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.
March/April Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 2
For more details, see the March/April Workshops 2023 page.
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 1st April: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Intermediate to Advanced players
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.
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.
Jul
8
Sat
Jul 8 @ 9:30 am – 5:00 pm
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.
Saturday Full-day Fiddle Tunes & Technique Workshop Saturday 8th July, 9.30 am – 5.00 pm at Wylam Methodist Church, Chapel Lane, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 8AA
£44 – places are limited.
£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)
The wonderful Frank McLaughlin will be coming down from Edinburgh with his guitar to join Stewart for an informal concert & session on the Saturday evening in Riding Mill Parish Hall (all welcome, free entry, donations encouraged).
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
Jul 8 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm
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.
Saturday Full-day Fiddle Tunes & Technique Workshop Saturday 8th July, 9.30 am – 5.00 pm at Wylam Methodist Church, Chapel Lane, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 8AA
£44 – places are limited.
£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)
The wonderful Frank McLaughlin will be coming down from Edinburgh with his guitar to join Stewart for an informal concert & session on the Saturday evening in Riding Mill Parish Hall (all welcome, free entry, donations encouraged).
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
Jul
9
Sun
Jul 9 @ 9:30 am – 4:00 pm
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.
Saturday Full-day Fiddle Tunes & Technique Workshop Saturday 8th July, 9.30 am – 5.00 pm at Wylam Methodist Church, Chapel Lane, Wylam, Northumberland NE41 8AA
£44 – places are limited.
£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)
The wonderful Frank McLaughlin will be coming down from Edinburgh with his guitar to join Stewart for an informal concert & session on the Saturday evening in Riding Mill Parish Hall (all welcome, free entry, donations encouraged).
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
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.
October Workshops 2023
Fiddle Workshop 2
More details and bookings coming soon!
Zoom Workshop
Saturday 7th October: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Intermediate to Advanced players
Young Scottie (Charlie Sherrit)
This fabulous jig, along with his other masterpiece The Quarryman, is firmly embedded into the Northumbrian tradition and has made the name Charlie Sherrit a familiar one among traditional musicians in the North East of England. Both tunes were championed by The Shepherds and their friends and you will still be called on to play this one for dancing and in sessions. It makes a great vehicle for exploring ways to incorporate ‘lift’ and ‘lilt’ into your playing of jigs.
£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.
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.
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 🎻