March 2012

V.com weekend vote: What genre of music is your favorite to play?

One of my students surprised me the other day with a big "yes" vote for classical music. She'd been working hard and was just finishing a classical piece. Knowing how much she enjoys playing fiddle music and other "fun" stuff, I gave her a few fiddle tunes to play as a little break before starting the epic Vivaldi G minor concerto.

At the end of the week, her enthusiasm for the "fun" pieces was tepid. "They're so repetitive," she complained. I was not able to disagree.

"Would you like to just go straight to the Vivaldi?"

"Yay!"

I always seem to return to classical music as the most interesting stuff out there. Of course, I do find some of the most recent experiments in rock violin and pop violin very engaging, especially the work of Time for Three and The Dueling Fiddlers. Also, there are the jazz greats like the late Stephane Grappelli and wonderful folk fiddlers out there like Mark O'Connor.

What genre of music is your favorite to play? I'm limited here to five answers, but please add your own if it's not here:

10 replies

V.com weekend vote: Do you have a violin hickey?

Oh yeah, sure, right, that's from your violin…

But it is! We fiddle players know that lots of practice makes you play well, but it also gives you a little red spot on your neck. As a teenager, this was kind of a badge of honor. After 35 years of playing the fiddle, it's turned into a pretty good scar on my neck!

My husband wanted to make the vote, "Have you ever had to have medical treatment for your violin hickey?"

Oh, eeeewwwwwwhhh! But the answer is yes, several times!

So here is the anonymous poll, and you can decide whether or not you'd like to comment!:

24 replies

More entries: February 2012