Stewart Hardy

Fiddle Foundations

5th – 7th September 2025
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 £402 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. On this course, we’ll also spend some time looking at playing chords on the fiddle; intonation on two strings, bowing on two strings, and cool rhythms for accompanying 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 receive a booking form, 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

Ensemble Playing for Mixed Instruments

3rd – 5th October 2025
Shepherds Dene, Riding Mill, Northumberland  NE44 6AF
4.00 pm start and finish time.

Join Stewart in the beautiful retreat venue of Shepherds Dene, for a weekend of ensemble playing. This course are 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 learning interesting tunes and harmonies to expand your repertoire, improve your skills in ensemble playing, and enjoy the delights of playing harmonies. Accompanying instruments are welcome and we will explore different way of accompanying the tunes using the instruments available on the course. The workshops will be taught “as if by ear”, with the phrases broken down into recognisable motifs, and with enough repetition for those learning by ear. Notation will be provided and can be used as a remider after the course, or at any point for reassurance.

All tuition, resources, accommodation, food and daytime refreshments are included in the course fee. Accommodation is single occupancy bedrooms, with some en suite rooms available. Sheet music and mp3 files of the tunes covered are sent out in advance, full worksheets of the tunes taught are provided, and any recordings from the course are sent on to you afterwards. The course will run from 4 pm on Friday until 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.

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

JSArts Fiddle Technique

7th – 9th November 2025
Rydal Hall, Ambleside LA22 9LX
3.00 pm start and finish time.
£402 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 3 pm on Friday until 3 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 are 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 and a booking form for this course, 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.

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• – 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