Parting thoughts, tips & tricks

Final Thoughts on the Course

So we've got to the end of the course, and I hope you are still in one piece.

You may have taken a week or a couple of weeks to do this, but remember:

• The work involved in actually mastering it is a matter of months, if not years.
• Don't think that going over things a couple of times is enough.
• You really have to go over things over and over again and apply everything that you've learned not just to one tune, but to all of your tunes.

Develop Your Repertoire

It's crucial to develop your repertoire as much as possible. This way, you're not just relying on the tunes from this course, but are also able to play tunes that are standards that lots of other people know.

Source Material

All of what we've been doing has come from this book, Exploring Jazz Violin.

• The first half is what we've covered in this course.
• There will be another half coming in the form of videos later on, which will cover the difficult and dangerous topic of chords, something we've mostly avoided so far.

This is a very important topic that you will definitely need if you're going to pursue jazz.

We will be looking specifically at stuff from Smith and Jean Leponti, who represents a much more modern style of player.

Listening and Learning

In the second course, spend as much time as you can:

• Listening to other players
• Going out to see live performances

You can check out my website, fiddlingaround.co.uk, which has lots of information on jazz violin and indeed on a whole lot of other different styles of fiddle, which I'm sure you'll find interesting.

Goodbye, and see you in the next course!