Customer Reviews

Chops & Grooves

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pros:

Anger is amazing, but I was blow away by Driessen and cellist Eggleston.

I saw Driessen in concert and bought the DVD to try to understand what he was doing on stage. His stage performance was overwhelming. Too much going on at once. Driessen plays the bass and the tonal chord (major, minor, 7th...), rhythm and melody all on the same fiddle. All at the same time. It doesn't make sense, but these three guys make it look easy.

Eggleston calls it "a band in a box," and he can boogie like no cellist I ever saw. WOW! I had to try this on my cello. Well it isn't easy, but it is fun.

Their "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Mercy, Mercy" are fantastic. Anger breaks each part down and explains what they are doing, how they do it and why. I am impressed. I set my DVD player to loop (repeat chapter) on a tune while I play along.

I use a mandolin to copy the bass, chord work and melody. The bowed rhythm is a little like deadening the mandolin strings while strumming. Then I try to play it all on the fiddle or cello. It isn't pretty. I sounds bad, but it sure is fun. And it's getting better everyday.

The video inserts are perfect. Homespun has produced a video that allows the viewer to see all the important close-ups at the same time. Very nice.

Cons:

The student needs to read sheet music.

Even though the techniques are explained, there is too much going on to understand it without the sheet music. Actually the sheet music isn't necessary for the bass, chords or melody, but it is necessary to understand how the rhythm sounds fit between them.

The sheet music has a few minor errors and it only transcribes the basic concepts in each lesson (chapter).

I bought this DVD for a week ago, and I can't put it down.

This is a great video for any (bowed) string player who would like to learn the "chop" technique to generate percussive rhythm. My best violin family instrument is double bass, but i found this technique less effective on the bass than on the fiddle and cello.

The musicians are great - if you are a string player and you don't know Darol Anger by now, then you probably need to loosen up a little. The other two are newer, though I have seen Rushad Eggleston perform in his "Wild Band of Snee" and heard him on the "Fiddlers 4" recording.

I disagree with the review that says one "needs" to be able to read music to get something out of this. I do read music (I have a masters degree in music performance), but I didn't bother to look at the booklet while watching it. Instead I just watched what they did and listened, and then started to "whack and unwhack" on my cello to see what happened. I liked the results, though it will take some practice to master. They break it down enough that you can at least get the gist if not copy exactly without reading ability (though I encourage you to learn to read if you can't.)

The show is informative, entertaining, chock full of great music, and inspirational. I highly recommend it to string players who wish to improve their ability to accomapany others or play in a non-classical ensemble where they might not always be the lead instrument. Very Fun!!!!!!!

As a classical violinist who has in recent years branched out into various non-classical genres, this video provided just what I was looking for - a rhythmically driven rather than melodically driven way to approach playing with bands and singer/songwriters. Sweeping melody lines are great, but they just don't work in every situation. Sometimes you just need to get "in the pocket" and groove while someone else takes center stage.

These guys take the basic chop I learned years ago and make a real art out of it. They cover a range of rhythms and "strokes" for a variety of rhythmic effects, and combine the strokes with both double stops and purely chopped notes. Then they go through tunes in different genres to make sure you're ready to jam in whatever style suits you. These guys, while quirky, are masters at what they do! Don't expect a dry lecture on technique! They present the information in a relaxed, affirming manner. Each has developed his style and technique slightly differently and to me the message that each musician's "voice" and passion is what's really important comes through loud and clear.

Since this bow technique is very different from anything we have in classical music I think even a relative beginner could get something out of this DVD. The double-stops and fingered notes might be a little over a beginner's head because the guys don't really instruct about finger placement, intonation etc. (not really the point here), but for everyone else everything presented is very accessible if you have an open mind, the courage to try, and the patience to try again if you don't "get it right" the first time. The booklet is helpful if you read music. If you don't, no worries. They break everything down thoroughly with plentiful close-ups of hands and bowing. I actually found that I only kept the book close by to see how they were notating what I was really just learning by watching and listening. Though the main instruction by Darol is for the violin, Rushad gives bass line options for cellos (I transposed them to alto clef to try on my viola) and Casey, with his 5-string violin gives some options for violas. Everything you need for a groovy quartet. Give it a try! I can't wait to get these grooves down so I can experiment in performance and share them with my students.

I love this video! Takes a little time to get the hang of it, but once you've got it, you'll have a lot of fun with this technique. The three of them really seem to enjoy presenting the lessons, and they're all terrific musicians. You'll want to have a pretty solid grasp of how to play chords on the fiddle (or whichever instrument you're using) before tackling this.