Looking to pull out your fiddle and rosin up your bow? Here at Eagle Rock Music Studio, we offer fiddle lessons to those of all ages and skill levels — and all times of the day, not just when the sun is setting low. (We like to reference John Denver.) If you have an elementary school-aged child who is just starting out, or if you are a more advanced player looking to improve (or are just a bit rusty), or if your situation is something in between, Eagle Rock has something to fit your needs.
History
A fiddle is a violin, and a violin is referred to as a fiddle in settings where folk, country, and bluegrass music is played. The violin first emerged in Italy in the early 1500s; folk, country, and bluegrass music obviously have a more recent origin, emerging in the early 20th century (at least in the form they take now).
Appeal
The fiddle is widely used to this day, even though folk, country, and bluegrass songs typically do not cross over into the pop charts. It is still an instrument frequently chosen as an instrument to study by children, and there are many opportunities to put the fiddle to use — the Nashville scene is still thriving, for instance, and the folk rock band Mumford & Sons has brought considerable popularity and attention to using fiddles in a rock setting. (Their 2012 album Babel was the Grammy winner for Album of the Year.)
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Lessons
We offer two course paths for those interested in studying the fiddle: one for professionals and another for recreation. For those looking to play competitively, it can take months to prepare for an audition for a music school or a prestigious performing group. Because of this, all fiddle lessons are private/one-on-one — you’ll make progress much faster in this setting than when working alone or in a group.
It takes hours of practice to develop a working level of proficiency on the fiddle, but actually mastering these skills and eventually becoming a professional requires an action plan from a teacher to identify your goals and then help you work towards fulfilling them. While playing for recreation removes the stress involved from playing competitively, the same principles of identifying goals and working towards them with specific solutions in mind apply when teaching in this setting.
We tailor the lessons to the needs of each individual student; we have the patience to guide a student through the necessary steps it takes to learn at whatever pace is optimal in order to maximize the efficiency of the learning process for him or her. Our mission is to help students discover what genres and styles they are most passionate about learning to play with on the fiddle, whether it is country, bluegrass, or folk. Lessons include scales, technique, ear training, sight-reading, and music theory, with an emphasis on solos, duets, performance and the option to prepare for auditions and live gigs.
Eagle Rock Music Studios is located just north of downtown Los Angeles between Glendale and Pasadena. For more information or to set up a lesson, please call us at 323-309-8467.