Dec
15
Fri
December Workshops 2023
Play-along Session in Harmony for Mixed Instruments
This will be a Zoom call open to intermediate players (and above) of any instrument. Notation will be provided in advance for all the tunes, together with suggestions for basic chords and a harmony line, but feel free to join in by ear! You can play the tune along with Stewart, play an accompaniment with a bass line, chords or a harmony (your own or follow the suggestions) or enjoy playing the tune whilst Stewart plays a harmony. If you wish to join in on an instrument with a different range from the fiddle, or with specfic key requirements, please get in touch before booking.
Zoom Workshop
Friday 15th December, 19:00 – 21:00
£20
December Workshops: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended. A recording of the live call will be available for those who experience technical difficulties, or who find themselves unable to attend the live Zoom call.
Dec
16
Sat
December Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 1
The Bottom of the Punchbowl
An old scots measure which can be heard played as a rant, a reel and even a hornpipe – a truly versatile tune for sessions and ceilidhs alike!
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 16th December: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Competent Beginner to Upper Intermediate level
£20
December Workshops: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended.
December Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 2
Ice on the Road (G. Townsend)
A Canadian classic by the wonderful Graham Townsend, Ice on the Road – hopefully in no way prophetic (but being on Zoom at least we don’t have to travel!)
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 16th December: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Intermediate to Advanced players
£20
December Workshops: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended.
Feb
23
Fri
February Workshops 2024
Play-along Session in Harmony for Mixed Instruments
This will be a Zoom call open to intermediate players (and above) of any instrument. Notation will be provided in advance for all the tunes, together with suggestions for basic chords and a harmony line, but feel free to join in by ear! You can play the tune along with Stewart, play an accompaniment with a bass line, chords or a harmony (your own or follow the suggestions) or enjoy playing the tune whilst Stewart plays a harmony. If you wish to join in on an instrument with a different range from the fiddle, or with specfic key requirements, please get in touch before booking.
Zoom Workshop
Friday 23rd February, 19:00 – 21:00
£20
February Workshops 2024: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended. A recording of the live call will be available for those who experience technical difficulties, or who find themselves unable to attend the live Zoom call.
Feb
24
Sat
February Workshops 2024
Fiddle Workshop 1
Zoom Workshop
Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques that can be taken away for use in all your fiddle playing.
Saturday 24th February: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Johnny and Dorothy Livingstone’s March (Mairi Campbell)
Written by one of Scotland’s finest fiddlers, it is no surprise that this beautiful and lyrical tune fits the instrument like a glove.
Aimed at Competent Beginner to Upper Intermediate level
£20
February Workshops 2024: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended.
February Workshops 2024
Fiddle Workshop 2
Zoom Workshop
Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques that can be taken away for use in all your fiddle playing.
Saturday 24th February: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Sunshine Schottische (Grégory Jolivet)
This joyful tune was picked up in a JSArts session and it was an instant hit. It swings, it sings and there is so much that can be done with it.
Aimed at Intermediate to Advanced players
£20
February Workshops 2024: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended.
Apr
12
Fri
April Workshops 2024
Play-along Session in Harmony for Mixed Instruments
This will be a Zoom call open to intermediate players (and above) of any instrument. Notation will be provided in advance for all the tunes, together with suggestions for basic chords and a harmony line, but feel free to join in by ear! You can play the tune along with Stewart, play an accompaniment with a bass line, chords or a harmony (your own or follow the suggestions) or enjoy playing the tune whilst Stewart plays a harmony. If you wish to join in on an instrument with a different range from the fiddle, or with specfic key requirements, please get in touch before booking.
Zoom Workshop
Friday 12th April, 19:00 – 21:00
£20
April Workshops 2024: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended. A recording of the live call will be available for those who experience technical difficulties, or who find themselves unable to attend the live Zoom call.
Apr
13
Sat
April Workshops 2024
Fiddle Workshop 1
Zoom Workshop
Geordie’s Rant (George Mitchell)
One of many fabulous tunes to emerge from the creative melting pot of The Cheviot Ranters.
Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques that can be taken away for use in all your fiddle playing.
Saturday 13th April: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Aimed at Competent Beginner to Upper Intermediate level
£20
April Workshops 2024: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended.
April Workshops 2024
Fiddle Workshop 2
Zoom Workshop
Shrewsbury Lasses
One of the classic country dance tunes of the English repertoire.
Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques that can be taken away for use in all your fiddle playing.
Saturday 13th April: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Aimed at Intermediate to Advanced players
£20
April Workshops 2024: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket – visit the Shop.
If you haven’t attended a music workshop on Zoom before, here is a page of Zoom Workshop Tips to get the most out of your experience. A strong and reliable internet connection, plus headphones or an external speaker are recommended.
Apr
26
Fri
Advanced Fiddle Technique
26th – 28th April 2024
Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX
3.00 pm start and finish time.
Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall in the Lake District for a weekend of intensive advanced fiddle tuition. The workshop will typically take between 10 and 15 people from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. The residential weekend fee of £398 covers all food, tuition, daytime refreshments and two nights single occupancy accommodation, almost all of which is en suite. Sheet music and mp3 files of the tunes covered are sent out in advance, detailed worksheets are provided, and recordings of exercises from the course are sent on to you afterwards.
This course is aimed at proficient players with good to high technical competence, who are comfortable with their instruments and their repertoire, and who may have some of the following experience and skills:
- – Playing folk tunes at dance tempo
- – Comfortable in key signatures of up to 3 sharps and 1 flat
- – Familiarity with key signatures of up to 4 sharps and 3 flats
- – Attending folk music sessions and confidently joining in with the tunes
- – Leading sets of tunes in sessions
- – Playing in ceilidh and/or concert bands
- – Teaching violin and/or fiddle
These courses are centred around the technical issues that come with playing fiddle music, with as much emphasis on the how as there is on the what. Focusing on left-hand and bowing technique, with stylistic interpretation of the music a key feature, these workshops delve deep into the tunes, extracting exercises to improve technique and allow its application to a wider repertoire. Tunes are carefully selected for their technical or stylistic content whilst also baring in mind practical considerations such as their usefulness in folk music sessions or as dance repertoire. The tunes are taught ‘as if by ear’, meaning they are taught phrase by phrase at a tempo and with sufficient repetition to enable learning by ear, but with notation available at any point should that be desired or necessary. This encourages the development of aural pattern recognition and general musicality, enhancing musicianship and the enjoyment of playing music in social settings. There will also be two evening sessions, allowing participants to play common repertoire together and to exchange tunes, picking new ones up by ear.
Places on Advanced Fiddle Techniques courses are available on application. For further information or to express your interest in this course, please email Ali (music@stewarthardy.co.uk)
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🎶 The Tune VaultWe are coming to the end of another cracking Block of workshops with North East Fiddle School. Many thanks to Grace Smith Music, Chris Meredith and Kevin Lees - Music for their fantastic tuition. Here’s one of the tunes I taught in a video tutorial series, heading for The Tune Vault - a favourite English jig, Flaxley Green Dance.
Flaxley Green Dance
A fabulous English jig - one of two sent by Robert J. Buckley to Cecil Sharp in the summer of 1911. Mr Buckley had collected tunes from a wheelwright in Abbots Bromley, William (or Henry!) Robinson, in the middle of the nineteenth century, including the celebrated Horn Dance.
Flaxley Green Dance | The Tune Vault
youtu.be
Flaxley Green Dance- The Tune Vault by Stewart HardyA fabulous English jig - one of two sent by Robert J. Buckley to Cecil Sharp in the summer of 1911. Mr B...
Less than a month to go to our Arrangement Techniques course for mixed instruments, which will be my 100th residential JSArts course!* 🥳There is just one place left if you would like to join us. Get in touch quickly, so we can book you in with the venue - the beautiful Shepherds Dene near Riding Mill in Northumberland.
We will be learning a lovely selection of tunes, and choosing which to work on - exploring options for introductions & endings, varying instrumentation, creating harmony lines and different ways of accompanying the tune to produce alternate soundscapes and narratives. With a limited number of participants, there will be plenty of time to explore ideas from everyone. All instruments are welcome, and if you require notation in different keys or clefs, that can be provided. Dots and audio files are provided in advance, and any recordings from the weekend are sent on afterwards.
*There will be cake! 🎂😊
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Finally, a new tune for The Tune Vault, and to pick up where we left off, here’s another sparkling tune by Tyneside fiddle supremo, James Hill in the key of "F for vescence" 🤣Tykeside (James Hill) | The Tune Vault
youtu.be
Tykeside (James Hill)- The Tune Vault by Stewart HardyThis enigmatically titled reel in F major is another gem by Tyneside fiddling legend James Hill. No tr...