My left hand is not that bad- I can play the tunes. My right hand hasn't a clue. The bow is a whole separate instrument; what beats me is the grasp, the angle, the balance and pressure, the motion, the stance, everything... sob.

To give you an idea. A year ago or so I was going through old working tapes to see what I could cover up and reuse. To do that, I had to listen to each tape.

Well, this one tape- ye gods, the fiddler was awful. I wondered why on earth I had taped it, and further, why in the world I had saved it. I was just formulating the theory that I had taped someone in order to keep them from feeling bad when suddenly I recognized my brother's guitar playing. Then I remembered. The fiddler was me.

My brother before he died used to come visit me in Alaska. He was a great one for recording everything, he thought it cut the learning process in two.

One day he took my fiddle off the wall and said, Play it. I said, Oh, no. I'm bad. So he played- and, well, he was worse than I. I took the fiddle from him and we played a few tunes. This was the tape.

It's true I've never had lessons. But basically, I decided that guitar is my instrument, and since I'm not where I'd like to be, even on *it*, I didn't need a fiddle.

I do love and admire good fiddle playing though. So go for it!