r/Fiddle

5 months in I know I'm an infant. But between owning 2 businesses, having a couple other minor hobbies, I don't think I'll ever be at a level with this where I can play with some sort of group and be satisfied. I have a teacher but the material doesn't align with old time really or anything I find enjoyable so I don't think that's helping. It's almost getting to the point where playing feels like a chore. Can't figure out how to loosen up my right hand/arm. Everythings slightly out of tune. Bow bouncing. Anything at tempo is near impossible for me. How do you keep the burnout feelings from creeping on and at what point time wise did you get to where you could play stuff that sounds like music? Everything on this requires so much focus that I can't relax and play something that sounds effortless.. okay whiny baby rant over.

Hey y’all! I have a good background in music and just started learning fiddle. I bought the fiddlers handbook, but as far as i’m aware I don’t recognize any of the music in it. I’d like to find some beginner/intermediate songs to work towards playing that i’m more likely to recognize. I’m a ways away from playing good, but i’m committed. I know a good bit of country music between the 50’s to now, and i’m open to other genres! Thanks in advance

Hey everyone,

I've been playing old time for a few years and always found myself digging through YouTube tabs, scattered PDFs and forum threads trying to find different versions of the same tune. So I built something to scratch my own itch and figured I'd share it here before going further.

Sally's Garden is a community database for old time tunes (and Appalachian music more broadly). The idea is simple:

- Search for a tune by name (or alias because we all know Cripple Creek has twelve names)

- Browse different versions contributed by the community, ranked by likes

- Filter by instrument and tuning (Cross-G fiddle, Double-C banjo, DADGAD guitar, etc.)

- Contribute your own version either an audio upload or a YouTube link

- Mark tunes as "I know this one" to build your personal repertoire

- See what tunes you have in common with another musician when you visit their profile

There's also a jam session tool you create an ephemeral session (24h), share a link or QR code, everyone joins and the app calculates in real time which tunes the most people in the circle know. Useful when you show up to a pickup jam and aren't sure what everyone plays.

The app is called Sally's Garden, it's free, no ads, mobile-first (usable with one hand while the other holds a bow).

https://sallysgarden.net/

Homepage

I'm not trying to replace The Session or any existing resource this is specifically built around the old time repertoire and the jam session culture.

Honest question for this community: does this solve a real problem for you? What's missing? What would make you actually open this on your phone at a festival?

All feedback welcome brutal honesty especially. This is early and I'd rather fix it now than after.

PS: the database is pretty empty right now, that's kind of the point of this post. I'm counting on this community to bring it to life, one tune at a time

https://preview.redd.it/mtuvixi5mj0h1.png?width=888&format=png&auto=webp&s=3043adf86b8a0eaf0bae9ef2bfcdee3b679efcc3

https://preview.redd.it/r2jjwo4amj0h1.png?width=730&format=png&auto=webp&s=63a6f00c7294beafc25fb00c2962e4342ae8d6d2

https://preview.redd.it/4eqd960dmj0h1.png?width=722&format=png&auto=webp&s=6d3947364ec0049c45969724ef40d3ee9f82526d

Anyone have any tips on how to start. Trying to play bluegrass fiddle route. Just got fiddle today and i know twinkle twinkle little star and d major scale that’s abt it lol.any tips on where to start would be great

I've been trying to learn to play Ida's Jig (Dàimh) on my fiddle, but can't seem to figure it out by ear, has anyone got advice or experience to share on the matter?