Apr
13
Sat
April Workshops 2024: Fiddle Workshop 1 @ Online - on Zoom
Apr 13 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

April 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 13th April: 10:00 am – 12:00 noon

Aimed at Competent Beginner to Upper Intermediate level
£20

Book now

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.

April Workshops 2024: Fiddle Workshop 2 @ Online - on Zoom
Apr 13 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

April Workshops 2024

Fiddle Workshop 2

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 13th April: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Aimed at Intermediate to Advanced players
£20

Book now

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.

Sep
6
Fri
JSArts Fiddle Foundations @ Rydal Hall
Sep 6 – Sep 8 all-day
JSArts Fiddle Foundations @ Rydal Hall | Grantham | United Kingdom

Fiddle Foundations

6th – 8th September 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 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.

The Fiddle Foundations workshop is a standard level technique course and is run as an opportunity for fiddle players to look at, in some detail, the fundamental building blocks that Stewart uses to create stylistic interpretations of tunes. He will be teaching some of the basic bowing patterns that help to bring out the distinctive flavour of the most common tune forms. For the left hand, he’ll be concentrating on hand frames and melodic motifs (those note patterns that occur again and again in folk tunes), as well as an approach to ornamentation which is designed to help players access ornaments in a way that is both natural for them and appropriate for the tunes.

This course can accommodate a broad range of experience and ability, 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, detailed worksheets are provided, and recordings of exercises from the course are sent on to you afterwards.

For further information or to express your interest in this course, please email Ali (music@stewarthardy.co.uk)

We would expect participants to have most of the following skills:
  • – 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
In addition fiddlers who attend these courses often have some of the following experience:
  • – attend other fiddle workshops
  • – play with a community folk music group
  • – join in folk music sessions
  • – receive tuition on the fiddle/violin
Nov
1
Fri
JSArts Fiddle Technique @ Rydal Hall
Nov 1 – Nov 3 all-day
JSArts Fiddle Technique @ Rydal Hall | Grantham | United Kingdom

JSArts Fiddle Technique

1st – 3rd November 2024
Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX
3.00 pm start and finish time.
£398 fully inclusive (except bar drinks)

Join Stewart in the beautiful surroundings of Rydal Hall in the Lake District for a weekend of intensive fiddle tuition. The workshop will take a maxiumum of around 14 participants and will run from 4 pm on Friday until 4 pm on 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. Accommodation is in single occupancy rooms, 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.

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 information this or future courses, please email Ali (music@stewarthardy.co.uk)

 

**Covid-19 Update
This course will be run in accordance to our Covid-secure Music Workshop Guidelines, and is subject to any restrictions applicable at the time, and any coronavirus protocols from the venue. Please do not travel to the venue if you feel unwell or have cold-like symptoms.

~ ~ ~

Standard Level courses are aimed at fiddle players with a broad range of experience and ability, from competent beginner to upper intermediate, but please note they are not suitable for absolute or early beginners. We would expect players to have most of the following skills:
  • – 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
In addition fiddlers who attend these courses often have some of the following experience:
  • – attend other fiddle workshops
  • – play with a community folk music group
  • – join in folk music sessions
  • – receive tuition on the fiddle/violin