Old-Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus (Book & Online Audio)

I taught myself to play the fiddle using this book. Most of the tunes are well known, making it easier to learn. The author also does a good job explaining the parts of the fiddle, what each one does, and how to maintain and use the bow. One of the best first books for an instrument that I've run across.

This was one of the best instructional books I've ever read. Not only is it enjoyable and humorous, but it made learning the fiddle absolutely easy. It was so great that I purchased the book to learn banjo as well! I've never touched a fiddle before and purchased one on a whim. During my searching for instruction I came across recommendation for this book and so glad I purchased it. In 3 weeks I've went from knowing nothing to downloading sheet music and playing it. I can't get enough.

Even those of us who have played strings (Viola, Violin) for years can derive a great deal of useful information from this book & CD. I was trained as a classical musician. Chords are not often relied upon in classical composition. When they are, they're not often the sort you'll find yourself playing at a hoe-down. It helped a bit when I picked up a mandolin and struggled with it and then guitar in later years. It is amazing how *wrong* it felt (to me) to work with a fretted neck after decades of non-fretful years moving smoothly up, down and across strings. I did, however, learn a few dozen chords ~ which sounded like hell on a violin. Although I'd long ago made the transition from classical music to blues, rock, jazz and fusion, my playing was very much like that of a Lead Guitarist's: notes played on one string at a time most of the time. After all, this is what I'd been trained to do: play with precision and clarity. Even when chords were used within a composition, they were very different than the "fiddler's form." Had I not stumbled upon and purchased this book/CD, it's likely that all the most important "little" discoveries, such as the differences between a standard violin bridge and a fiddle bridge making a WORLD of difference, might have remained an unsolved mystery for me. Thus, the value of this book is much more than learning a basic set of chords or tunes to play. You are informed about everything that makes fiddling different from playing a violin. What's more, while you can buy custom bridges made for fiddles, this book/CD informs you of ways to solve the bridge problem quickly and very inexpensively. It may seem a bit hilarious that an educated musician who'd spent time playing mandolin and guitar didn't pay any attention whatsoever to an obvious difference: the bridge of these instruments being flat, rather than curved. If you're not accustomed to restringing your own instrument and cannot afford to have both a dedicated fiddle and orchestral violin (which I am not), this book can save you a lot of heartache and expense when you swap between bridges and/or strings. This and other seemingly small mysteries that were huge obstacles are succinctly explained by the Author. There are numerous money-saving tips for the musician on a budget. It is an amusing book that does not condescend. If you already know the basics about Fiddles and Fiddling, perhaps this book will be too basic for you. It annoys me when people purchase a very well-done package and then complain that it is too basic. You had the opportunity to look before buying, just as I did, so why punish the Author for your oversight? For me, what this Author taught me has made the difference between success and failure. Thus, if you are a classically trained violist and/or violinist, do not assume that your education and experience means you are not a Complete Ignoramus. Classical technique versus Fiddling is akin to the proverbial comparison of apples and oranges: both may be fruit, but they are not at all identical. There are other books (some with CD or DVD) available: I did a lot of research before deciding upon "Old Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus" and this seemed to me the friendliest, least pretentious and most immediately helpful of the lot. Now, as an Incomplete Ignoramus, I wholeheartedly recommend this Book w/CD to anyone unfamiliar with exactly what makes a Fiddle not a Violin.

It's a cute book with great old timey pictures, about 10 detailed pages of stories &how to get started, but only about 2 songs for a beginner like me. My husband has a musical background (10+yrs) and could only get half way through the book before it became too challenging and would've taken ALOT of practice even for him. So if you're committed to practicing for months anyway I'd recommend just learning how to read actual sheet music. That way you will be able to pick up anything in the future and play it, this only teaches TAB. This book doesn't do a good job of explaining notes or the more difficult bowing techniques that give bluegrass or folk its "Skippy-happy" sound. I feel like there should have been an intermediate section after the first pages explaining how to hold a violin & how TAB is read. But instead throws you in to something complicated and not well detailed which is very overwhelming & daunting for a beginner.

Don't bother with any others-This is exactly the book every beginning fiddler needs. The instruction is very clear, even for musical clods like me. It is written with humor, never gets boring, and has interesting historical info on old-time music. Walks you thru every step, including finger placement, and has you playing real songs the very first day! The accompanying CD is a great bonus, playing the beginning songs in 2 speeds so you can play along or just hear what the song is supposed to sound like. Teaches you to read music, if you wish, or if you don't, you can still play by tablature; easy-peasy. Thankyou Wayne for finally creating this book for me, the complete ingoramous!!!

Perfect for what I needed ! As described.

This is a very basic beginners book. Get ABCs of Violin books 1 & 2 to go with it. Then if Fiddling is your thing, get Mel Bays Kids Fiddle too. The ABCs of Violin books with CD and DVD will be a lot more help for learning to play, but all the other information, stories and pictures in this book (Old-Time Fiddle for the Complete Ignoramus) still makes it worth buying. The easy to play collection of fiddle tunes in Kid Fiddle, from Mel Bay will give you a pile of neat fiddle tunes to keep you busy untill your skills are honed.

I am indeed a complete ignoramus when it comes to playing the fiddle as I’ve never played before. This book is full of fantastic beginner information written in the format of a fun, quick, easy read. Within an hour I was playing my first songs. The online audio is helpful and easy to access. The cost of the book is half that of a single lesson and so valuable!! Definitely worth the price.

Très intéressé par le violon Old Time

I always wanted to play the fiddle but was lead to believe you had to start as a toddler to be able to pick it up! For my 31st birthday I got a fiddle and I've been banging out tunes since day 1 thanks to this book! Brilliant. Couldn't recommend it enough!

Great for beginners.

「ヴァイオリンなんてやったこともないのに、いきなりフィドルとか言われても難しそう...」 そう考えている人にこそあるような本です。 Bluegrassに頻出のキーやフレーズが平易な英語で書かれているので、肩肘張らずにフィドルで試し弾きできますよ。 そしてお手本のCDが付属でついてきます。これが聴いててなかなか楽しい。 自分はハード製本で購入しましたが、今ではKindle Unlimitedコンテンツになったので、まずkindleで覗いてみることがお奨めです。 日本で埋もれているのが惜しい...!

Just about the only thing keeping me learning the violin (fiddle) is this book. As a guitar player there's a lot of work between playing the guitar well and just staying in tune and playing clear notes on the violin. This book stops you getting too frustrated and giving up - well it's working for me anyway. When I get to the end I'll tell you what I did next - but I'm self teaching - an exercise I can thoroughly recommend to any music teacher if you want to remind yourself why getting a teacher is better than trying to teach yourself. A violin teacher for me isn't far down the road...It's just that getting the basics is so hard if someone isn't there beside you and showing you in 'real-time'. But this book is about as good as you can get for self teaching. (But that's from the perspective of a guitar teacher, newly back from a guitar bluegrass course in Tennessee where I heard some brilliant bluegrass playing on the fiddle - so my opinion might be a bit bias.)