Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall in Ambleside, for a weekend of fabulous fiddle tuition.

These courses are centered around the technical issues that come with playing fiddle music, with as much emphasis on how we play as there is on what we play. The workshops delve deep into the tunes, extracting exercises to improve technique and allow its application to a wider repertoire. We focus on left-hand and bowing technique, with the stylistic interpretation of the music a key feature. Tunes are carefully selected for their technical and stylistic content whilst also bearing 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 the need to read the notation. This encourages the development of aural pattern recognition and general musicality, enhancing musicianship and the enjoyment of playing music in social settings. Nevertheless, we gladly make notation available at any point should that be desired or necessary recognising that participants come from a variety of backgrounds with a wide range of preferred learning methods.

Fri 6th – Sun 8th Nov: JSArts Fiddle Technique @ Rydal Hall, 3 pm start/finish