Apr
1
Sat
Apr 1 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
March/April Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 1
For more details, see the March/April Workshops 2023 page.
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 1st April: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Competent Beginner to Upper Intermediate level
Tune details coming soon
Bookings open soon.
£20
March/April Workshops: £20 each.
Buy any two for £35 or all three for £50. The discount will be applied in your basket.
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.
May
5
Fri
Advanced Fiddle Technique
5th – 7th May 2023
Shepherds Dene, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6AF
Join Stewart at the beautiful retreat centre of Shepherds Dene, in the heart of Northumberland, for a weekend of intensive fiddle tuition. The workshop numbers will be kept small and it will run from 4 pm on Friday evening until 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.
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
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 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 (jsarts@stewarthardy.co.uk)
May
13
Sat
May Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 1
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 13th April: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Competent Beginner to Upper Intermediate level
Pistache
This is a fabulous, mesmerising and hypnotic schottische which I learnt from the lovely Mary Moylett. She played the tune at a session on one of the very first JSArts courses, introducing it as The Perranzabuloe Schottische after the place it was taught, and I’ve been playing it ever since. Mary has a beautiful light touch with the bow and this tune suits that approach down to the ground.
£20
May 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.
Oct
7
Sat
October Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 1
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 7th October: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon
Competent Beginner to Upper Intermediate level
The Wild Rose of the Mountain (John Mason)
As co-founder and musical director of the Scottish Fiddle Orchestra, John Mason wrote over 600 tunes. I learnt this one from Willie Taylor in a workshop back in the ‘80s. It seems to be making a bit of a comeback and why not? It is such a beautiful and accessible melody, great for focussing on tone and intonation as well as bow control.
£20
October 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.
Nov
12
Sun
Nov 12 @ 7:30 pm
George and I will be heading to South Shields Folk Club for a relaxed Sunday evening on 12th November. Join us for some more of George’s moving songs and hilarious stories and, as always, 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
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.
Feb
21
Wed
Feb 21 @ 8:00 pm
*Please note: CHANGE OF VENUE
Cramlington Community Centre, East Farm Terrace, Cramlington, NE23 1DT.
No bar available, so bring your own drinks!
What a joy to be playing once again with the irrepressible George Welch at the wonderful Cramlington Folk Club, which rightly boasts such a great audience and terrific residents. George and I have been playing there together off and on for over twenty years and it is always a pleasure to go back. It would be great if you could join us for a fun night of George’s surreal stories and gorgeous songs – we might even fit in a few tunes!
Doors 7.30 pm fpr 8.00 pm
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
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.
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.
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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Happy May Day!Looking back, April had some very lovely moments...
At the Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering illustrating Amélie Addison's wonderful talk on William Shield and with cracking performances by Tyneside Fiddle Alliance, our April Workshops on Zoom, a trip to see the amazing Dudok Quartet Amsterdam, a duo gig with Ali Say at the Phoenix Folk Ltd. Spring Thing, the start of Block 3 at North East Fiddle School, and our JSArts Advanced Fiddle course at Rydal Hall. Happy Spring everyone 🎻
We had a wonderful weekend at Rydal Hall with the JSArts Advanced Fiddle course! Thanks to all who came for your excellent company, hard work and fabulous playing of some rather lovely tunes! 😊Hope you enjoyed yourselves, and that we see you again soon 🎻
NEFS Block 3 starts this week!Sign up now 🎻We have a new block starting on Zoom this week!
Join us for our five weekly Wednesday evening Zoom sessions starting on 24th April with video tutorials on demand, and/or our in-person workshop in Wylam on Saturday 11th May. Bookings now open!
www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/shop/
More details are available on the Classes page of the NEFS website. Get in touch with Ali if you have any questions 😊
🎶 This block we have two more fabulous video tutorials, both English jigs collected in the middle of the nineteenth century from “Wheelwright Robinson” of Abbots Bromley, Flaxley Green Dance from Stewart Hardy Music and, of course, The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, this one from Kevin Lees - Music. Grace Smith Music will be teaching alongside Stewart on our Zoom calls, and will be introducing a lovely Shetland jig as our new live tune.
We are also delighted to announce that Chris Meredith will be teaching with Stewart on our Saturday Workshop in Wylam on 11th May. Chris is a wonderful player and teacher, and was the force behind FiddleTutor.com with some wonderful online tutorials.
📣 Sign up now!