- Categories
-
Tags
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
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 Workshops 2023
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 12th May, 19:00 – 21:00
£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. 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.
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.
May Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 2
More details and bookings coming soon!
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 13th April: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Intermediate to Advanced players
April Waltz (Selma Kaplan)
I learnt this gorgeous waltz, composed by the contradance pianist, Selma Kaplan, from the legendary Alistair Anderson – a great man to whom so many folk musicians owe so much. It’s worth learning just for the sheer beauty of the melody but it also makes a great vehicle for looking at ornamentation.
You can have a listen to the tune on The Tune Vault.
£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.
Bottle Bank Band is delighted to have been asked by the Hertiage Society to perform a concert at St Mary’s on Tuesday 6th June at 7.00 pm.
Doors open at 6.30 pm for refreshments.
Tickets £5.00 and pre-booking is essential.
Book online at gatesheadlibraries.eventbrite.com or call St Mary’s on 0191 433 4699
The astonishing combination of Sophy Ball, Stewart Hardy, David Jones and Chloe Jones creates a musical experience which is not to be missed. They are all fine fiddlers with back catalogues of recordings and individual acclaim, but as Bottle Bank Band they bring a dazzling array of tunes with beautifully crafted harmonies. The intimate setting of St Mary’s Heritage Centre is a perfect venue to enjoy their musicality as they perform one of their rare appearances in the region. Doors open at 6.30pm for refreshments.
July Workshops 2023
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 7th July, 19:00 – 21:00
£20
Book you place from 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.
NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend with Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
Full details from the NEFS website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/
- Saturday 8th July – Full day of Fiddle Tune & Technique Workshops (Wylam Methodist Church)
- Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
- Sunday 9th July – Fiddle Ensemble Day (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
Each workshop day is £44, attend both for £84.
£44 – places are limited.
- In-person tuition focusing on developing fiddle technique
- Tunes and technique delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- In-depth fiddle teaching aimed at Levels 2 and 3
- The day includes 3 mixed ability workshops, looking at tunes and techniques, and time for a tutor-guided session
Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall, 7.30 – 10.30 pm)
Sunday Full-day Fiddle Ensemble Day Sunday 9th July, 9.30 am – 4.00 pm at Riding Mill Parish Hall, Millfield Rd, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6DJ
£44 – places are limited Includes:
- In-person tuition focusing on fiddle ensemble playing techniques
- Includes tunes, harmonies, fiddle chords and fiddle ensemble arrangement techniques.
- Teaching delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- The day will finish with a tutor-guided session
NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend with Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
Full details from the NEFS website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/
- Saturday 8th July – Full day of Fiddle Tune & Technique Workshops (Wylam Methodist Church)
- Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
- Sunday 9th July – Fiddle Ensemble Day (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
Each workshop day is £44, attend both for £84.
£44 – places are limited.
- In-person tuition focusing on developing fiddle technique
- Tunes and technique delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- In-depth fiddle teaching aimed at Levels 2 and 3
- The day includes 3 mixed ability workshops, looking at tunes and techniques, and time for a tutor-guided session
Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall, 7.30 – 10.30 pm)
Sunday Full-day Fiddle Ensemble Day Sunday 9th July, 9.30 am – 4.00 pm at Riding Mill Parish Hall, Millfield Rd, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6DJ
£44 – places are limited Includes:
- In-person tuition focusing on fiddle ensemble playing techniques
- Includes tunes, harmonies, fiddle chords and fiddle ensemble arrangement techniques.
- Teaching delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- The day will finish with a tutor-guided session
NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend with Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
Full details from the NEFS website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/classes/
- Saturday 8th July – Full day of Fiddle Tune & Technique Workshops (Wylam Methodist Church)
- Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
- Sunday 9th July – Fiddle Ensemble Day (Riding Mill Parish Hall)
Each workshop day is £44, attend both for £84.
£44 – places are limited.
- In-person tuition focusing on developing fiddle technique
- Tunes and technique delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- In-depth fiddle teaching aimed at Levels 2 and 3
- The day includes 3 mixed ability workshops, looking at tunes and techniques, and time for a tutor-guided session
Satuday evening informal concert & session, featuring Stewart Hardy & Frank McLaughlin (Riding Mill Parish Hall, 7.30 – 10.30 pm)
Sunday Full-day Fiddle Ensemble Day Sunday 9th July, 9.30 am – 4.00 pm at Riding Mill Parish Hall, Millfield Rd, Riding Mill, Northumberland NE44 6DJ
£44 – places are limited Includes:
- In-person tuition focusing on fiddle ensemble playing techniques
- Includes tunes, harmonies, fiddle chords and fiddle ensemble arrangement techniques.
- Teaching delivered by both Grace Smith and Stewart Hardy
- The day will finish with a tutor-guided session
Fiddle Foundations
1st – 3rd September 2023
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 £375 covers all food, tuition, daytime refreshments and two nights single occupancy accommodation, most of which is en suite.
The Fiddle Foundations workshop is a standard level technique course and is being 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, 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)
- – 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
Recordings
Facebook Feed
1 week ago
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! 🎂😊This content isn't available at the moment
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it, or it's been deleted.1 week ago
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" 🤣 ... See MoreSee LessTykeside (James Hill) | The Tune Vault
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...2 weeks ago
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 🎻 ... See MoreSee LessTags
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