Andy Chase

11 Months ago I bought a cheap fiddle from Ebay. I took it out of the case when it arrived, tuned it up as best as the slippery pegs would allow, picked up the bow, and realized that I had no idea what to do next. It was a feeling I hadn’t had since getting my first banjo 7 years ago, knowing basically how the thing works but just having no sense of generally recommended technique or where to start. I did spend a bunch of time trawling the internet for beginner lesson videos, tips, and techniques, but I was skeptical of the cheap thing’s utility as a starter instrument and inclined to heed my own advice to other people looking to start a new instrument: Take at least a few lessons with a human being so you don’t develop any bad habits.

Not having had money to spend on a better instrument or lessons, my fiddle has spent most of the interim in its case. Once every couple of months I would get it out, bow a couple of notes, and put it back in the case like I’d just touched a hot stove; without buying a mute there’s no way to play quietly until you gain a little bit of confidence, and I’ve lacked the gumption to fight through the “sounding like a cat skinned alive” stage. As the colder weather and long nights chase me back indoors, though, my thoughts are returning to the fiddle and how I’ve really kind of been wanting to learn for a few years now. Since a nicer instrument or lessons are not in the budget right now, back to the internet I have gone.

I realized today that I didn’t even know whether my instrument was properly strung, and after watching a few how-to videos I’ve determined that it is not. The current strings are wound every which way and overlap each other, which may be half the reason the pegs slip as much as they do. Some peg drops and a new set of properly applied strings and I could be in business.

Here’s the thing: people were teaching themselves fiddle on crummy instruments without benefit of formal instruction for generations before the internet, and in many cases were probably happier for not being subjected to the blather of self-styled discussion forum authorities. Should I let the knowledge that a nicer fiddle and lessons would give me a leg up stop me? I’ve decided I should see how far I can get with common sense and youtube before making that determination.

My friend Jason e-mailed me out of the blue last week to inform me he had purchased a $25 violin kit from ebay.

The one time I inquired casually as to what one might expect to pay for a good quality, entry-level violin kit (instrument, bow, case, accoutrements) at Stamell Stringed Instruments I was given a figure in the $700 dollar range - that was for a Pacific Rim import, professionally set up, that you wouldn’t outgrow as soon as you learn how to play Boil Them Cabbage Down.

Despite that point of reference, and personal experience bearing out that you really should begin with the best instrument you can afford, that $25 figure really got under my skin. Much like the time I bought a $25 ukulele, I gave in to temptation because at that price there’s really nothing to lose. I expect that the instrument headed my way is complete rubbish, and that I’ll be doing myself a disservice by trying to learn how to play on it, but we’ll see. In the meantime I’ll be lurking at http://fiddlehangout.org.

Given enough time, everyday objects accrue value to the point where they must be sealed in a display case, never to be used for their original purpose again; old silver, old china, old furniture... you see them on programs like Antique Road Show, gasp in amazement when their worth is revealed, then gasp in horror when you hear about how they've just been kicking around in the corner of somebody's musty basement for generations.

I am choosing not to ponder what I have done to deserve such good fortune, but I do have a vague sense that I have burned an unusually large quantity of good karma in a short amount of time, and I feel that I have an obligation to do something with my new instruments other than play them by myself at home. At a minimum, to stop telling friends and family about how I keep meaning to go to a jam session and actually go... But that's a subject for another post entirely.About a year ago I briefly considered buying a mandolin, but eventually decided to pursue Scruggs-style banjo instead. I blame Tony Trischka's Early Years CD for finally pushing me over the edge after a year and a half of contented frailing.

It wasn't long after my initial post about the lessons that frustration set in. While it was true that I had a substantially better banjo than the first one I learned clawhammer on, it just didn't lend itself to the bluegrass style very well; being open-backed and having only a simple rolled-brass tone ring, my Saga SS-10 has a sweet, mellow tone. This is ideal for old-timey music, which relies less on machine-gun picking and more on rhythmic strumming. When trying to practice 3-finger rolls, however, that mellow tone makes it hard to tell whether the mushy sound you're producing is the result of your technique, or just the nature of your banjo. That sharp, ringing tone was absent, and although I got reasonably proficient at basic rolls and tunes it just didn't sound right.

I had been swapping some web consulting time for my lessons and when that dried up I opted not to continue on a paying basis, figuring that I would begin saving my pennies for a "high-end entry-level" (or "low-end professional-level", if you please) instrument, something like a Gold Tone BG-250F or a Fender FB-58 and then pick up where I had left off.

It was around this time that Banjo Hangout began holding raffles for instruments as a way to raise funds for the site. I entered a few of these, a few dollars here and there via PayPal... I figured my odds were substantially better than winning the cash equivalent via scratch ticket, and it's a nice way to support the Banjo Hangout community. I awaited the drawings eagerly, not really expecting to win, but always hoping. In the meantime, I continued to save pennies.

The thing is, the acquisition of any halfway decent banjo requires the saving of quite a few pennies. I put on the fingerpicks every once in a while and had a burst of inspiration after seeing Ross Nickerson's Banjo Road Show in July (incidentally, I highly recommend his Banjo Encyclopedia - a straightforward instructional text that spends plenty of time on the basics before dumping you into into tablature. If you go to his show you may be able to get a spiral-bound copy), but my open-back's mellow tone was really an obstacle for me. By the end of last year I had decided to shoot for a less expensive mandolin instead, reasoning that I already owned three banjos, having been gifted with another SS-10 by Ernest. Then even that plan was somewhat postponed as I finally got my workshop built over Christmas break, and dropped a bunch of money the tools and supplies necessary to undertake the assembly of a ukulele kit, and other long-planned adventures in lutherie.

One day about a month ago I entered another Banjo Hangout raffle, this one for a Gold Star GF-85 banjo. This time it was truly a "what the heck" gesture, I really didn't think about the raffle after buying my tickets; it was around this time that it also finally occurred to me that I didn't really have any use for two SS-10 banjos. With Ernest's blessing, I took one of them down to the Fretted Instrument Workshop in Amherst, and walked out with a shiny new Kentucky KM-150s mandolin, an even trade.

It's nice to get back into flatpicking an instrument, which in many ways feels much more logical than either frailing or 3-finger banjo. I admit to indulging in some sour-grapes thoughts as I practiced various scales and fiddle tunes on my new instrument; "Maybe I'm just better suited to mandolin," and "I really shouldn't be buying instruments costing hundreds of dollars right now anyway - in a couple of years the cost of a decent resonator banjo will be easier to justify," et cetera.

Imagine my surprise when I opened up the Banjo Hangout e-mail newsletter this past Monday and read my name as the winner of the GF-85. I had never experienced a "I head to read it three times before it began to sink in" moment before, but this was definitely such a moment. The most exciting thing I had ever won in a raffle up to that point was a copy of Trivial Pursuit, the fancy millenium edition in the metal tin. And this isn't just an adequate resonator banjo, this is probably the last resonator banjo I'll ever need. (notice I said need, not want.)

Amazingly, for an outlay of two dollars (and a favor owed to Ernest) I have acquired an all-solid wood mandolin and a professional-level banjo in the space of about three weeks. I am choosing not to ponder what I have done to deserve such good fortune, but I do have a vague sense that I have burned an unusually large quantity of good karma in a short amount of time, and I feel that I have an obligation to do something with my new instruments other than play them by myself at home. At a minimum, to stop telling friends and family about how I keep meaning to go to a jam session and actually go... But that's a subject for another post entirely.