TOPIC: FOR LACK OF A BETTER VENUE....

If there were a "Fiddle Studio" I would be posting there...but as Mompodell has stated....there isn't one...so here I am....and this is for "God Bless"....I've noticed that you "shake" your left hand fingers when you are pressing a string....what does this do? I keep meaning to ask my instructor but keep forgetting....as I'm a "newbie"fiddle player (term being used loosely) I don't know much, but I do know that I'm hanging on to my fiddle for dear life and would not dare move anything other than up and down for fear of losing fiddle and bow and you are shaking your hand and letting your fiddle almost float on your shoulder....is this a secret I will soon learn???? or is it a "violin" thing???

I think you are referring to "vibrato".....where you take your finger and roll it across the string to create a certain sound on a "long" note. It's a pretty sound... not sure if it's strictly a "violin" thing...You will surely learn the secret! (Then you must divulge it to me!)

Shakeing the finger up-the-neck/ down-the-neck direction minutely while applying pressure is the idea. Don't actually move your finger position but let the shaking originate or pivot from the wrist and elbow and essentually beyond. Its like shakeing yet keeping the instrument still and let it resonate toward your body(as far as how to think about it) but, in actuallity it's sounding through the string. Ask Buzzart about it. He plays a fretless bass. On the guitar, it's the same concept except, the shake needs to be up and down literally but, remember to let it resonate from your inner self/feel. Boy, that sounds deep but it's just a feel and you'll get it. I tryed some vibrato on my last lead at class and was a little stiff. It definately requires a feel and takes practice. Everybodys touch is unique and we are enjoying your playing Tigerpaws so shake the heck outta that string!!

Am I spelling "shakeing" right?

shaking

Tigerpaws...Not trying to "dis" George....but please ask your teacher about vibrato....She'll show you the correct way to do it on the fiddle.

It is a vibrato technique. And lots of guitar players (B.B. King comes to mind) do this too. Try it on your guitar. Fret a string and pick it, then kind of wiggle your left hand, keeping the string fretted all the time, with just your fretting finger and your thumb on the neck of the guitar -- let the rest of your hand move free. It really comes through on an electric, but works on an acoustic too. Some blues players will bend or choke the string moving it up perpendicularly to the string with their fretting finger to change the pitch. The vibrato is more subtle.