Fiddle, fiddle, and, oh yeah,...more fiddle.

 It seems like every post lately has been about fiddling. Actually all we've done lately has revolved around Irish music but I think that is mostly due to the fact that it is March...the busiest month on the Irish calendar.


This past week Haley and I attended two different concerts featuring fiddle/accordian duos. The first duo was Oisin MacDiarmada and Seamus Begley playing at the home of Haley's first fiddle teacher. It was a lovely concert playing a nice variety of music with some very funny stories and jokes thrown in by Seamus for good measure.


Haley was asked to play for them during the 2nd half of the concert. I hadn't taken her fiddle with us...note to self to keep it handy from now on. So, Oisin offered her his full size fiddle but when she realized it was tuned in E flat (to match the E flat accordian tuning) her teacher went and got her fiddle (also full size) for Haley. Haley played a couple tunes then they asked her to play with Seamus so she played Oisin's full size fiddle tuned to E flat and played a tune she'd only just learned. (Not quite sure how she does that...hmmm!) Granted her intonation would have been better on her own fiddle where her fingers would have been able to reach and her left arm wouldn't have been completely straight. LOL
Saturday, Haley opened for the other duo...Matt Cranitch and Jackie Daly in North Jersey. They mostly played polkas and slides because they are from Sliabh Luachra area of Ireland where those types of tunes are played. It was also a very nice concert followed by a well attended session. We were out very late and spent the night with a friend before going to Haley's fiddle lesson in NY the next morning bright and early.




Sunday, Haley had an early morning lesson (well, 10am but we were 1.5 hours away so had to get up early to drive). After the lesson we went to the nicest mall we know to look around then drove to Cornwall, NY for Haley to join her fiddle teacher, Brian Conway, and a number of his students in a library concert. From the concert, we went to her fiddle teacher's session where Haley played for another couple hours before we made the long drive home.

Haley spent a lot of time fiddling this weekend and a lot of time in the car. Much of the car time was spent practicing her classical and orchestra music with her music propped up on the open glove compartment. I am not so sure she'll be able to do that when she moves up to a full size fiddle.
We have another very fiddle filled week this week and weekend then things should slow down a bit.