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30 Years Collection Advanced Advanced Fiddle Technique Advanced Style & Repertoire (Mixed Instruments) Andy Craig Arrangement Techniques (Mixed Instruments) Bill Elliott Bottle Bank Band Bryan Jackson Competent Beginner Fiddle Day Fiddle Technique Fiddling Three Frank McLaughlin Geordie Night George Welch Halsway Manor Harmony Holly & Ivy Intermediate James Hill Jimmy's Fiddle JSArts Laura Connolly Maddison's Thread May Tour 2017 Mick West Trio Mixed Instruments Morpeth Community Strings Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering North East Fiddle School Northumbrian Ranters Repertoire & Music Skills (Mixed Instruments) TFA Wisewood Folk Woolsington Strings

Advanced Fiddle Technique
27th – 29th September 2019
Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX
Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall in the Lake District, for a weekend of intensive fiddle tuition. 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 joining in with the tunes
- – Leading sets of tunes in sessions
- – Playing in ceilidh and/or concert bands
- – Teaching violin and/or fiddle
The workshop will typically take between 8 and 12 people from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. All tuition, resources, accommodation, food and daytime refreshments are included. Sheet music and mp3 files of the tunes covered are sent out in advance, and recordings of exercises from the course are sent on to you afterwards.
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 without recourse to reading notation, 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.
Places on Advanced Fiddle Techniques courses are available on application. For further information or to express your interest in this course, please email Ali (jsarts@stewarthardy.co.uk)

Arrangement Techniques (Mixed Instruments)
25th – 27th October 2019
Ushaw College, Durham
Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Ushaw College in Durham for a weekend workshop exploring arrangement techniques for mixed instrument ensemble. Courses are open to players of any instrument (including transposing instruments) and are aimed at a broad range of abilities from intermediate to advanced. Workshops focus on techniques for arranging tunes for the combination of instruments to hand, using tools such as tempo, texture, dynamics and harmonic structure to create a musical narrative. To enjoy the full benefits of these courses, participants should be able to read notation or confidently and quickly pick up tunes and musical ideas by ear. We will do our best to help create viable groups by monitoring the instrumentation as participants sign up for the course.
The workshops typically take between 8 and 12 people from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. The cost covers all food, tuition, daytime refreshments and overnight accommodation. Non-residential rates may be available – please enquire. Sheet music and mp3 files of the tunes covered are sent out in advance, and recordings of arrangements created during the course are sent on to you afterwards.
For further information or to book your place on this course, please email Ali (jsarts@stewarthardy.co.uk)

Geordie Music Night 2019
Saturday 2nd November
Seaton Sluice Community Centre NE26 4QX
7.30 pm (Doors 7.00 pm)
Featuring Jim Mageean, Stu Luckley, Stewart Hardy, George Welch, Barry & Ingrid Temple and Laura Connolly
£10 Adults. Please book tickets in advance.
Tickets available online via the shop
Tickets are also available to reserve by phone on 0191 298 0323 or 0191 237 1136.
Funds raised will support restoration of the Village Bell.

Fiddle Technique
8th – 10th November 2019
Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX
Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall in the Lake District, for a weekend of intensive fiddle tuition. The workshop will typically take between 8 and 12 people from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon.This course can accommodate a broad range of experience and ability, ranging from competent beginner to upper intermediate, but is not suitable for absolute or early beginners. All tuition, resources, accommodation, food and daytime refreshments are included. Sheet music and mp3 files of the tunes covered are sent out in advance, and recordings of exercises from the course are sent on to you afterwards.
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 without recourse to reading notation, 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.
For further information or to express your interest in this course, please email Ali (jsarts@stewarthardy.co.uk)
- – playing simple dance tunes at steady to mid tempo (e.g. reels and jigs at 50-80 beats per minute)
- – able to clap in time to a tune
- – have basic control of the bow on the string
- – able to slur notes together
- – comfortable in the keys of G,D and A major and familiar with their note names
- – familiarity with C major
- – able to play basic scales without notation
- – able to play at least 2 tunes without notation
- – attend other fiddle workshops
- – play with a community folk music group
- – join in folk music sessions
- – receive tuition on the fiddle/violin

Holly & Ivy Roadshow
Friday 13th December
Jarrow Hall, Church Bank, Jarrow, South Tyneside, NE32 3DY
5.30 pm (until approx 6.30 pm)
Join David Oliver, Laura Connolly and Stewart Hardy for this lively, informal and participatory celebration of songs, stories, dances and customs associated with Midwinter, Christmas and the New Year.

