Week 1
Mini-Class
Cajun Fiddle From Scratch
Michelle Kaminsky

Dear fiddle student,

Welcome! Cajun week is just around the corner, and I’m looking forward to getting you off to a great start on the fiddle. Here are a few things to check before class if you have time.

It will help if your fiddle and bow are in good working order. If you are wondering about the condition of your instrument, have an experienced musician or instrument repairman look it over.

Some things to consider are:

• the shape and placement of the bridge 

• the distance of the strings from the fingerboard (the strings should not be too difficult to note, nor should they touch the fingerboard) 

• the pegs should fit well; and the addition of fine tuners

Best if the bow has plenty of real  horse hair  (not synthetic hair);  a fiberglass stick is fine!  Often a $50  fiberglass bow with real horsehair is much better than a more expensive wooden bow.  In any case, you should be able to loosen and tighten the hair tension with ease.

Here are some other things that you might want to have:

• Notebook

• Extra set of strings

• Tuning device:  there are many electronic tuners available, if you get one before Augusta- make sure that it is a chromatic tuner- a couple are the Matrix SR-1050 or the Seiko ST-757. A tuner is not the most important thing on the list for the class, since I can help you tune or you can ask a friend. But it will probably be quite helpful once you leave Augusta!

Looking forward to meeting you all and having a great week of sharing musical ideas, tunes and laughs.

Michelle Kaminsky
mkfiddle@earthlink.net
401-246-2720