Fiddle Studio

Starting summer vacation this week so I'm replaying an episode I recorded in December of 2022 about double stops and drones. I'll be back next week with Old-Time tunes.

My course for double stops and drones can be found here.

This episode covers how Megan helps her students learn to play double stops and drones and presents a setting of Tail Toddle from a workshop with Jeremy Kittel at Fiddle Hell. 

The artist mentioned is Jeremy Kittel.

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

This week I have a conversation with Irish fiddler Ellery Klein. Ellery Klein performs across New England with the fiddle, flute, and guitar trio Fódhla and nationally with the three-fiddle Celtic powerhouse group, The Bow Tides, whose debut album, Sailing On, was released in 2022. She also teaches fiddle to all ages in the Boston area and beyond.

Ellery graduated with a major in instrumental music from Cincinnati’s public magnet School for Creative and Performing Arts in 1992. She received an MA in Irish Traditional Music Performance from the University of Limerick in 2001. She toured nationally with the Irish supergroup Gaelic Storm from 2003-2007.

Ellery and I talk about teaching and learning, switching from classical to fiddle, all about the Irish roll (with tips!), and how three former Gaelic Storm fiddlers formed the Bow tides and how they work together as a fiddle trio. We had a great time!

The tune this week is York Street Stepper by Ellery Klein.

Ellery Klein's website is elleryklein.net
Find the Bow Tides at thebowtides.com

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

Let's talk about playing harmonies on the fiddle. How can you get started with learning and playing harmonies and how do you get better at coming up with them on the fly?

Our tune this week is the Irish single reel in D, Stoney Steps.

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

Andrew VanNorstrand performs with his brother Noah VanNorstrand and Chris Miller in the Faux Paws, a contemporary folk band that plays fiddle tunes and original songs with just about the best groove around. The Faux Paws are making an album and you can get involved and find out more here. The time window is closing soon!

Andrew grew up playing fiddle and guitar and touring with his family band Great Bear and dominating the contra dance scene, playing every contra dance and festival you can imagine all over the US, and recording albums including “Dancing Again” and “Rawr!”. He is a prolific composer, creator of tunes and songs, his singer-songwriter album is “That We Could Find a Way to Be”. 

Andrew and I talk about early training in genre dabbling, the depths to which music can be explored, the purpose of dance music, choices in production, perfectionism and exploring a musical choice that wasn't expected, and much more. We touch on why Andrew stopped playing for dances and why a crowdfunding campaign is an opportunity to make a connection and personalize a tiny part of the content wave that flows over us. Andrew describes some new choices the Faux Paws are making with their current album.

Find the musical multiverse of Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand's music on Bandcamp.

You can hear Noah VanNorstrand's interview for the Fiddle Studio Podcast here.

The tune for this week is a tune of Andrew's called Lost River.

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

If you're a reader and a fiddler, here are some recommendations for books from children's books to YA and general fiction that feature fiddlers and fiddling. Some of these books have even been known to inspire folks to pick up the fiddle!

Kids books:
Mole music
Just Enough and Not Too Much
Fiddling Sam
Nina’s Waltz
A Fiddle for Angus

YA or chapter books: 
The New Policemen
Little House on the Prairie
A Girl of the Limberlost
Fiddle Fever

Thriller/Detective:
Violin conspiracy
An Equal Music
As I walked Out One Midsummer Morning
The Busker
The Fifth String
Fiddle Game
Keeper of Secrets
The Gentle Care for Broken Thing

War:
Long March Home
Simon the Fiddler
Cold Mountain
Master & Commander

South/Mountain Culture:
Fiddler’s Ghost
The Devil’s Dream
The Insolent Breed
The Grapes of Wrath
Refuge by Dot Jackson

Healing:
Come and Go, Molly Snow
Soldier's Joy
Paddy on the Hardwood

Romance:
Carnal Innocence
Fiddler’s Dream
The Devil and Preston Black

Our tune this week is the Irish jig Donnybrook Fair.

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

We talk about the personalities of the different major and minor keys. What makes C sound so different from A on the fiddle? Why do players try out a tune in different keys, and how do the keys lay out on the instrument?

Our tune is the Irish E minor reel Maid of Mt. Kisco. Love this one!

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

This is my second conversation with Rachel Eddy, since I forgot to record the first one! We talk about finding flow in fiddling, learning tunes off recordings (or not), remembering tunes, singing, some great stories about Rachel's dad and his fiddle journey, and some ideas for fiddle students to help relax and get balanced while playing. 

Rachel Eddy (they/them) hails from West Virginia, where they grew up steeped in Appalachian music and dance. Rachel’s multi-instrumental talents and soulful singing bring a powerful energy to the stage. In addition to being a performer, Rachel is passionate about teaching. They have taught fiddle, banjo and guitar at the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins WV, at Sore Fingers Summer school in the UK, and different various weekend workshops from the hills of West Virginia to Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, London and Wales.

Contact Rachel at [email protected]

Rachel's website is https://www.racheleddymusic.com/

The tune this week is Rose in the Mountain, played live by Rachel on the podcast!

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

We're talking about tapes on the fiddle, or stickers, or fingerboard stick on charts, or whatever you're curious about. Did you use tapes when you started? What are they useful for and how long does it make sense to use them?

Our tune is Broken Down Gambler, an Old-Time reel in G.

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

When I talk about articulation I'm referring to the beginning of the note, or the attack, and how long the note is generally. Articulation, or catching the string, or getting a "scrubby" sound, has a huge effect on your sound.

Our tune is Dusty Miller, an Old-Time modal reel in A.

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].

Have you wondered what it's like to compete in a fiddle competition? So have I. So I signed up for one and we'll see how it goes. I talk a little about how I'm planning to prepare.

Our tune for this week is Old Billy Hell, a half length crooked Old-Time tune. 

Our album release party contra dance will be May 30th at 7pm in Baltimore at the Mobtown Ballroom. Come on down!

I teach fiddle lessons!
Find out more at meganbeller.com/teaching

I also have a website for learning to fiddle: Fiddle Studio has courses and a mailing list and my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!

My Fiddle Studio Book 1: Fiddling for the Complete Beginner is FREE on Amazon! It has over 30 easy beginner fiddle tunes with sheet music, tab, and a link to a video for each tune!

• Fiddle Books 
• Bandcamp
• YouTube   

You can reach me at [email protected].