Funkatonic Analysis

Chris Haigh
Chris Haigh

Lesson time: (1min 44sec)

Chris Haigh walks through the trickiest bars of Funkatonic - the third-position licks and the fast runs - before you play the piece.

© 2011 Schott Music Ltd, London

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This lesson is part of the course Rock Violin Foundations
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Lesson transcript:

Music Lesson: Tackling Challenging Sections

Right, before we start this piece, there are a few tricky bits I want to run through.

Overview of Key Bars

  • Bar 46:

    • We've got a nice lick in third position. This is a kind of a guitar lick, and we will have a lot of these towards the end of the course.
  • Bar 54:

    • This contains one of the trickiest parts in the whole course.
    • Tip: Change your fourth finger to the first and swoop down.
  • Bar 62:

    • Here, we've got a section that requires you to slow down.
    • If you can't play exactly in time, just play as fast as you can.
  • Bar 66:

    • This part is again pretty fast.

Practicing Strategy

If you're struggling with these bits, I recommend the following approach:

  • Set a Goal:

    • For instance, in three months, aim to play that lick.
  • Simplify:

    • Simplify the bar until you get there.
  • Practice Separately:

    • For example, focus on practicing Bar 56 on its own, and work on the whole piece without going up the octave.

Remember, I don't want one really difficult section to hinder your ability to enjoy and play this tune, which I believe is great fun!

So, here we go on the tune Funkatonic.

About the instructor

Chris Haigh
Chris Haigh

Chris Haigh has been a professional fiddle player for 25 years, with experience covering many different genres. He has played on over 75 albums, working with artists including Alison Moyet, Bob Geldof, All About Eve, Michael Ball, David Soul, Oumou Sangare, The Quireboys, Riverdance, Morcheeba, James Galway and Steps. He has played swing jazz with The Kimbara Brothers, Diz Disley, Le Jazz, The Hot Club of London, and the Quecumbar Allstars, and leads a 7-piece Soviet swing band, The Kremlinaires. Chris gives lessons and workshops on jazz violin technique and has taught jazz violin at Middlesex, Brunel and Newcastle universities and Truro College. His writing credits include nine fiddle books, among them The Fiddle Handbook. He also runs Fiddling Around (fiddlingaround.co.uk), probably the most comprehensive and widely visited source of fiddle information on the web. read more

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28 lessons (2h 28m)
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