Episodes
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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.comEmail me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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Missing episodes?
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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.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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 AngusYA or chapter books:
The New Policemen
Little House on the Prairie
A Girl of the Limberlost
Fiddle FeverThriller/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 ThingWar:
Long March Home
Simon the Fiddler
Cold Mountain
Master & CommanderSouth/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 HardwoodRomance:
Carnal Innocence
Fiddler’s Dream
The Devil and Preston Black
Our tune this week is the Irish jig Donnybrook Fair.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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!Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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!
Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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!Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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A repeat this week, as my family is on spring break. This very early episode has been pretty popular, and has a lovely slip jig for the Irish fiddlers. It's never a bad time to break out the old metronome. I'll be back with Old-Time tunes for you next week! -Meg
This episode features the fiddle tune House of My Own and describes working with the metronome and how it could help your fiddling.
Slow tempos for fiddling are 70-80 bpm (beats per minute) and tempos for dancing are 110-120 bpm.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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This week we have an interview with Tricia Spencer! Tricia is a well known, award winning Kansas fiddler who grew up on her family’s farm learning the tradition of old-time fiddling knee to knee from her grandpa and grandma, Vernon and Iona Spencer.
Tricia takes us on a deep dive into Kansas and midwest fiddling, how she thinks about the left hand and the fingerboard, and a primer for finding your place in the Old-Time community. And I didn't forget to ask what it's like having another fiddler as a partner in music and in life.
You can't listen to Tricia talk about the fiddle without hearing the deep love, respect and enthusiasm she has for this instrument and the music we make on it.
The tune this week is a version of Big Taters in the Sandy Land.
Check out Tricia's book the Fiddle Garden and opportunities to learn with her: https://www.triciaspencer.com/Learn more about power duo Spencer and Rains: https://www.spencerandrains.com/
Spencer and Rains on bandcamp: https://spencerandrains.bandcamp.com/music
Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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Have you ever been uncomfortable saying the name of a fiddle tune? How about tunes with slurs in the title or the Irish tune I Buried My Wife and Danced on her Grave?
Without using racial slurs, I discuss problematic fiddle tune names, how I think about them and approach them.
Find the Contranella album here: https://megwobus.bandcamp.com/album/contranella
Our tune is Magpie's Nest, an Irish reel.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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This week we talk about where the fiddle neck meets the hand. Different ways to grip the neck of the fiddle and how it can change- even while you're in the middle of playing!
Our tune is Madam if You Please from a jam at the ArtHouse Bar.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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Hear all about playing and performing on the 5 string fiddle with a bonus question from last week with Jenna Moynihan. Hear about Jenna's fiddle and how she uses it!
Jenna's Interview: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2040333/14620847
John Blessing's Delight is an Irish jig in G major.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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An interview with Jenna Moynihan, a fiddler and an extraordinary member of the Boston music community. Jenna performs with harpist Mairi Chaimbeul, the Seamus Egan Project, the Hanneke Cassel Band, and has appeared as a soloist at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops. In addition to touring, recording and teaching at fiddle camps, Jenna is also an Assistant Professor in the String Department at Berklee College of Music.
Jenna Moynihan: https://www.jennamoynihan.com/
Bandcamp: https://jennamoynihan.bandcamp.com/
Mailing List: https://www.jennamoynihan.com/schedule
The tune for this week is Brenda and Bill's a slow reel by Jenna Moynihan and Mairi Chaimbeul from the album One Two.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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Let's talk about the different kinds of fiddling you find around the US and Canada. I share what I know about the genres more closely related to dancing and dance music, and a little about fiddling along with songs.
Our tune for today is a version of Billy in the Lowground in the key of A, played in either Calico (AEAC#) or Cross A (AEAE) tuning. I use cross A.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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What?! Stop playing the fiddle? Why would I ever do a podcast on that topic, and who am I to tell anyone what they should do or not do?
Our tune for today is Chinquapin Hunting, a three part tune in A, played in cross A tuning. (I originally put the wrong tune up- even I can't keep these Old-Time tunes straight- but it should be Chinquapin Hunting now!)Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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Listen in to hear how you can supercharge your practicing, or at least give it a refresh. This is the last podcast devoted to a topic from my new course How to Play Faster, which is available now on Fiddle Studio!
A quick addendum to the description of mindful practice: I somehow blanked on the best use of slow, mindful practice: improving your tuning!
Our tune for today is Old Granny Rattle Trap, interpreted from the fiddling of Natalie Padilla from an Old-Time jam in Northampton, MA. I play the tune in cross A, strings tuned to AEAE. See the sheet music for some fingering suggestions in cross A.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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Janie Rothfield is a powerhouse Old-Time fiddler and banjo player who performs and teaches at camps and weekends all over the country and the world! Janie shares what she thinks is important for fiddlers to learn and work on. Is it the fingering or the bowing? Hear all about Janie's Jumpstart camps and about her current projects.
The tune today is Waiting for Sandy from Janie's album Out of Thin Air.
Check out Janie's website to get the dates of her upcoming camps and performances!Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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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.Email me at [email protected].
Listen and subscribe on Apple Music, Spotify, or Buzzsprout. Find me on YouTube and Bandcamp.Here are my Fiddle Studio books and my website Fiddle Studio where you can find my courses and mailing list and sign up for my Top 10 Fiddle Tunes!
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