Fiddlers who pick or strum

Subject: Fiddlers who pick and/or strum
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 03:54 PM

Greetings,

i have been listening to Laura Cortese (w/ Dance Card) and enjoy the time she spends picking or strumming while she is singing. Instrument is horizontal, not under her chin. I have been trying to find other fiddlers who do that a lot, without too much luck. Anyone know of other fiddlers who do a lot of picking? Any info appreciated.

Bruce Smith

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Gallus Moll
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 04:05 PM

loads of them now do chopping, like cellists ---!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 04:43 PM

Any number of Country Music/bluegrass fiddlers do that!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Andy7
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 06:10 PM

As a bit of a fiddler myself, I think that picking and strumming are definitely second-rate uses of the instrument.

Okay, they can be great for giving an unusual sound in a tune here and there ... but other instruments are way better at picking and strumming, come on! A picked banjo can beat a picked fiddle hands down, and a strummed uke is really doing what it's best at, unlike a strummed fiddle.

The fiddle's strength and wonder is its beautiful and amazingly versatile bowed sound ... whether in a slow and gentle traditional folk ballad, in a breathtaking bluegrass tune, or in so many other and varied genres!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: GUEST,rewster
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 07:14 PM

Peter Knight of Gigspanner does it a lot, and he's a genius!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: GUEST,Captain Swing
Date: 19 Jan 18 - 07:44 PM

Tom McConville also does it a fair bit and he's another genius!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Johnny J
Date: 20 Jan 18 - 04:49 AM

It can be a useful way to check if you know a tune in a session before committing yourself to picking up the bow.

Of course, it is also a recognised technique in various genres of music. Known as pizzicato in classical circles.

However, there is a time and place for this whether it be for certain passages in a piece or song. Even a whole song or tune, in some circumstances but I wouldn't like to see it become the norm.
It won't, of course.

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jan 18 - 04:59 AM

Jackie Oates uses the technique sometimes

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: nickp
Date: 20 Jan 18 - 11:27 AM

John Hartford used to

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 20 Jan 18 - 04:17 PM

I saw a fiddler once who detuned his strings so that he could bend them and produce a sort of pedal steel fiddle sound - very effective, nothing second rate about that!!!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: lefthanded guitar
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 03:43 AM

I hope I m not too OT, but this thread reminded me of a dulcimer player I just saw at a song circle - she not only plucked and fingerpicked the strings but played it with a glass slide, getting a sort of pedal steel sound out of. Sorry forgot her name, but she sounded great.

My take on this is I admire any musician s innovative techniques, as
long as they contribute to the power of the song. Richard Shindell recently played his
song Transit in concert- 'hitting' the strings with the palm of his hand throughout the song. Amazing to see, amazing to hear.

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 11:09 AM

There are no rules governing how musical instruments should be played or held, however, some people seem to make up their own rules for others!!!!!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Tootler
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 11:48 AM

Not picking but I once watched a classical violinist making chord shapes with her left hand in a fast movement of a Vivaldi concerto. The rapid passages are often based round arpeggios amd she'd clearly learnt to economise her left hand movement. Her bowing hand was working hard, though.

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: GUEST,jim bainbridge
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 12:43 PM

John Lincoln of South Shields, the 'Phantom Fiddler' used to play the 'Four Poster Bed' with a burst of tapping the bow end on the fiddle to denote the bed- that was in the sixties when the Marsden Rattlers were on the go- he probably still does, although prefers Northumbrian pipes these days....

also a plucking action was part of the 'Hen's March ower the midden', another of John's specialities!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: GUEST,Captain Swing
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 12:56 PM

Indeed, Bonzo3legs and here are some more geniuses (or genii ) doing it their own way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC38nJsW7bQ

Stick with it, it's worth it!

Subject: RE: Fiddlers who pick or strum
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 21 Jan 18 - 02:20 PM

Ha-ha, brilliant: glad I saw them live several times Bonzo!

And Jim B, yes, Dave Swarbrick did the same with 4-poster Bed and Hen's march: Aly Bain still does it. Who had it first?

And Johnny J, have seen a number of fiddle players doing a quiet pizz (that was 2 zzs!) in a session if they are just learning a tune or confirming it to themselves before joining in: useful technique as the rest of us can't hear it, but the player can.