- 1). Tune your fiddle. Granted, when you first start to play the fiddle it will probably sound awful, but it doesn't need to sound completely awful by being out of tune. The four strings of the fiddle are tuned to G, D, A and E going from the lowest sounding and thickest string to the highest, respectively. Turn on your chromatic tuner and run your bow over each string individually. Turn the corresponding tuning key until the bar on the tuner rests on exactly the right note.
- 2). Hold the fiddle in the proper form. Put the fiddle under your chin and secure it with your chin. It helps to have a chin rest for your fiddle. Rest the neck in the cradle between your thumb and forefinger with your fingers curled around and ready to depress the strings into the fingerboard.
- 3). Press your finger on the note you want to play. Do this by depressing the string in a certain spot into the fret board. Push the string down tightly and cleanly, otherwise you will create a shrill or buzzing sound. Fiddles are fretless, so part of learning how to play the fiddle is learning where the notes are. For now, it will suffice to just put your finger anywhere.
- 4). Grip the bow with your hand on the end that protrudes out from the soft strings of the bow. Hold the bow with the strings face down, your thumb flat against one side, and your fingers arched over to the other side and gripping tightly. You will need to bow firmly, so a firm grip is necessary.
- 5). Start from the end of the bow opposite your hand, place the bowstrings on the string you are fingering and push the bow upward. This is how you make a note. You can also pull downward back to your original position. You'll notice that the two strokes have very different sounds.
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