Fiddler's Friend

• Exercises tailored to fiddle tunes
• Strengthen your fingers to enhance playing
• Bowing exercises for more fluid playing
• Videos of each exercise showing how it's done
• Tips for playing each exercise
• Easy-to-read sheet music
• Adjustable metronome
• G-D-A-E Tuner
• Record and play your own practice session

Forty fiddle exercises, created by renowned fiddler and teacher Randy Miller, to improve fingering and bowing. These unique exercises are tailored specifically to phrases found in traditional New England, Irish, Scottish, old-time and bluegrass fiddle music. Practice the double-note slide found in old-time music, the 3-note triplet cuts in Cape Breton tunes, the 5-note Irish long-roll, and much more!

Included are short videos of Randy introducing the exercise and playing it once through at a slow tempo. For each exercise, you can watch the video (and play along), see the sheet music, and read Randy's tips on playing the exercise. A metronome with adjustable tempo is included. The app also has a record button so that you can record and play back your own practice session.

The fingering of the left hand in particular can be a great challenge, since most fiddlers are right-handed. Many of these exercises, therefore, focus on strengthening the fingers of the left hand. In addition, some exercises allow you to work on bowing patterns found in trad music, including cross-string slurs.

These gems prove that practice need not be a grim chore. Add nimbleness and fluidity to your playing! The exercises are for all levels, novice through advanced. Bowing marks, a key to left-hand fingering, and tempo indications are included.

Note: Although geared to fiddlers, these exercises can be quite useful to any melody instrument such as flute, mandolin, whistle, and button accordion.