Fiddle Studio

Any time you mess with the left hand technique it's going to interfere with your playing. With this in mind how are some ways you can work on unlocking your hand gradually, or consider what's it like to drop everything and completely relearn the left hand.

I made a mistake with the tune. I call it Fred Finn's in the podcast. That is a different reel. This reel is Fred Finn's #2, better known as Preston's. 

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].

Slow practice and rhythms are two different ways to practice and make your playing faster. But how does slowing down help? And how is that different from practicing with rhythmic variations?

Our tune for today is Ne'er Shall I Wean Her, a jig from a session at the ArtHouse bar in Baltimore, Maryland. 

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].

How to create speed by taking the thinking out of the left hand. My current favorite exercise for beginning and intermediate players.

The tune for today is Tommy Mulhaire's, a jig by Tommy Mulhaire (or maybe by Martin his son). 

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 play out in the community and see folks who are still learning to play the fiddle, what is the biggest mistake I see them doing? Listen and find out!

The tune today is The Birds, from a session with Brendan Hearn, Connor Hearn, and Dan Isaacson at the ArtHouse in Baltimore. 

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].

An interview with fiddler and clawhammer banjo player Brad Kolodner. We talk a lot about the banjo, but Brad does more than just banjo. Topics include growing up as the children of folk musicians, the commercialization of Old-Time music, and the lack of women on bills at Old-Time Festivals. Hear all about Brad's upcoming projects, links below.

Features the tune Stony Run by Brad Kolodner from the album Stony Run from Ken and Brad Kolodner.

Brad's website: https://www.bradkolodner.com/
Charm City Junction: https://www.charmcityjunction.com/
The Baltimore Old-Time Festival: https://www.baltimoreoldtimefest.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].

FIRST AIRED ON JANUARY 10th 2023 (BEST OF)
Let's talk about how to improve your tuning on the fiddle. If you're struggling with this, you're not alone! We'll explore three key elements in tuning your hand on the fiddle; where your hand is on the fingerboard, finger spacing and placement, and the art of micro-adjustments.

This episode presents a setting of The Kilmovee from a session at the Arthouse Bar and covers how Megan works with her students on playing in tune.

I mentioned Music Learning Theory, Alice Kanack, and the fiddler Dermot Grogan.

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].

What is it that makes fiddling sound like dance music? Why does it sound so different when you hear a classical violinist play a fiddle tune, what's missing? We're talking about the variety of accents, volume, and quality of tone within the running notes of a fiddle tune. It's what makes the music sound like fiddling!

We present a setting of the French Canadian fiddle tune La Moquine by Claude Méthé that I learned at a jam at Fiddle Hell.

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].

How does jamming help with your fiddle playing and how does practicing help your fiddle playing. We dive into this topic, exploring how each can help you improve on the fiddle and when one might be a little more useful to meet a specific playing goal.

Our tune this week is called Sleeping on the Floor, from the French Canadian song Ma Pallaissse by La Bolduc. UPDATE: I discovered Mary Bolduc's connection to this tune after I recorded the podcast, so the composer/collector note is an update to what I said in the podcast. Thanks!

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 we hear from New England fiddler Lissa Schneckenburger. Lissa  has been performing and recording New England fiddle and folk music for the past 20 years. Her fiddling is one of a kind, intensely danceable, with virtuosic technique and fluidity. She shares what it was like to fiddle as a kid, traveling to fiddle contests in Maine, her experiences studying music at the New England Conservatory, and her latest projects to come out of the period of the pandemic.
Lissa Shneckenburger is well known for teaching adult fiddlers how to learn by ear, and she breaks down the different roadblocks her students run into when trying to get the hang of it.

We present the tune For Grada from Lissa's album Falling Forward.
Lissa's Website: https://lissafiddle.com/
Bandcamp: https://lissafiddle.bandcamp.com/
Mailing List: https://lissafiddle.com/contact/
Ear Training Course: https://lissafiddle.com/store/learning-by-ear-video-series/

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].

The bow hair can be flat. The bow can tilt away from you. The bow can tilt towards you. How does tilting the bow affect your tone and why and how do different players in different genres use this technique?

The tune today is Half Past Four, a tune played by blind fiddler Ed Haley from West Virginia. This setting is from the Baltimore Old-Time Jam.

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].