an fidleir’s four hundred and five comments

In my experience, both Irish and classical training compliment each other almost completely. To give you a idea of my background, I have held principal positions, played concertos, done gigs, won scholarships, so I have very high level classical training.... more…

Solo bouzouki players. I can't think of a single one, which is a shame because I've heard people play tunes on bouzouki and they sounded great alone. Do you all know of any artists/albums with good solo bouzouki playing? more…

I once saw a video posted here a few years ago of someone playing trad on a trumpet. more…

The trick with the third octave is to focus your breath into a very tight and fast stream. If you get it, and angle the air stream correctly, it doesn't take much more air than the lower two octaves, yet still gives a loud, clear note. more…

I've managed it on my keyless. For me, the third octave is something like this: more…

One of my favorites is... more…

This past regional fleadh I went to, I played The Handsome Young Maidens for the flute section, then promptly found the winner of the fiddle section competing with it. It's a grand tune with nice room for variation. It served both of us well. Worth a look... more…

Being young, I do notice hearing loss in people around me. A friend of mine is into loud guitars and drums, so whenever I'm riding with him in his car, it's normal for me to be turning down the volume because it's too loud. I don't mean too loud for drivi... more…

I find the my Copley delrin 3 piece plays a bit above A440. I have to pull it out a tad to get it to A440. I have never run into a situation where this was an issue. more…

Take a day. Go to a shop. Play every bow in sight. If there isn't anything good enough in your price range, something's wrong. more…