I often get asked why I started playing left handed. My answer is simple- I am left handed. I was 6 when I started to play. I had already been in school and I knew that my left hand was dominant. When I opened up my first fiddle case Christmas morning, I automatically put the bow in my left hand. I was lucky enough to have a teacher that believed it was important for me to play the way the felt the most natural. He simply reversed my strings and taught me in mirror image.
I also get asked if it was difficult to learn that way. My answer is that it was not. It was no more difficult than the experience of a right hander. My teachers never expressed any difficulty in teaching me, either. For me, it would have been much more difficult to learn right handed. People are often puzzled by this, arguing that I would have been better off learning right handed since my fingering hand would have benefited from the dexterity. I understand this argument, but I have to say it’s not entirely thought through. If that was the case, wouldn’t all the right handers play left handed? While we see people playing fast tunes, and are amazed at the speed of their fingers, the higher skill is actually in the coordination of their bow hand. Sure, it becomes more complex when you start shifting to other positions, or adding vibrato, but for the most part, your hand is locked in place and it is the fingers that are moving. You use your non-dominant hand’s fingers on your computer keyboard all the time and don’t think twice.
But the bow… that is where the real magic happens. You’re relying on the same coordination that a tennis player might use to return a volley. You are incorporating your shoulder, your elbow, your wrists, and trying to guide a stick that it’s two and a half feet long with the utmost precision. So naturally, it’s going to ultimately feel more comfortable in your dominant hand. The bow arm is where you really feel and express the music.
This having been said, I know plenty of players who consider themselves left handed but play right and are champion fiddlers. I know that everyone has different degrees of ‘dominance’ in a dominant hand. There are people that have great dexterity and coordination in what they would consider their non dominant hand. However for me, this was not the case. I am severely left handed. And I am very grateful that I was given the choice to play the fiddle that way.
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Listening…It seems so obvious, yet it was my time at Berklee College of Music where this simple concept really struck home how important listening was to successfully absorbing a style of music.
I arrived at Berklee enthusiastic about becoming proficient in playing bluegrass music and maybe even a little gypsy jazz. I had recently developed an interest in American fiddle music after teaching some camps that offered classes in those styles. However, for most of my life, I had exclusively listened to Cape Breton fiddle music… not pop or classical. I listened to Cape Breton music because I loved it. It was the only type of music I wanted to listen to. Because of this, and because I had so many opportunities to hear live Cape Breton music, I developed the style without realizing it. I did take fiddle lessons and was taught tunes, but for the most part, no one taught me bowings or specific fingering embellishments, or where to put these stylistic characteristics. Over time, I just noticed that they found their way into my playing.
I seemed to have forgotten how I learned to play Cape Breton music while attempting to learn American fiddle music. I forgot how much Cape Breton music had been a part of my everyday life, how tunes randomly entered my head, how I would finger tunes on my pencil at school. When studying bluegrass music, I listened to it of course, but for the most part, I only listened when I was practicing with my instrument in hand. Listening to bluegrass was not a part of my everyday life. I didn’t put it on in the car, or when I was cleaning my room. And I struggled so much trying to learn. It felt so unnatural, so mechanical. Even when I learned a tune, I had to think through everything: what notes I was going to play, what bowing I should use, etc.
When I play Cape Breton fiddle music, there is so much that is an unconscious process. Trying to play bluegrass was very much a conscious process. And then I realized I didn’t love it. I wasn’t nearly as passionate about this music as I was about Cape Breton music. I liked to listen now and then, but it wasn’t my first choice. I knew then that this was so much of the reason why I struggled trying to learn Bluegrass. There was so much that I didn’t inherently understand. This was a void my teachers couldn’t fill with any words or demonstration.
There is so much unconsciously absorbed through just listening for enjoyment; not actively transcribing, but just enjoying. This seems so obvious: you have to immerse yourself in a style of music to fully understand it. But it took the experience of trying to learn another style before I understood how important the role of listening was in absorbing Cape Breton music. (What I did accomplish at Berklee is material for another topic!)
When my students tell me that they didn’t have much time to practice, I often say that listening to the music for enjoyment can be just as valuable practice. I often compare learning a style of music to learning a language. You have to immerse yourself in a language to learn the idioms and accent. I truly believe learning a fiddle style is the same process.
What has your experience been like learning music? How much do you have to think about what you are playing? How much is instinct? This is a topic that fascinates me and I would love to hear about your experience!