Irish Fiddle Lessons - Individual Lessons

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Fiddlers

Individual Lessons

New to the Violin? | Beginners Lessons | From Violin to Fiddle

Completely New to the Violin?

That is fantastic!! There are few things better than seeing someone's delight in playing their first tune on the fiddle. Complete beginners are very welcome for a one hour introductory lesson using a loan violin. The lesson will cost £25 and if you wish to hire the fiddle for two weeks it will cost a further £10 (plus a £50 deposit which will be refunded on return of the instrument).

"I never realised how much fun making music could be! I had never played an instrument in my life but Jill's enthusiasm and patience has made every lesson an inspiration. Now, two years on, I am regularly playing with others and have made many new friends along the way. I thoroughly recommend it! "

Viv - Personnel Consultant - aged 55

Beginners Lessons

Over the course of six weeks you will learn important warm up routines, how to hold the violin and bow (fiddle and stick), the notes used in the first position for basic Irish tunes, and a background into Irish music. You will do this whilst learning a simple polka and a simple jig. These will be taught traditionally by ear so some kind of recording device is necessary!

"I found Jill to be a experienced and generous teacher who has a real passion for making music. She wants her students to enjoy playing as much as she does herself. I played the violin when I was very young but had forgotten everything and never expected to be playing a tune by the end of my first lesson; which is exactly what happened! Playing "fiddle" is very different from playing classical violin, I found it to be a lot of fun, an uplifting experience."

Abby - Social Worker - aged 35

There are many musical patterns in Irish tunes and exercises for practice at home are based on these patterns within the tune you are learning.

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Introduction to Irish Fiddle for people who can already play the violin!

These lessons will be of particular interest to people who used to play the violin (perhaps as a child at school) or to players currently playing classical music.

"I've been learning classical violin since school, going through the standard route of taking Grades and playing in orchestras - so I could already play quite well before starting lessons with Jill. However I'd got about as far as I was going to get with this and, to be honest, was getting a bit bored of it all. I'd always been envious of people who could "just play", picking things up by ear and playing without music. So when I saw one of Jill's adverts I decided to investigate. Two years on and I'm glad that I did - it's given my playing a new lease of life........

Pupils who can already play the violin can come along for ideas on how to play the "music" as opposed to "the dots". Manuscript can only annotate within a rigid system of communication - the music is played only when an understanding of the tradition is gained...... rhythm, phrasing, bowing patterns and ornamentation need to be explored.

...........I discovered that I'd been playing the violin for years without really understanding how the instrument works - and now for the first time I feel that I'm actually starting to make music rather than just follow the notes. Jill is a great teacher, with the knack of knowing exactly where you are up to and thinking of the next step to encourage you on."

Tim - IT Consultant - aged 32

You will learn various finger and bowing techniques whilst learning a variety of tunes traditionally by ear. You may need a few lessons to get you started but then you should join one of the evening fiddle groups to learn more tunes whilst coming to private lessons to learn more about rhythm, bowing and ornamentation.

"Fast approaching my 40th birthday, I decided to learn to play the fiddle and get married - not necessarily in that order! I had played piano as a child, and the theoretical basis had left me unable to play by ear or join in with others. Learning with Jill is great, as you're with like-minded people who just enjoy the music (including people who'd hitherto considered themselves 'unmusical'!). Playing with beginners like myself at the weekly groups meant I was able to build confidence; playing with others without getting too precious about it. We all make mistakes sometimes and we've all been beginners at some time. Even the more advanced students are full of enthusiasm and know they're never too good to learn something new.

If you've been put off music before, this would be a great way to get into it, it's loads of fun.

(I confess my original wish to learn came from reading the Little House on the Prairie Books!)"

Maggie - Charity Finance Worker - aged 40

Once the basics of rhythm, bowing and ornamentation have been understood, lesson time can be used for preparing sets of tunes for session playing, solo performance or within a band context. There is plenty of opportunity to practice leading a set in a friendly group setting or at our closed pub session before embarking on the world!

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