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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
Arrangement Techniques for Mixed Instruments
7th – 9th October 2022
Shepherds Dene, near Riding Mill, Northumberland, NE44 6AF
This course is currently fully booked, but please get in touch if you would like to go onto the waiting list.
Join Stewart in the beautiful retreat house of Shepherds Dene in Northumberland, for a weekend of exploring new tunes and creating arrangements. The workshop will be limieted to 8 people and will run from 4 pm on Friday until 4 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 to express your interest in this course, please email Ali (jsarts@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.
North East Fiddle School returns with another block of fully online materials, plus a single day workshop in-person.
Technique and tunes are taught through Video Tutorials which are added to weekly and can be accessed indefinitely after that so you can work at your own pace.
This block we are delighted to present a special video tutorial by NEFS friend and guest tutor, Kevin Lees.
For those who enjoy the live engagement, there are weekly Fiddle Practice sessions and tunes taught live on Zoom each Wednesday evening for the five weeks of the block. These are great fun, and a good way to keep up with playing your fiddle regularly, whilst improving your technique and learning some core repertoire tunes.
There is a full day’s workshop on Saturday 15th October which is taught in person at Wylam Methodist Church and can be booked separately – a discount is applied if you book both.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
North East Fiddle School returns with a new block of fully online materials, plus a single day workshop in-person.
The in-person Workshop Day on Saturday 15th October will run from 10:00 until 17:00 at Wylam Methodist Church. There will be three workshops run by Stewart and Melissa, with a session to finish the afternoon.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
North East Fiddle School returns with another block of fully online materials, plus a single day workshop in-person.
Technique and tunes are taught through Video Tutorials which are added to weekly and can be accessed indefinitely after that so you can work at your own pace.
This block we are delighted to present a special video tutorial by NEFS friend and guest tutor, Kevin Lees.
For those who enjoy the live engagement, there are weekly Fiddle Practice sessions and tunes taught live on Zoom each Wednesday evening for the five weeks of the block. These are great fun, and a good way to keep up with playing your fiddle regularly, whilst improving your technique and learning some core repertoire tunes.
There is a full day’s workshop on Saturday 15th October which is taught in person at Wylam Methodist Church and can be booked separately – a discount is applied if you book both.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
Northumbrian Pipers’ Society and Tyneside Fiddle Alliance
The Northumbrian Pipers’ Society and the Tyneside Fiddle Alliance are teaming up to bring you some fantastic performers for an evening of Northumbrian music featuring pipes, fiddles and more! I will be joined by a friend or two to play a few tunes in the first half, and the TFA will be finishing the concert with a wonderful set.
George and I will be heading to South Shields Folk Club for a relaxed Sunday evening on 23rd October. 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
Frank McLaughlin and I have really been enjoying getting back into rehearsals recently. We are delighted to have been invited to play at the Edinburgh Folk Club during half term on Wednesday October 26th. If you are anywhere near, do come along or if you know someone in the Edinburgh area, please encourage them to step through the door.
8.00 pm start, doors/bar open from 7.30 pm
North East Fiddle School returns with another block of fully online materials, plus a single day workshop in-person which this block will form part of our first NEFS Residential Weekend.
Technique and tunes are taught through Video Tutorials which are added to weekly and can be accessed indefinitely after that so you can work at your own pace.
This block we are delighted to present a special video tutorial by NEFS friend and guest tutor, Grace Smith.
For those who enjoy the live engagement, there are weekly Fiddle Practice sessions and tunes taught live on Zoom each Wednesday evening for the five weeks of the block. These are great fun, and a good way to keep up with playing your fiddle regularly, whilst improving your technique and learning some core repertoire tunes. We will then hold a Zoom play-through of our new video tutorial and live tunes on Weds 7th December.
There is a full day’s workshop on Saturday 3rd December which this block will be in person at Shepherds Dene and can be booked separately as part of the NEFS Residential Weekend.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
JSArts Fiddle Technique
4th – 6th November 2022
Rydal Hall, Rydal, Ambleside LA22 9LX
Join Stewart for a weekend of intensive fiddle tuition at this beautiful location in the Lake District. The workshop will typically take a maxiumum of 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. 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 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 further information or to request a booking form, please email Ali (jsarts@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.
~ ~ ~
- – 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
North East Fiddle School returns with another block of fully online materials, plus a single day workshop in-person which this block will form part of our first NEFS Residential Weekend.
Technique and tunes are taught through Video Tutorials which are added to weekly and can be accessed indefinitely after that so you can work at your own pace.
This block we are delighted to present a special video tutorial by NEFS friend and guest tutor, Grace Smith.
For those who enjoy the live engagement, there are weekly Fiddle Practice sessions and tunes taught live on Zoom each Wednesday evening for the five weeks of the block. These are great fun, and a good way to keep up with playing your fiddle regularly, whilst improving your technique and learning some core repertoire tunes. We will then hold a Zoom play-through of our new video tutorial and live tunes on Weds 7th December.
There is a full day’s workshop on Saturday 3rd December which this block will be in person at Shepherds Dene and can be booked separately as part of the NEFS Residential Weekend.
Check out the NEFS website for full details, see which tunes are being taught this block by myself and Melissa Whitehead, and you can book online through the website: http://www.northeastfiddleschool.org.uk/
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1 week ago
🎧🎻🎹 Our next set of Zoom workshops is this weekend, on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th April. Each workshop can be booked individually, and all will be available on-demand after the weekend. Book now on the website!There will be lots of favourite tunes with harmonies and chords provided for the Friday evening play-along session. All instruments are welcome, and alternate clefs or keys for transposing instruments can be provided on request. Then on Saturday in the fiddle workshops, we'll be looking at a fabulous north east tune by Geroge Mitchell of the Cheviot Ranters, call Geordie's Rant, in the morning. In the afternoon, it will be the turn of Shrewsbury Lasses, one of the classic country dance tunes of the English repertoire. Full resources including audio files and a worksheet are provided. Visit the website for more info and bookings 😃2 weeks ago
There will be lots of fascinating facts and insights into the life and times of William Shield, presented by Dr Amélie Addison on Saturday afternoon, illustrated with a few fiddle tunes! We'll be at the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum at 4pm.Morpeth Northumbrian Gathering(Disclaimer: more recent photos are available!) ... See MoreSee Less3 weeks ago
It was lovely to play this tune again with Grace Smith Music. Thanks for the invitation to be a part of this fabulous project! ... 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