Absolute Beginners - with Sandie Forbes & Sally Simpson

This class is for people who have never played the fiddle before. You will be taught how to hold the fiddle and the bow and learn to play some simple tunes by ear. Everything will be explained assuming no prior knowledge.

If you have Never played the Fiddle, join an Absolute Beginners Class in either August or February.

 We don't start Absolute Beginners in October or April.

Depending on student numbers, we may split into 2 classes to maintain a resonable student / tutor ratio. 

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Beginners 1 -  Fiona Cuthill

This is the class for those who were Absolute Beginners in August 2018

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Beginners 2 - Bernadette Kellerman

This class is for people who have completed Beginner 1 level, know how to hold a fiddle and play a tune or two hesitantly and are ready to learn playing more tunes. You will be taught correct technique and learn to play some more simple tunes by ear. Everything will be explained assuming little prior knowledge.

Your tutor will keep you enthused and practising effectively to get you well on the way to playing the fiddle with confidence.

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Improvers 1 - Finlay Allison

For those who have already completed Beginners 3 level class. You should have a bit more confidence with fiddle and bow and be able to play a few simple tunes at a slow pace. You will be improving your ability to understand and remember tunes by ear and be building your confidence. This class will continue work on simple tunes emphasising tone, tuning, confident playing and building your repertoire. There will continue to be lots of revision every week and continual work on scales and fingering. NB Probably only about 3 or 4 tunes per term will be worked on.

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Improvers 2 - Jamie Smith

For those who have completed Improvers 1 and have moved to being able to play a few tunes with reasonable confidence at a slow pace. This class will continue to work on simple tunes with an emphasis on creating good tone, tuning and fluency of playing. You may also be introduced to some basic bowing and simple ornamentation. There will be revision every week of scales and tunes already covered. NB Probably only 3 tunes or 4 per term will be worked on.

Tutor info coming soon

Improvers 3 - Trish Strain

This class will work a little faster than those at Improver 2 level and will find the repertoire of tunes a bit more challenging than at the previous level.

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 Intermediate 1 - Rua Macmillan

This class is for those able to learn simple tunes comfortably by ear and play them fluently with simple bowing and good tuning. This class will work on tunes in a wider variety of tune types and keys. You will look at bowing and ornamentation in more depth. There will be lots of revision and repetition each week.

NB About 4 or 5 tunes per term will be worked on.

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Intermediate 2 - Emma Tomlinson

This class is for those who feel comfortable with the previous classes and can play a wide range of tunes with confidence, in tune and with fluent bowing style. The class will assist in developing a traditional style of playing, increasing knowledge of ornamentation and repertoire. You will learn a variety of tune types and may look at some of the less familiar, more difficult key signatures. At least one new tune each week but all work will be continually revised.

 tutor info coming soon

Intermediate 3 - Dan Thorpe

This class is for those who feel comfortable with the previous classes and can play a wide range of tunes with confidence, in tune and with fluent bowing style. The class will assist in developing a traditional style of playing, increasing knowledge of ornamentation and repertoire. You will learn a variety of tune types and may look at some of the less familiar, more difficult key signatures. At least one new tune each week but all work will be continually revised.

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Advanced - Graham McKenzie

This level is for students who have a wide knowledge of techniques and repertoire specific to Scottish traditional style. You should be able to learn easily by ear and have some reading ability. This class will focus on advanced tunes from the solo fiddling repertoire and will assume good technical knowledge. You will learn a variety of tune types and look at some of the more difficult key signatures.

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Technique - Douglas Lawrence

Depending on student numbers the Technique class will split to maintain a reasonable student to tutor ratio 

For those of standard Intermediate 2 and above. Students should ensure they have a good basic knowledge of Scottish fiddling techniques and a little music reading ability before joining this class. Work is based around tunes but with emphasis on different techniques within tunes rather than building a repertoire.

Teaching points will be technical and the class aim will not necessarily be on acquiring lots of new tunes.

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