How to Make Your Fiddle Tunes Sound More Authentic: The Power of Phrasing
There are certain topics that come up over and over again as I teach. One of them is “Why don’t my fiddle tunes sound like fiddle tunes?” There are many reasons your playing might not sound authentic, but the one I’m thinking about right now is phrasing.
When you think about how you speak, you don’t give every word in a sentence the same importance. You also don’t speak in one long run-on sentence without any breaks. You take slight pauses now and then to break the words up into thoughts that make sense.
What I sometimes notice in my students when they ask this question is that they are playing every note the same way, and there are never any breaks in the music.
This is where phrasing comes in. I found a definition of phrasing online that says it is “the way a musician shapes a sequence of notes in a passage of music to allow expression.”
Steps Towards Improving Your Phrasing
When you learn a fiddle tune, look for patterns in the music. Look, and more importantly, listen, for groups of notes that seem to belong together. Also listen for where there are natural breaks in the music. At these points, I often taper the note a bit and even leave a little space before the next phrase.
A really good place to start with phrasing is to try getting louder as the music gets higher, and quieter as the music goes lower. This doesn’t always work, but it is a great place to start. If you notice a pattern, and then this pattern happens again a little higher, try playing the second time the pattern shows up a little louder.
Tips to Find The Phrases in a Tune
Two really good tips for figuring out where phrases are:
- Listen to other people playing the tune. I once had an instructor who said you should always listen to three different versions of a piece when you are learning it, so you don’t just copy one person.
- Sing the tunes. Don’t worry about whether your voice is beautiful or whether you are in tune. Just try singing it to see where you want to breathe. This is very likely going to be at the end of a phrase.
Tools to Improve Your Own Phrasing
A couple of tools you can use to create phrasing in your playing are:
- Play with the length of notes. Try playing notes really connected if they are in the same phrase. Try shortening the last note of the phrase to leave a little space before the next phrase. Experiment and see what sounds good.
- Play with volume. Try to figure out where the high point of the phrase is. This could be literally the highest note, or it could be the most important note. Try playing a crescendo, getting louder up to the high point of the phrase, and then relaxing the volume towards the end of the phrase.
If every note is the same, the tune will sound mechanical. By adding phrasing through thoughtful breaks, dynamics, and note length, you bring your fiddle tunes to life with expression and authenticity.
Happy fiddling!