Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp [VHS]

You looking to find the "Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp [VHS]" Good news! You can purchase Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp [VHS] with secure price and compare to view update price on this product. And deals on this product is available only for limited time.

Price: $49.95    

Product Feature

• Published by Homespun Video
• 2-Video Set taught by Stacy Phillips with Dave Kiphuth, guitar and vocals
• Composer: Stacy Phillips

Product Description

Here is a complete course in which Stacy Phillips unlocks the secrets of playing authentic bluegrass fiddle. These information-packed lessons are aimed at basic players as well as violinists who play classical, jazz or old-time music and want to learn the nuances of bluegrass style.

Stacy concentrates on some classic songs, showing you how to give each one a typical bluegrass flavor and create a hot fiddle solo in the styles of Benny Martin, Kenny Baker, Chubby Wise, Jimmy Buchanan, Bobby Hicks and others. With his encyclopedic knowledge of bluegrass style and history, he breaks each piece down with clarity and precision. Stacy fills you in on the underlying principles behind the licks, so you gain musical knowledge that will be helpful in any style you decide to play.

Throughout this course Stacy provides in-depth, detailed advice on all aspects of basic fiddling, including slurs, double stops, slides, bowing patterns and other essential techniques. He starts you with a solo that has been used on a host of classic songs, including Why Did You Wander? Gonna Paint the Town and On My Way Back to the Old Home. This solo illustrates much of the bedrock of bluegrass fiddling. Stacy takes a typical solo apart note-by-note, analyzing how and why each phrase is played in the bluegrass tradition. Other songs that Stacy examines include "Take This Hammer," "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy," "Long Journey Home," "All the Good Times are Past and Gone," and "Salty Dog Blues."

Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp [VHS] Review

In an earlier review I gave this DVD two stars and complained (kinda bitterly) about Mr. Phillips not teaching the solos note for note.

I am upgrading to 4 stars and revising the review because I don't think I really gave it justice. While it's true that he doesn't teach the solos note for note, there is so much really important information here about what makes bluegrass fiddling sound like bluegrass, rather than, say, oldtime, folk or country fiddling, that I think it deserves a higher rating. However, be aware, this is a DVD for someone who most emphatically already knows how to play fiddle (AKA violin) and knows it well. You will not get any hand holding, other than a bit of discussion of using a numeric system to identify notes and chords, though I'd be surprised if anyone could progress their playing to the level required by this DVD and not know numeric notation for notes and chords.

Bottom line: to use this DVD you must be proficient on your instrument and be able to either:
- read music
- Learn by ear from fast playing
- use software to strip audio out of a DVD and then slow it down (that's what I did)

If you can meet those requirements, you will find this to be an incredibly rich resource for bluegrass fiddle style. It addresses everything from specific interval choices for doublestops, when and where to use slides, when to use slurs, how to use anticipation and syncopation, and on and on. If you study this DVD, you will sound like a real bluegrass fiddler. For all you country fiddlers, folks fiddlers, irish fiddlers, oldtime fiddlers and violinists who always wanted to get the magic of that driving bluegrass sound, this DVD is for you. Just be aware, it is not intended for those who are still learning their instrument.

As a final note, to make up for my deficits as fast by-ear learner, I used 'Switch Sound File Converter Plus' from NCH Software to strip the audio tracks out of the DVD, and 'The Amazing Slow Downer' from Roni Music to slow them down enough to learn the notes. And no, I am not affiliated with either of those companies, I'm just a customer who likes their stuff.

Most of the consumer Reviews tell that the "Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp [VHS]" are high quality item. You can read each testimony from consumers to find out cons and pros from Bluegrass Fiddle Boot Camp [VHS] ...