Official website of Boston-based fiddler and music educator Ellery Klein
FiddleQuest is great, but it's important to hear these tunes in their "native habitats." I've compiled a mix of these tunes played professionally, at music camps, and at fun "jam sessions."
Listen to lots of tunes in a playlist put together by FiddleQuest founder Duane.
When we go from string to string, we need to let our elbow lead our arm, bending from our shoulder.
This is the first FQ song with "bowings" .... we tell our bow what to do. It doesn't get to decide for us!
Swing Low...and .... Check your bow!
Start up bow...
and where are the slurs? Where are the long bows? Where are the short bows?
A Carolina - this is another tricky one!
An up bow starts every phrase on the B part, so sometimes you have to execute the "double UP!"
(Up- stop-up again)
Amazing Grace is short, but let's try a few slurs that will help us make it sound really sweet too! They are tricky at first. Watch out for dotted rhythms.
Working hard on bowing on this one!
Think about slurs. Play them over and over.
Repetition yields perfection!!
(So does checking your bow hand...happy thumb? Loose?)
We are counting in four: ONE-2-3-4 ONE-2-3-4
Often, we’ll come in on the FOUR
But we need to count 1-2-3-4- 1-2-THREE before we come in again!
Two different ways to bow the B part.
“Sawing” and slurring.
This is a super fun tune!
But there are a few things we should pay attention to...
Yay! One of my favourite FQ tunes.
I like this bowing for the A part, to alternate short sharp bowing with long lush ones.
Check out this video too, to hear some awesome harmonies.
Half position? HALF POSITION??
Yup! It's a thing.
Move that hand down a half step in the second half. Your fingers will feel all out of place, so use your ears!
It's tricky. But worth it.
Fisher's Hornpipe was FQ Level 5. Great tune!
But why play just melody when you can do Twin Fiddling?
Here's Vi Wickham playing the harmony I teach to go with the Fiddlequest melody. Here's a video of Clover and I trying it out!
Hanneke Cassel is a great locally-based, internationally touring fiddler. She made this great teaching video for Da Slockit Light, a gorgeous air lamenting emigration from the Shetland Islands.
No reason to try to improve on her beautiful version, so we'll learn from it- can you pick out the ornaments and double stops she is using?