Erockin - Posted - 06/26/2025:  10:22:39

Attended my first "Fiddle Workshop" at a festival this past weekend!

Almost chickened out but glad I did. I didn't learn anything but talking shop around some other fiddlers helped my inspiration! It would have been nice to play something but it was free and went pretty fast for being an hour long. This small experience was enough to get me interested in more of these type things.

If you like bluegrass photography, here is my album from the festival

flic.kr/s/aHBqjCjfz4

wrench13 - Posted - 06/26/2025:  11:14:41

When I run the fiddle workshop at the Long Island Bluegrass Fest, it depends. If there's no one with a fiddle in the audience, I go easy on the talks about technique and stuff, it turns into more of demo of styles and tune types. If theres folks w/fiddles, its a more practical session, but thats harder since not everyone is at the same paying level.

Hope you did SOME playing over the weekend though!

Old Scratch - Posted - 06/26/2025:  11:57:24

"thats harder since not everyone is at the same paying level" Well, yeah - you want to be sure to ingratiate yourself with the rich; that's an old fiddling tradition: they used to name tunes for members of the gentry, in hopes of their patronage ... !

Erockin - Posted - 06/26/2025:  12:24:58

I was all set and then about a half hour before I told my wife "I'm not going" then 5 minutes before it started, I ran across the field with my fiddle. lol

Your comments made sense. Now my vision on future ones will be more at ease.

NCnotes - Posted - 06/26/2025:  13:23:14

LOL! Just don’t hit a rock and trip!!

Yep I’ve mostly done online fiddle workshops, and it’s usually the teacher demo-ing something and we try it ourselves. ( Like, Kevin Burke showing us how to do a “roll” at Fiddle Hell :-)

Online is kinda nice in a way, because nobody can hear your strange attempts at things (like first mangled rolls). But even in person, we’ll usually play along as a friendly group with the teacher - no pressure!

pete_fiddle - Posted - 06/26/2025:  14:17:44

Not to denigrate folk who learn best from teachers, but for me the all of the fun is in finding things out for myself and always has been.

DougD - Posted - 06/26/2025:  15:29:41

I don't think attending a workshop is exactly like having a teacher with whom you meet regularly - more like a one time experience with a mentor/master. Some are more like mini concerts, while others can provide some individual tutelage. As Al so sagely said - it depends.

Edited by - DougD on 06/26/2025 15:31:26

UsuallyPickin - Posted - 06/26/2025:  17:51:52

Hmmm ... Workshops are one of the many ways of learning. Whether it is just watching someone play or having someone show a group how to do something. I have run the gamut between camps, private lessons both in person and online and listened to recordings to struggling with notation. It all teaches. I enjoy most of it most of the time. Personalities and egos have occasionally lessened the experience. But I always manage to walk away with something helpful. Play on friends.

pete_fiddle - Posted - 06/27/2025:  14:13:49

Best way forward for me as in all things, is learning how to teach myself, instead of being graded as to how much i agree and practice an "experts" opinion.

If this where not the case nobody would be using thumb under frog, holding the bow a 3rd of the way up the stick or tuning their fiddle to anything other than standard, etc etc, and we would all fit into an orchestra perfectly, and play to the conductor's... (The "unmoved mover") liking.

DougD - Posted - 06/27/2025:  14:46:20

I've never seen a workshop where anyone was "graded" on anything, especially standard "classical" technique (I'm sure there are probably "classical" workshops, but that's not what we're talking about here). You may learn something, but you take away what you wish. The leader may be showing some of the same techniques you list - there are frequently workshops on different tunings for fiddle or banjo, or how a particular tune was bowed by an accomplished player.

If you don't think there are "experts" who know more than you or I on a variety of topics I think you're fooling yourself. A workshop with Kevin Burke where he showed how to play certain ornaments, like NCnotes described, could be both interesting and useful. No one is forcing you to follow his ideas.

Edited by - DougD on 06/27/2025 14:49:46

pete_fiddle - Posted - 06/27/2025:  14:46:57

Lol..... this is/was my total knowledge about Aristotle before AI:

youtube.com/watch?v=l9SqQNgDrgg