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Teaching Philosophy
Beginners:
The first goal with a beginning fiddler is to get him or her comfortable with the instrument, learning to get a pleasant
sound and playing in tune. These are difficult goals, but essential to satisfactory future playing. At the outset this is
not much different from classical teaching as I believe that a good basic classical technique is a strong foundation from
which to develop the idiosyncrasies of various fiddle styles. In teaching at this level I use tunes from all the different
fiddle styles that I am familiar with. I also encourage learning both from reading and by ear, and for older students I recommend
some basic reading on music theory.
More advanced students:
With these students I concentrate on developing style and repertoire appropriate to the chosen fiddle style. I advise
students to choose a particular fiddle style to focus on, and to stay with it until there is a solid understanding of that
particular character and style. To try to learn more than one style at a time is confusing. At this level, I also encourage
students to obtain recordings of artists in their style of choice, and listen as much as possible. As with all music, the
written page is more of an outline, rather than all of the music, and acquiring an ear for the style is very helpful for students
in learning both the style and the tunes. For those who are predominantly music readers, I will also coach in learning by
ear. This is a skill that can be learned, but it takes patience for those who do not come by it naturally.
Fees, Scheduling, and cancellation policy
Half hour: $15.00
This is approx. 20 minutes of focused teaching. I recommend this for younger students or students with short attention
spans. At this level I also recommend weekly lessons.
Hour: $30.00
This is approximately 50 minutes of focused teaching. It is better for the adult student and students with longer attention
spans. Depending on the amount of time a student has available for practice, this can be done on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.
If you wish to prepay for a group of 4 lessons, I offer discount of $5.00.
If you find that you must re-schedule a lesson, please provide at least 24 hours notice or there will be a $15.00 cancellation
fee. I will also provide at least 24 hour notice if something comes up and I need to re-schedule.
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