The fiddle is one of the most sophisticated musical instruments out there. Whenever you hear its inviting melody, you just want to stop what you’re doing and enjoy the music. Keep reading our Fiddle Lessons article to know more.
Fortunately, the fiddle is also for everyone. Regardless of your age, you can always opt to take fiddle lessons. This is also true regardless of your purpose; whether you want to be a professional musician or simply because you love playing music as a hobby.
In this article, we will provide you with the most important things to remember when you are going for your first fiddle lesson.
Be Familiar with the Fiddle
The most important advice to give is to familiarize yourself with the fiddle. This includes knowing the parts of the fiddle, the bow and its functions, and the proper care for your musical instrument. This basic information will be taught during your first lesson and becoming familiar with these things by practicing at home will help you enormously on your learning journey.
Set Realistic Expectations
Let’s just get this out there – you will not be able to play like an ensemble musician after attending one lesson. The process simply doesn’t work that way.
You have to understand that playing an instrument is complicated, especially so for the fiddle. There are certain preparatory procedures that your teacher would want you to know first and these are essential to the proper playing of the fiddle.
Among these procedures include the proper posture, the proper hold of the bow, and tuning the instrument. They seem like simple steps you have to take but these can be tricky, especially when it comes to the proper posture. In fact, some students would take days to perfect the posture alone.
With that said, you now understand why you shouldn’t set impossible standards for learning how to play the fiddle – both upon yourself and upon your teacher.
Keep an Open Mind
Keeping an open mind is also important for your growth as a budding fiddle player, especially when it comes to taking constructive criticism.
Your fiddle teacher may notice some of your mistakes and will be quick to point them out to you. When this happens, don’t feel bad about it. Instead, listen to what the teacher has to say and do your best to improve while keeping their comments in mind.
As a tip, remind yourself that making mistakes is normal, especially if you’re just at the beginning of your journey. Should you receive some tough love from your mentor, keep an open mind and tell yourself that it’s all part of learning.
Be Patient
As previously mentioned, you won’t go from beginner to pro overnight.
With that said, keep reminding yourself that learning how to play the fiddle is not a race. Don’t be too hard on yourself when you think that your lessons are taking you nowhere.
Instead, focus on your goal and just enjoy the process. Eventually, you will wake up one day and realize that you’re already a great fiddle player.
You are Not Alone
Musicians love talking about their craft and they are keen on accepting new members to their community. You will find that they’re actually very accommodating and will give you a lot of tips and tricks that you can use while you’re still learning.
Knowing this fact alone should give you the strength to carry on, especially since you now realize that you have a tight support group to back you up.
Understand that going to your first music lesson can be quite scary. You’re learning something that’s completely foreign to you, after all. But if you take note of all the reminders laid down in this article, then know that there’s nothing else that can stop you from taking fiddle lessons. If you ever have a question about Fiddle Lessons in Dublin, feel free to reach out to Tempo Music School. We can help you with our classes.
