Why being an adult learner is awesome.
I hear it all the time from my adult students (who constitute the vast majority of my studio): “I wish my parents had made me stick with it when I was six!” “I know I’ll never be as good as my...
View ArticleSalt Creek: 1, Kat: 0, and what you can learn from my epic fail.
I tried to teach “Salt Creek” to one of my students the other day. I totally failed. —- Maybe you’ve heard this old chestnut: Q: Why do fiddle tunes have names? A: How would you tell them apart, if...
View ArticleIra Glass on the suckiness of being a beginner.
I love Ira Glass’ straight talk here about how cruddy it can feel when we’re learning an art or craft, and aren’t yet making work that meets our own standards. As he points out, our high standards...
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Register by Monday night for the Bowing Styles class.
The next Tuesday night Fiddle Lab starts this week, October 30. We’ll look at a bunch of tune types (such as rags, jigs, hornpipes, and reels) that have particular bowing patterns and techniques. Once...
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Swing/Improv Fiddle Lab starts tomorrow.
Care to join us? Tuesdays Nov 27, Dec 4, 11, 18 6:30 – 8pm Bellingham’s Cornwall Park Neighborhood (location emailed when you register) Learn some great swing standards, get some ideas about how to...
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It’s already that time of year again! How’d that happen?
OK, realistically this happens every year for me. Maybe it’s the Eastern Washington native in me waiting for snow to start thinking about Christmas. Anyway, it’s almost here and I forgot to tell you...
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Bruce Molsky is coming!
Wednesday March 13, 7:30 PM Roeder Home $10 – $15 at the door. “OK folks – this is a BIG deal! This man’s music makes big tears roll down my cheeks with remarkable consistency. He’s figured out how to...
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Go Ahead and Take a Solo!
It’s about time for another gentle improvisation class, no? “All right! Fiddle solo!” Terrifying words, when shouted gleefully in your general direction? Yup, been there. March’s Fiddle Lab is all...
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Simon says…
Simon is a great way to practice remembering sequences of notes (and colors and spatial locations, too, but notes are the relevant thing for our purposes). It’s also a great way to procrastinate...
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May’s Tuesday Night Fiddle Lab: Playing in Weird Keys
Tuesdays May 7, 14, 21, 28 6:30 – 8pm “Is this a good key to play fiddle in?” It’s nice when singers bother to ask us this, but they shouldn’t have to. Every key is a good one to play fiddle in, if...
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Salt Creek: 1, Kat: 0, and what you can learn from my epic fail.
I tried to teach “Salt Creek” to one of my students the other day. I totally failed. —- Maybe you’ve heard this old chestnut: Q: Why do fiddle tunes have names? A: How would you tell them apart, if...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fiddle Technique for Classical Violinists – class starts Tuesday
“What’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle?” This is probably the question I am asked most frequently at parties when I tell people I’m a fiddler. You too? Do people whose instinct is to call...
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Ira Glass on the suckiness of being a beginner.
I love Ira Glass’ straight talk here about how cruddy it can feel when we’re learning an art or craft, and aren’t yet making work that meets our own standards. As he points out, our high standards are...
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