Soldier's Joy

Before you get started learning this really nice tune, don't forget to

Look over all the free lessons, especially "How To Read Tablature At fiddlehub.com ," and "How To Learn A Tune At Fiddlehub.com." These two "how to" lessons have info that you will need in order to tackle any of the tune lessons, and it isn't repeated anywhere else.
Listen to the tune all the way through a few times, even if you're familiar with it, to get a clear idea of how this arrangement sounds.
Print out the sheet music so you'll always have the complete tune handy. It has both tablature and standard notation, as well as the chords for guitar/banjo/piano (or whatever).

Part A, Phrase 1

Tablature, Soldier's Joy, Part A, Phrase 1

Bowing:

The phrase starts with two short strokes, so begin close to the middle of the bow, maybe 3-4 inches below the mid-point.
The third note is an 8th note, just like the first two pick-up notes, but you can't get away with a short bow stroke here.
- You need a longer stroke, so speed the bow up quite a bit and use a lot more bow length (about three times as much).
- You want to end up about half way between the mid-point and the tip of the bow.
Now you're ready to up bow the three-note slur, and you have enough bow length available to do it. Slow the bow speed down again for the slur and try to end up a little below the mid-point.
To set up the next slur, do the same thing. Bow the open A note with a long, fast, down bow, and slur the next three notes with a long slow up bow.
The two notes after the second slur are quick, short strokes; but the down stroke before the last slur should be the same length and speed as the strokes you used to set up the first two slurs. This is because the last slur, like the first two, covers the value of three 8th notes.
In the video, I draw out the last slur longer than it actually is because I am playing the phrase without anything else around it. If this confuses you, take a look at the video for the entire Part A to see and hear how it works.

Fingering:

Before you start, your fingers should all be arced and poised above the fingerboard, ready to play.
To play the first note, try doing what I do in the video -- bring both the 1st and 2nd fingers down on the D string in their correct positions, even though you won't be playing a note with the 1st finger. Raise and lower both together as you play through all the notes on the D string.
- This will help with minimizing finger movement generally. Once you develop good finger technique, you don't really need to raise and lower the 1st finger along with the 2nd; but in the beginning it's a really good way to train your 1st finger to always stay very close.
- If this concept is new to you, take a look at the lesson on fingering, and especially the section with fingering exercises.
On the A string, once you play the 2nd finger note in tune, just squeeze the 3rd finger up aginst the 2nd finger to get the correct placement for the 3rd finger note.