I currently reside in the rural west Tennessee community that I grew up in. We raised cotton, hogs, and a large garden. We were poor people like most in the community. We had music and making music to fill the hours that chores and the cotton patch didn’t require....
We often discuss the loftier aspects of musicianship, but today we’re getting into the nitty gritty: how should you care for your fingertips, and nails? These simple things can make a big difference. Where should I expect calluses to form? As your calluses form for...
I started playing the violin with the Suzuki method when I was 6 years old. When I was 10, I had joined a local youth orchestra, but I was always interested in more kinds of music than classical. At a summer camp I learned about fiddling. At about that age, I...
Practicing fiddle is like stretching your muscles: it lets you notice areas that need attention and give them extra care until you notice improvement. For many people, the area that needs a lot of special attention is their left hand, where tension commonly builds up....
by Celeste Johnson Let me guess: you’re reading this from home. Hopefully, you’re also wearing your favorite pair of slippers and sipping a good cup of something. But even if you’re happy to hibernate at home for a while, some of the changes in our routines...
You know the little forks in the road that completely change the course your life? Crossroad moments that, if they hadn’t happened the way they did, would have left you a completely unrecognizable person? Maybe it’s the story of how you found the love of your life at...
Sheet Music: Takin' My Baby Along Written by Katie Glassman, Edited by Adam Kulakow Not long after I started playing in 1988, people called me a fiddler. And I liked that. In fact, it became the central part of my identity as I began traveling to fiddle...
Over the next three weeks, I'm going to explore the fascinating topic of fiddle tune variations, of course in the context of Texas-style fiddling. The three topics I'll cover are: Origins of the Melody, How to Learn Variations, and How to Build Variations. So, keep...
It’s a challenge to practice regularly, and if you do, you might still feel like you’re not getting the most out of your practice. Students often go home from their lesson with a long list of things to work on and as soon as they sit down to play, they either can’t...
I love rosin, and lots of it, so you’ll have to excuse me if I get a little sappy here. But folks often have lots of questions about this topic: When should you rosin? How much is too much? What’s the point of rosin, anyway? Never fear! I’m here to answer all your...
Jam sessions are one of the best perks of being a fiddler. Whether you’re a seasoned jam veteran or you’ve never experienced a jam, there’s always something to be gained from a jam session, even if you don’t play in it yourself. How do you find a jam session to...
"I swear I could play this at home when I was practicing by myself! I don't know why I can't do it in my lesson." Sound familiar? It's common to practice hard all week, play well at home, and then fall apart at lessons. But you can avoid this pitfall! Read through...