As a result of this research, the following conclusions have been drawn:
On the one hand, researching and discovering the history, context, development, and instrumentation (in particular, the violin), of verdiales has been a great challenge due to the lack of more traditional resources. At the same time, I believe this work offers an enrichment both for my knowledge of general culture and for my vision as an artist or musician. As artists and musicians, I think it is important to experience in-depth research on any subject, and if possible, a subject that entails research with few basic sources. This has taught me (and in part, forced me) to deal with the existing data about verdiales and link it to more general information on ancient music, dances, traditions, etc. And, consequently, due to the scarcity of information in some aspects, I have had to come to my own conclusions after reading many different resources.
So, I think that this research has helped me to learn new ways of searching and handling information for the next time I want to solve a question on any subject.
On the other hand, the experiments on how to apply verdiales in my daily life in order to achieve a freer and more flexible way of playing have had conflicting results.
I have discovered new ways of practising and approaching problems in my daily practice through verdiales and self-documentation (recordings). For example, trying different ways of holding the bow as an exercise has been a success as it has led me to explore my possibilities in terms of lightness, agility, phrasing, legato between bow changes or depth in sound, among others. It has also helped me a lot in identifying the origin of certain technical problems that I was not aware of, such as sometimes playing in the wrong place of the bow.
However, I am not completely convinced of the results in the ornamentation and improvisation exercises. Despite becoming more comfortable and confident improvising ornaments and small variations on a particular piece, I have not noticed a big difference in the main goal of achieving a more flexible and free way of playing. So, I do not think it should be considered as an experiment that has had a huge impact.
The main problem is that we always try to solve our difficulties in the same way. And when it comes to improving aspects such as flexibility or freedom in playing, concepts that are a little abstract, the search for those resources and methods to improve becomes even more complicated.
For me, the main conclusion of incorporating verdiales into my daily practice in order to achieve more freedom and flexibility in my playing is not that I have had incredible results, but that I have had to try something completely different from what I am used to in order to achieve different results. And I have tried to do this through a music with which I have a special bond as I feel directly connected with my traditions and my roots.
In any case, I believe that this research is an opportunity to expand purely historical and cultural knowledge of my own city, as well as to use that personal link with this music that I feel as my own and natural for my improvement in aspects that I am more uncomfortable with in classical music or that for some reason I do not find so natural.
If I could continue this research, I would expand the experiments in my daily practice. I would insist more on holding the violin in a more verdiales-like way; having more time, I would expand the repertoire on which to test the exercises and, consequently, I could test the exercises on a wider variety of problems in my practice; and, finally, I would continue playing verdiales in real contexts in order to gradually achieve the spontaneity and naturalness with which violinists of this traditional music play and, thus, keep applying it to my daily practice.
As a final thought, I hope that this research will encourage other musicians to look for the necessary tools to improve their problems or difficulties in those places where they least expect to find a solution. Let them experiment, let them dig into their roots, let them connect with their traditions, and let them use the options and advantages that other musics can offer to their classical music side.