My teacher has started me learning Cock o' the North. I found it much easier than the waltzes and airs - it has a steady stream of eighth notes, and so the bowing is in a pattern - down-up-down up-down-up over and over.
In comparison, Si Beag Si Mor is pretty lyrical, so the bowing was not in a predictable pattern. Going from one string to the other, making the transition, I worked hard at it but if I didn't play it for a week, I had lost my facility with it.
I've been having problems with the A string - turns out I don't play with the bow at a 90 degree angle to it. I looked in the mirror to straighten the bow out, and then I tried to memorize how it actually looks from where I am when playing the fiddle, the angle that the bow meets the string at. So now I can find the sweet spot again without looking in the mirror.
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