Learning Resource Beginners Groups

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 classes are on Thursday at 9.30am and 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.

You are welcome to come along for a free taster session - the zoom code is https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88960263597?pwd=QnM5U2ZiU0tnVkhNNXBkTDczSDBUdz09 and the Passcode is 545084

Click here for tunes learned at the Falfield beginners group (to March 2020)

Click here for tunes learned at Yew Tree Cottage Wednesday beginners group (to March 2020)

Click here for Thursday morning beginners class September-November 2020

Click here for complete beginners classes timetable - or simply click on the link in the left column for Wednesday Beginners

KEY

1.Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises and join in	3. Try to play the whole tune with sol fiddle	play along with fiddle and guitar	Visual aid for exercise	see all exercises	fiddle tab for simplified tune	manuscript for simplified tune

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.
Tune 1	Tune 2	Tune 3	Tune 4
Astley's Ride D	Davy Davy Nick Nack	Rochdale Coconut em
Uncle Bernard's D	Winster Gallop G	Tip Top Polka D	Rakes of Mallow G
Seven Stars D
Buttered Peas G
Bear Dance em

Astley's Ride D
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises	3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording	Visual Aids
				see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for simplified tune
	Ex 1	Ex 1
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3


Bear Dance
Slow Recording - 4 beats to start			Fiddle Tab Quiz - Fill in the missing notes		Play along using first finger on D string, open A string or open G


Buttered Peas


Davy Davy Nick Nack
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises		3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording		Visual Aids
						see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for simplified tune
	Ex 1	Ex 1		1st half extremely slow 2nd half faster than first half		exercises 1-4 exercises 5-7
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3
	Ex 4	Ex 4
	Ex 5	Ex 5
	Ex 6	Ex 6
	Ex 7	Ex 7

Rakes of Mallow
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises		3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording		Visual Aids
						see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for tune
	Ex 1	Ex 1		Simplified Slow recording with scales		exercises 1-3 simplified version exercises 4-6 with scales	simplified version version with scales	version with scales
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3
	Ex 4	Ex 4
	Ex 5	Ex 5
	Ex 6	Ex 6

Rochdale Coconut Dance
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises		3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording		Visual Aids
						see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for simplified tune
	Ex 1	Ex 1		1st half very slow 2nd half very slow		exercises 1-3 exercises 4-7
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3
	Ex 4	Ex 4
	Ex 5	Ex 5
	Ex 6	Ex 6
	Ex 7	Ex 7

Seven Stars
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises		3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording		Visual Aids
						see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for tune
	Ex 1	Ex 1				exercises 1-3 exercises 4-6
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3
	Ex 4	Ex 4
	Ex 5	Ex 5
	Ex 6	Ex 6

Tip Top Polka
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises		3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording		Visual Aids
						see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for simplified tune
simplified version for beginners	Ex 1	Ex 1				exercises 1-3 exercises 4a-5 exercises 6-7
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3
	Ex 4a	Ex 4a
	Ex 4b	Ex 4b
	Ex 5	Ex 5
	Ex 6	Ex 6
	Ex 7	Ex 7

Uncle Bernard's D
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises		3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording		Visual Aids
						see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for simplified tune
	Ex 1	Ex 1
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3
	Ex 4	Ex 4


Winster Gallop
1. Listen first to the music	2. Listen to the exercises then play them by ear	Visual aid for exercises	3. Try to play the whole tune - very slow recording	Visual Aids
				see all exercises	fiddle tab	manuscript for simplified tune
	Ex 1	Ex 1		exercises 1-3 exercises 4 -5
	Ex 2	Ex 2
	Ex 3	Ex 3
	Ex 4	Ex 4
	Ex 5	Ex 5