Oh Lord What have I done?

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Fiddlin Al Students and Alumni

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A place for former and current students of Fiddlin Al to post videos of their progress, share comments and ask questions.

51 Members, Created 2/18/2013 -

Administrators: MiG-19 (owner)

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From loukiii on 6/18/2014 5:44:46 AM

I toying around with the thought of learning to play a fiddle because it appears you cant swing a dead cat by it's tail without hitting another banjo player around here, (or so it would seem) but fiddle players are as scarce as hen's teeth. I mentioned my idea to Al... he is Fiddlin Al, after all... so who better to teach me to play a Fiddle? He suggested I probably shouldn't, especially since my wife thinks a banjo is annoying, although she did make it through the early stages which were the worst she still doesnt care for it. lol

I bought my boy a mandolin for his birthday a couple years ago (at his request) and he quickly lost interest. I mentioned to Al that I was disappointed that the kid didn't take an interest. He suggested that if I really wanted to learn fiddle, why not repo the mandolin and learn to play it first and eventually transition to fiddle since they are tuned the same.

You think learning to make a D chord was a pain on the banjo? It seems like a picnic in the park compared to a G on the mandolin. I'm only 2 weeks in though so maybe there is hope for me yet.

4 Comments
	fiddlin_Al says: 6/22/2014 2:57:01 PM Lou recently discovered he could play a G chord when forced at gunpoint during a jam this week....
	loukiii says: 6/23/2014 7:58:21 AM Yeah it basically was a banjo orchestra... 3 banjos and a bass... So I grabbed my sons mandolin out of my truck and offeered to hack on some chords for rythm. One of the other banjos offered to get a guitar (although he was pretty good on guitar just wont admit it). After about an hour I actually started getting my fingers to cooperate. I did get hand cramps near the end though. I believe my thumb was trying to migrate to the other side of my hand for some reason.
	fiddlin_Al says: 6/23/2014 8:11:53 AM that's called a "creepin' thumb".
	MiG-19 says: 7/6/2014 4:43:08 AM I started taking mandolin from Al in January. It's been a real thrill ride. I'm finally getting some Monroe songs in. I can't believe the progress I'm getting from Al's instruction.
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