Contact Jill -
jillyelliot@gmail.com and come along to a group for a free taster
session. Complete beginners class is Wednesday evening at 5.30pm, and
the follow-on Slow and Steady class is on
Wednesday at 6.30pm. Play tunes we are learning at the session
on Wednesday evenings at 8.00pm
Welcome to learning a musical instrument
! This page will help you to get started with playing and develop
effective listening skills.
To play music, you must be able to use your ears and not your
eyes! It is important to relate the sound of what you hear
when playing, to the sound you wish to hear and that is what I
can help you with in the classes.
Visual aids can be useful for some and learning to read sheet music
is another useful skill - but don't confuse the ability to read with the
ability to play - reading from a page will hinder creativity and lessen
the pleasure interpreting a tune.
Bonding in a group with others in the
same learning situation happens quickly - even via zoom, and is more fun
than learning just on your own. There is always a progression with
"fiddlelessons" and some players have been coming along for nearly
25 years! Some of the new musicians we welcome weren't even born
then!!
Group members have access to hundreds of
tunes with recordings to play along with. These resources are
found on the A-Z Tunes page which is accessed via your username and
password. There are special slower recordings for beginners to play
along with.
The Introductory Fee for 5 classes plus access to all the resources
for a year is £50. Thereafter the fee is £10 per week for any
classes or sessions you attend in that week. Only pay in weeks you
attend.
It is essential to listen to
the recording of the tune and sing along to it.
Exercises - You must be able to sing
each exercise phrase before trying to play it.
Try to sing the tune out loud
or in your head as you
play it, as it will help you find the right notes.
See
below for a few exercises, then access the A-Z page for other tunes we
will learn.
Sometimes
a dance has its own specific tune which is played throughout the dance. At
other times we play tunes in sets of 2, 3 or 4 tunes one after the other,
each being repeated a certain number of times.
When using the main "Tunes
A-Z Index" go to the column to
find out the tunes we play together in a set.