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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 February 2023 workshops Fiddle Day Fiddle Technique Fiddling Three Frank McLaughlin Geordie Night George Welch Halsway Manor Hardy Tyers Harmony Historically Informed Summer School Holly & Ivy Intermediate James Hill Jan 2022 Workshops Jimmy's Fiddle JSArts July 2022 Workshops Laura Connolly Lee Maddison Maddison's Thread Mar 2022 Workshops Mar/Apr Workshops 2023 May 2022 Workshops May Tour 2017 May Workshops 2023 Mick West Trio Mixed Instruments Morpeth Community Strings Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering NEFS SWW North East North East Fiddle School Northumbrian Ranters November 2022 workshops November Workshops Phoenix Folk Repertoire & Music Skills (Mixed Instruments) Repertoire for Mixed Instruments Residential TFA William Shield Wisewood Folk Woolsington Strings Zoom
October Workshops
Fiddle Workshop 2
This workshop will provide a warm-up, technical session and will teach a tune which illustrates the use of the technique explored. Aimed at intermediate to advanced level fiddle players. Full worksheets will be provided, with the tune, bowing and ornamentation, along with audio files of the tune, in advance. 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.
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 3rd October: 14:00 – 16:00
For full details, please see the October Workshops page.
A single workshop is £20, attend two for £35 or all three for £50.
Email Ali to book your place.
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.
Arrangement Techniques (Mixed Instruments)
9th – 11th October 2020
Parcevall Hall, Appletreewick, Skipton, N. Yorks BD23 6DG
5.00 pm start & finish time.
Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Parcevall Hall near Skipton for a weekend workshop exploring arrangement techniques for mixed instrument ensembles. 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 aim to create well-mixed 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 residential weekend fee of £335 covers all food, tuition, daytime refreshments and two nights single occupancy accommodation, some of which is en suite (for medical reasons, then first come first served). The non-residential rate is £250 and includes everything except bed & breakfast. 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)
Fiddle Technique
13th – 15th November 2020
Shepherd’s Dene, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6AF
Join Stewart in the beautiful Northumbrian setting of Shepherd’s Dene near Riding Mill, for a weekend of intensive fiddle tuition. The workshop will typically take between 10 and 15 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
December Workshops
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. Spoiler alert – Stewart is a fiddle player! The harmonies may extend beyond the range of your instrument so if you have specific requirements, please get in touch.
Zoom Workshop
Friday 4th December 19:00 – 21:00
For full details, please see the December Workshops page.
A single workshop is £20, attend two for £35 or all three for £50.
Book your place by purchasing through 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.
December Workshops
Fiddle Workshop 1
This workshop will provide a warm-up, technical session and will teach a tune which illustrates the use of the technique explored. Suitable for players from competent beginners to upper intermediates. Full worksheets will be provided, with the tune, bowing and ornamentation, along with audio files of the tune, in advance. 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.
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 4th December: 10:00 – 12:00
For full details, please see the December Workshops page.
A single workshop is £20, attend two for £35 or all three for £50.
Book your place by purchasing through 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
Fiddle Workshop 2
This workshop will provide a warm-up, technical session and will teach a tune which illustrates the use of the technique explored. Aimed at intermediate to advanced level fiddle players. Full worksheets will be provided, with the tune, bowing and ornamentation, along with audio files of the tune, in advance. 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.
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 5th December: 14:00 – 16:00
For full details, please see the December Workshops page.
A single workshop is £20, attend two for £35 or all three for £50.
Book your place by purchasing through 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.
North East Fiddle School returns with a new block of fully online materials.
Technique and tunes are taught through video tutorials which are added to weekly and can be accessed indefinitely after that so you can work at your own pace.
For those who enjoy the live environment, there are weekly Fiddle Practice sessions and tunes taught live on Zoom each Wednesday evening for the five weeks of the block. These are great fun, and a good way to keep up with playing your fiddle regularly, whilst improving your technique and learning some core repertoire tunes.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
North East Fiddle School returns with a new block of fully online materials.
Technique and tunes are taught through video tutorials which are added to weekly and can be accessed indefinitely after that so you can work at your own pace.
For those who enjoy the live environment, there are weekly Fiddle Practice sessions and tunes taught live on Zoom each Wednesday evening for the five weeks of the block. These are great fun, and a good way to keep up with playing your fiddle regularly, whilst improving your technique and learning some core repertoire tunes.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
North East Fiddle School returns with a new block of fully online materials.
Technique and tunes are taught through video tutorials which are added to weekly and can be accessed indefinitely after that so you can work at your own pace.
For those who enjoy the live environment, there are weekly Fiddle Practice sessions and tunes taught live on Zoom each Wednesday evening for the five weeks of the block. These are great fun, and a good way to keep up with playing your fiddle regularly, whilst improving your technique and learning some core repertoire tunes.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
January 2021 Workshops
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 29th January, 19:00 – 21:00
For full details, please see the January Workshops page.
A single workshop is £20, attend two for £35 or all three for £50.
Book your place by purchasing through 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.
Recordings
Facebook Feed
4 days ago
🎶 The Tune VaultWe've just had a wonderful fiddling weekend at Shepherds Dene. Many thanks to the lovely folk who came along and contributed so much to making the whole event such fun. Now I’m back home, it's time to open The Tune Vault and deposit another favourite James Hill tune. Hope you enjoy The Hunter.🎥 Link in the comments5 days ago
There are worse places to work for the weekend 😊🎻#ilovemyjob #fiddlecourseStewart Hardy Music ... See MoreSee Less1 week ago
🎶 The Tune Vault - Scant of SillerWilliam Vickers Manuscript, 1770youtu.be/RCJpVSis614Sadly, hard times have become the norm for so many these days. Contributions to my bursary fund for assisting musicians to attend the various courses and projects that Ali and I put together are always gratefully received.Scant of Siller (Wm Vickers MS, 1770)A favourite tune that leapt out during an initial perusal of Matt Seattles first edition of the William Vickers manuscript, published as The Great Northern Tunebook back in the 1980s. I suspect some development of the tune has occurred over the years. It still seems to sum up the pecuniary position of a jobbing musician! ... See MoreSee LessScant Of Siller (Wm Vickers MS, 1770) | The Tune Vault
Scant Of Siller (Wm Vickers MS, 1770)- The Tune Vault by Stewart HardyA favourite tune that leapt out during an initial perusal of Matt Seattle's first edit...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 The Tune Vault Tyneside Fiddle Alliance