Holly & Ivy Roadshow at the Festive Gathering 2019
Christmas concert with a folk twist.
This year special guests Holly & Ivy will bring their festive magic from the North East of England. Performers Stewart Hardy, David Oliver and Laura Connolly will join Cecil Sharp House Choir on a lively and exciting journey through the midwinter customs and traditions of Britain. Join us for our annual yuletide celebration crammed with song, dance, music and good cheer.

George is a North East institution known for hilarious stories, driving tunes on guitar and moving songs in a fine baritone voice – the quintessential folk club entertainer! I am delighted to be joining him again, this time on board a floating Lightship! Join us at the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club Music Night in the South Harbour, Blyth.

George is a North East institution known for hilarious stories, driving tunes on guitar and moving songs in a fine baritone voice – the quintessential folk club entertainer! I am delighted to be joining him again as we return to the fantastic Davy Lamp Folk Club at Washington Arts Centre. See you there!

George and I will be returning to the fabulous Cramlington Folk Club again this year, on Weds 19th Feb. Join us for some more of George’s moving songs and hilarious stories. I’ll be doing my best to keep up!
Once you have heard George perform his songs, accompanied by his guitar playing with Stewart’s fiddle, there is no doubt that the success of this highly entertaining duo is built on solid musical foundations

Bottle Bank Band is delighted to be heading to The Hearth in Horsley, where the acoustics of the church are absolutely wonderful.
Tickets £12.50 / £7.50 (under 19s) from website.
The Hearth Cafe will be open for evening meals from 5.30pm, please book on 01661 853 563
Four exceptional musicians collaborate to create a new, exciting take on traditional fiddle music.
Bottle Bank Band brings together the fiddling talents of Sophy Ball, Chloe Jones, David Jones and Stewart Hardy. The glorious sound of these four fiddles, rich in harmony and captivating arrangements, is underpinned by an instinctive understanding of traditional playing, which gives voice and space to the musicality and talent of the individual players.
Their repertoire is firmly rooted in, but not limited to, the North East of England and its centuries’ old tradition of fiddle playing. Individually the members of Bottle Bank Band have all established reputations as outstanding musicians, and by coming together in this combination they have created a new, exciting musical landscape.
Recordings
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1 month ago
Fancy a few tunes?Just a couple of days until the January Workshops on Zoom. There's a relaxed Friday evening of tunes to play-along to on any instrument and the dots (including tunes, harmonies and chords) are provided. Plus there are two Fiddle Workshops on Saturday, each teaching a tune and fiddle techniques aimed at a different level. Visit the website for full details and booking info. All resources are provided and workshops are recorded and available on YouTube after the event.
www.stewarthardy.co.uk/january2021-workshops/
Stewart Hardy Music updated their cover photo.1 month ago
Stewart Hardy Music's cover photo ... See MoreSee Less2 months ago
Gearing up for a new block at North East Fiddle School!~~~
A new year, a new block of online fiddle tuition!
We begin again at NEFS on Weds 13th Jan and bookings are now open. There will be five weeks of material - video tutorials to teach techniques and tunes, and live Zoom workshops for Fiddle Practice techniques and learning core repertoire tunes. Recordings of the workshops will be available afterwards too, so you can access all of the materials at any time you choose!
Full details are on the website linked in the event information below. (Sadly the course isn't free as the event shows 🙁 I can't get the FB event to show the price unless it's a Paid FB event! There are also 5 weeks of video tutorials and Zoom workshops, but I couldn't find the event scheduling feature - is it just me today?!?!?!)
We hope you can join our friendly community of fiddle players!
www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/ ... See MoreSee Less
Tags
30 Years Collection Bill Elliot Bottle Bank Band CD Launch Community Strings Fiddle Day Frank McLaughlin George Welch Graham Dixon Halsway Manor HISS Holly & Ivy James Hill Jimmy's Fiddle JSArts Maddison's Thread Mick West Trio Minstrelsy Morpeth Gathering North East Fiddle School Northumbrian Shop Solo TFA workshop