Project Description
I am very excited to join the Roots and Boots program. Teaching violin is my family vocation, I watched my Mom with countless students over the years and I myself have been teaching fiddle for over 20 years. Since moving to Tucson from Santa Barbara in 2010 I have embraced bluegrass, swing, and contest fiddle wholeheartedly and my students have gone on to win the AZ state fiddle championship 6 times and First place in the swing division at Weiser. I love to introduce beginners to bluegrass and teach jam “survival” strategies. For more advanced musicians, we discuss fine details like drive, rhythm, ornaments and double-stops, while figuring out what makes the masters so great. You can catch me onstage with Tucson musicians like Peter McLaughlin, Matt Mitchell, Evan Dain, and Alvin Blaine. My touring Gypsy jazz/vocal band, The Black Market Trust performs at larger theaters around the country and jazz festivals too.
Fiddle
In our fiddle class we will learn how to play a bluegrass fiddle break using a simple formula. We will work on the fundamentals that go into a break; a rhythmic “kick”, playing the melody as a single line and as double stop, and using pentatonic and blues scales to finish off with a flurry of notes and strong ending.
We will learn double stops for all levels of player, when and how to play fills, rhythmic backup styles to drive a song or long tones for slow songs.
I want to teach some of my favorite Kenny baker tunes and possibly a swing song or two.
I like to explain harmony purely for functional use in a band situation. We will also work together to write our own fiddle tunes.