NEFS Residential WeekendFri 1st Dec, 5pm – Sun 3rd Dec, 11.30 amShepherds Dene Retreat Centre After enjoying the December residential weekend last year, and with all the lovely feedback received, we have decided to repeat the event. We are delighted to be returning to Shepherds Dene Retreat Centre near Riding Mill in Northumberland and look…
NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend
NEFS Summer Workshop WeekendSaturday 8th and Sunday 9th July 2023 We are delighted to announce that Grace Smith will be teaching alongside Stewart Hardy for this weekend, and 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. The…
Virtual Summer School with NEFS
North East Fiddle School is hosting an online Summer School in August with some wonderful guest tutors. There will be guided fiddle practices, live workshops, exclusive video tutorials, Q&A panels, a play-along session led by the tutors and a Summer School Tutors’ Concert. Melissa Whitehead and I are joined by Sophy Ball, Kevin Lees, Grace…
New half-term at NEFS
We’ve had a great start to the North East Fiddle School and have been delighted by the response from all the participants. We are now planning the next five-weeks of torment tuition(!), with scales, exercises and drills, and maybe one or two new tunes! It’s a great way to improve your fiddle tone, intonation, groove and…
Happy Christmas one and all!
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and may your New Year be filled with fiddle music! It’s not too late to sign up for the first half-term for classes at the North East Fiddle School! Indeed, if your New Year’s Resolutions include self-improvement, doing something creative, or dedicating a small amount of time to yourself…
Announcing the North East Fiddle School
We are extremely excited to be able to announce a new project for 2018, the North East Fiddle School. If you missed our special announcement Newsletter at the end of November, then below is the message that Stewart sent out. We have appreciated all the support we’ve received so far, and can’t wait to get…
Recordings
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Upcoming Events
Dec6Fri7:00 pm December 2024: Play-along Session @ Online - on ZoomDecember 2024: Play-along Session @ Online - on ZoomDec 6 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
December Workshops 2024 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,...Dec7Sat10:00 am December Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDecember Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDec 7 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pmDecember Workshops 2024 Fiddle Workshop 1 Zoom Workshop The Shepherd and ShepherdessA joyful and very popular English Country Dance tune. Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with detailed instruction for any useful techniques...2:00 pm December Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDecember Workshops 2024: Fiddle ... @ Online - on ZoomDec 7 @ 2:00 pm – 4:00 pmDecember Workshops 2024 Fiddle Workshop 2 Zoom Workshop The Prussian DanceA belting jig, with a version that Stewart has from his pal and colleague, Sophy Ball. Learn a tune steadily, taught phrase by phrase with...Feb9Sun7:00 pm Phoenix Folk: An Evening with… S... @ On ZoomPhoenix Folk: An Evening with… S... @ On ZoomFeb 9 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pmIt was lovely to be asked again by Maurice and Marina of Phoenix Folk to join them for one of their “An Evening With…” sessions. Once again, I’ll be playing a short solo set and... Facebook Feed
Friday night is online session night! (Booking link in the comments 😊) Come along and join me for some lovely tunes, one of which will be this beauty by George Reynolds, just added to The Tune Vault.🎶 The Tune Vault
Ice on the Water (George Reynolds)
Ice on the Water (George Reynolds) | The Tune Vault
youtu.be
Ice on the Water (George Reynolds)- The Tune Vault by Stewart HardyAn utterly beautiful melody to which I was first introduced by Thomas and Jo Green. It’s ...
It has been 23 fantastic years with The Holly and Ivy road show, every single one of them cherished and thoroughly enjoyed. Xmas will be very different without Holly and Ivy. Thanks to everyone who has supported it over the years. 🎄❄️From Laura:
Absolutely heartbroken to say that after 23 joyous years of performing in The Holly & Ivy Roadshow with the incredible David Oliver and Stewart Hardy, we have sadly made the decision to make this year our final year. This project is what Christmas is all about for me, getting together with good friends, singing, dancing, eating lots and lots of mince pies and sharing our traditions with the most wonderful schools who have made us feel like part of their school families every December. That feeling of walking into a school hall after a whole year has gone by, shouting "Wassail" and hearing the whole school shout it back to you will be a sound I will cherish forever.
They say all good things must come to an end, this has been one of the most wonderful pieces of work I've been involved in.
Thank you to all of the schools, teachers and children who have supported us over the years, we will miss you all next year.
If you have tickets for the Beamish Christmas evenings, you may spot David and I, please come and say hi! (more details to follow).
WASSAIL! ❤️🥹
Stewart Hardy Music
Thank you to St Matthew's for sharing this film x
#wassail #Christmas #traditionalmusic #clogdanceVideo footage from the Holly and the Ivy 2023. Thank you to David, Lauran and Stuart for another fantastic show.
Zoom workshops are coming up in a couple of weeks!Friday evening session - all instruments welcome. Music is provided in advance, with suggested chords and harmony lines.
For the Saturday fiddle workshops, I’ll be looking at a couple of fabulous English Country Dance tunes taken from two major publishers of the mid-eighteenth century, Johnson and Rutherford. In the morning, we’ll learn the joyful and very popular, The Shepherd and Shepherdess. In the afternoon, it is the turn of a belting jig, The Prussian Dance, with a version that I have from my pal and colleague, Sophy Ball.
Book now on the website 🎶🎧🎻🎹 The next set of Zoom workshops will be on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th December. 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 we will have two fabulous tunes for our fiddle workshops. Each one will be chosen to be accessible for learning on Zoom, the techniques required will be covered in detail, and the tunes will be taught phrase by phrase, with lots of repetition. Full resources including audio files and a worksheet will be provided.
Visit the website for more info and bookings 😃