I took lessons with Mitch and it was great to "get my foot in the door". He takes it real slow and makes it clear. I find playing tuned down helps when playing with cds, although I have not played with others like at jams etc. yet. I bought a Romanian Gliga violin which is far superior to my cheapo no name ebay special. Its just like with accordions- handmade versus ariette etc. Enjoy!

On the same subject, I too was wondering if there was a Cajun fiddle sight.

I can croak out a tune or two on the fiddle and I find it helps me get the tune in my head, which in turn helps me with the accordion.

Maz,
Try "fiddlefork". I'm sure there is bound to be cajun fiddlers over there.
By the way, do you play "black top blues"? If so, how about a youtube up close and slow video???
Thanks,
Greg

I have the Michael Doucet Homespun audio cassettes and VHS videos. They're very good. He covers pretty much everything, including "seconding", and on the cassette tapes he plays some accordion so that you can second on the fiddle. Michael doesn't tune down, at least on the instructional stuff, he just plays in standard tuning. Well, he tunes the E string down to D on Valse Du Vacher, but he doesn't tune the whole fiddle down to FCGD to play in C and G, he just plays in those keys in standard tuning.

I am not familiar with the Mitch Reed material.

There is an old book and LP set that Dewey Balfa did, I think for the Library of Congress, years ago that you might be able to get from your public library. I got it from the library about 15 years ago. IIRC Dewey covers tuning down and also talks about playing a lot of unisons, always doubling an open E, A or D string with the next lower string (at the "7th fret").

I think you can't go wrong with the Mike Doucet stuff.

Generally, tuning down works well if playing with a C accordion (C and G keys). For one thing, itt allows you to use open double stops that are difficult and/or impossible is the fiddle is tuned standard. Another aspect, is the 'feel' or the key you playing in. If you play guitar, then you know playing something first postion C has a very different sound and color playing the same thing in first position E. Has to do with how many thirds there are and where they are in the chord structure. Fiddle is no different.
Some people will tell you it's cheating or going the easy route to retune. But it certainly isn't new. There's a bunch of classical pieces that instructed how to tune the string instruments for the piece. When all else fails, remind people the everybody plays in flat keys so horn players don't have to.
There was a yahoo group for cajun fiddle, but not a lot of activity.
Steve

It is my opinion that people who knock fiddle and banjo tunings do not understand the tonal differances that tunings provide. They do make finger reaches easier but you have to learn new cord positions

They would most certainly cringe at playing a C accordion in G with a flatted F and the wrong chords.

Maz,
Al Berard has a terrific beginning fiddle DVD. He breaks down two tunes, a waltz and a two-step, and includes both the lead and the seconding. Mitch's Fiddle from Scratch DVD is good, too. Michael Doucet's is a bit beyond the beginner stage, I think, but definitely worth having.

Do any of the DVDs have real basics, like tuning, positioning, bowing techniques, etc?

For absolute beginner, you may want to seek out a more generalized instructional DVD. Check out Homespun. Even though it's for Southern Oldtime, Brad Leftwich's DVD assumes you're pretty much starting from scratch. You'll find many of the techniques, such as double stops and shuffles, cross over to a cajun style quite comfortably. I would suggest finding a fiddler that can get you started, hand positioning, tuning. Those are the kinds of things that are difficult to do with a DVD. You really need a voice to say "no, no, no', to get those things on the right track and avoid bad habits.
Steve