🎻 Going slow in order to go fast

Hi Reader!

Did you survive the festivities from St. Patrick's Day? I think I'm still recovering from it all -- but part of that is I've either had a session or other gigs more days than not this week.

St. Pat's may be over for another year, but of course the enthusiasm for Irish music continues in this corner of the internet! So today I want to turn the conversation towards a topic that comes up a lot, which is bowing!

(Non fiddlers, what is your equivalent of bowing? Inquiring minds want to know!)

I got to sit down with my friend and fellow fiddler, Jack Hughes, on the most recent episode of the Find Your Lilt podcast, and he had some great tips to share around getting the feel for Irish traditional music when you didn't grow up in the tradition!

Also, Jack started as a trumpet player, so if you are coming to the fiddle from another instrument, you'll definitely want to snag his practicing tips!

Jack starts every practice session playing long slow notes using the whole bow with the fiddle so that he can focus on producing his ideal tone (I know he actually does this having shared an apartment with him in Wexford for the Fleadh Cheoil last August).

It's an exercise he found tedious when his trumpet teacher first made him do it, but he stuck with it and brought it over to his fiddling. Personally I think he plays with glorious tone, and I have no doubt this slow practice has helped him shape that!

This concept of playing slow or doing the practice tasks that feel slow and tedious is translatable to multiple areas of learning Irish traditional music!

Such as:

• Learning tunes by ear when you already know how to sight read sheet music quickly. You have to stop and start more when you learn from a recording, and it can feel frustrating! Once you get it though, the tune has already embedded itself much deeper into your long term memory.
• Pausing to learn a new bowing pattern and repetitively adding it to the same passage so you start to instinctively bow that way.
• Learning both how to play a full roll and how to insert it into a tune without disrupting the rhythm or phrasing.

Let this be your encouragement to keep going! Jack is a great example of patient, consistent practicing producing great results. If you're struggling with any of these areas, then know that you're not alone!

This is what deliberate practice is all about. When you know what to practice and how to practice it, this is when you bring in the patience and consistency factors to stick with it and get the results you want. It's not an overnight thing. But every bit of focused practice helps, and the more you do it, the faster it becomes.

​Style your Trad Tunes was designed to give you guidance and concrete examples for building good bowing and ornamentation habits, as well as the flexibility to play with a style you love.

Mike, a current member, says "It helped watching you work out the bowing pattern on the sheet music rather than just copying your bowing as you played. Now I just have to break some old habits and adjust to a new pattern :) but I like the challenge!"

(I have a feeling Mike's going to do really well as this membership progresses!)

Here's to slowing down to speed up! You can bet I'm going to be resting after all the St. Patrick's gigs in order to ramp back up.

Happy practicing!

~Hannah

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P.S. ICYMI lots going on both on the performance and teaching fronts these days! My new album At the Core is out on all platforms, and my duo Shannon Lee will be playing in Muskegon this Fall for Michigan Irish Music Fest! New tunes are up in the Tune Library, and if you want to get more comfortable with jig bowing, ornaments and variations, make sure you join the Style Your Trad Tunes membership prior to April 1st to get ongoing access to the March tutorials!