Feb
22
Wed
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
Fri
Arrangement Techniques for Mixed Instruments
24th – 26th February
Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX
Join Stewart in the beautiful setting of Rydal Hall in the Lake District, for a weekend of exploring new tunes and creating arrangements. The workshop will be limited to 8 participants and will run from 3 pm on Friday until 3 pm on Sunday afternoon. It is open to players of any instrument (including transposing instruments) and is 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. 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 any recordings from the course are sent on to you afterwards.
For further information or for a booking form, please email Ali (music@stewarthardy.co.uk)
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
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.
Recordings
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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...
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 🎻