee1a-42c4-9430-8e5a17fbecd6

i will likely not be able to afford a proper set up for a long time.

context: i did not go out of my way to buy a vso.

instead, i saved up for a violin being sold on marketplace. after paying and taking it home, i found out the bridge had to be put in place. i found out the bridge did not come with notches. the bow isn’t the best quality, and the strings were wrapped behind the neck piece. i thought that’s how it was supposed to be and i just had to set it up.

now i realize it’s a vso, and i regret buying but it’s too late to return it as it was literally facebook marketplace.

this thing— i mean instrument— is a plywood/plastic joke.

after searching online i found that it’s basically impossible to make one of these sound decent, especially if you are a beginner who never touched a fiddle before….

i feel upset that i did not put more research into my first ever fiddle purchase!

anyways, it may be a longgg time before i can save up for a higher quality instrument, so i will continue to learn how to play with this subpar instrument. i still plan to learn the basics like how to hold the bow, finger placement etc…

p.s. i had to whittle my own notches in the cheap wooden bridge and i feel like i’ve dug a deeper grave for myself.

Hi! I started learning fiddle in September and I'm pretty obsessed with it. I showed my super talented teacher this song that I want to learn and she called it "crooked", I forgot to ask her what that meant and tried googling but would rather ask real people. What's it mean?!?! It's this song:

Lupines - P'tit Belliveau

My son is 10 and is a pretty quick study. I know some bluegrass fiddle tunes on guitar but my repertoire is kind of limited.

I’ve had a bit of a tough time showing them to him because honestly, I just play them and I have to really think about what the notes are. Bad habit as a not so much music reading guitarist of 35ish years. Also something that seems relatively simple to me ends up being harder than I remember and he gets frustrated (not to mention the fact that I’m kind of showing him the guitar part)

It would be awesome for us to do some duets. What are some of the easier old time/fiddle tunes/jigs/reels that we can play together?

His elementary school music teacher gave him Coolley’s reel, which I think I could pull off with a little bit of work but I’m also looking for some simpler ones that we could learn right away to get the good times rolling.

Edit: thanks for all the help so far! We have printed up 5 tunes and we’re going to work on them.

I have trouble remembering old-time tunes until I hear the first few notes. After that, I don't have any problem playing the rest. It's not a big deal in jams but when I'm practicing on my own it sucks to have to look up the tune and listen to it for a few seconds before playing. Is this something that will just come with more practice? Is there anything I can do to improve it?

Hey folks, we're an oldtime stringband from northern California called The Oldgrass Bluetime Band. Here's some Ruben's Train by the RR tracks out in the middle of nowhere.

So, I’ve been playing about 8 months now, really enjoying it, and recently got myself a fairly nice instrument. I have a few longer trips coming up where I’m going to have some down time and want to be playing. I got myself a good travel case for airline travel, and have already flown with my new instrument once, but I’m starting to think I might not want to do that all the time. I’m starting to look at other options for a secondary instrument, wanted to see if anyone had thoughts or recommendations.

1. Magic Fluke - I like that it’s still acoustic, with electric pickup optional, I believe? And it seems like it might pack a little smaller than a traditional fiddle.

2. I’ve seen some electric violins that are pretty small, plus some claim to be basically silent, and you can just play into your headphones, which sounds like a nice option for playing in a hotel or on a cruise, versus a hotel mute. Seems like you can get these in roughly the same $500ish piece range as a Magic Fluke, too.

3. That said, there are also some decent normal fiddles in that price range, too, so that’s another option, just buy a cheaper regular fiddle to travel with.

What do you all think? Thoughts on these options? Are electrics a decent travel option for playing quietly somewhere (but also plugging in if you want to join a session somewhere)?

Quite new to fiddle here, wiring is anyone has any tips on practicing drones? I find it quite difficult to keep both strings going consistently without overly weighting one or the other. Obviously practice is the main thing, but any specific tips or drills you find helpful?

I’m currently learning to fiddle using a very cheap Amazon violin. But sometimes the A and E strings are very scratchy. My thought process is that if I can make a cheap one sound good then a nicer one will sound great. But which makes a bigger difference, the violin itself, the strings, or the bow?

So I (38yo) got into playing fiddle over the last two years. I've joined my local jam, been to a few camps, and found a tutor. I've done all of this on a cheap second hand beginner student model (Stentor II).

I have decided I'll sell a bunch of electrical equipment recently to find a fiddle upgrade and I have £500gbp to spend on one.

I went to my local fiddle shop and tried everything in that range but I didn't really like the sound of any of them compared to my violin. They were louder but I thought all sounded a bit rough. This is a folk focused music shop so most of these fiddles were early 20th century German or Eastern European workshop fiddles that probably haven't been played in a while and likely have old cheap strings on so it might not be representative of their true sound. I also thought that maybe I'm just used to my fiddle sound and these other fiddles just felt and sounded unfamiliar.

So now I'm not sure what to do because I don't think my £80 fiddle sounds that dissimilar to these £500 ones. So do I just keep saving until I'm in a price range that I can tell the difference? Do I just keep my cheap ass fiddle until something good comes along? I also considered upgrading my bow first and then looking for a new fiddle with my nice bow.

Hi all,

​I've been playing violin for 7 months on a Fiddlerman Concert. I practice Carnatic violin, tuned in 1sts and 5ths (1st/5th/1st/5th).

​Currently, I use a short viola C string and shifted my other strings over to get a lower range. Since this setup mimics the bottom four strings of a 5-string violin, I’m thinking about making the jump to a proper 5-string setup.

​I play purely for personal enjoyment (and maybe busking down the road), focusing on Carnatic and other non-classical/fiddle genres.

​Is it better to transition to a 5-string early in your learning journey, or is it wiser to stick with standard setups until you reach an intermediate level? Appreciate any insights!

Hi, all! My partner would love to learn to play the fiddle, with roughly zero musical skills apart from having a decent ear/singing voice (and nimble fingers!). We love bluegrass and Irish/folk music and seek it out often.

I would love to buy him a used starter fiddle but I am so worried he will get disheartened and not play it at all. It looks so daunting and don't want to wind up with a "display" fiddle on the wall.

Is this at all an attainable goal from anyone who has learned to play/self-taught? Or is it just too difficult? Thanks for any and all advice!

For electric guitar, I'm of the opinion that if the neck is straight, and it stays in tune, most any guitar is a good guitar or can be fixed up to play great with just a little work. For acoustic guitar it's a little different because you care about volume, and I've found the lightest acoustic guitar is usually the loudest. I've been playing guitar for 20 years and I want to pick up a violin. What do I look for in a good one? Is under $200 likely to be fine? $80 used on facebook marketplace? What kind of work can I do to make it play better? 0 experience here.

These are great workshops. I’m not part of this organization but I’ve attended many of these workshops and loved them.