🎻 Phew, I'm glad I asked! (Sharing the behind the scenes of last week's fiddle questionnaire)

Hi Reader!

Remember about a week ago when I sent out a questionnaire to see what you wanted to focus on in regarding your Irish traditional music skill development this season?

You sent in some really awesome answers! (If you didn't have a chance to fill out the questions this round, no worries! I will definitely be doing more of these in future.)

One of the questions I sent was:

What is the main reason you want to develop your Irish fiddling further?

Now, you could sub "tenor banjo," "accordion," "flute," "whistle," "uilleann pipes," "guitar" if you're not a fiddle player. I can speak to the fiddle side best, but I always love to hear from the perspective of other instrumentalists because there are definitely crossover tips!

Every single answer had some variation of the following:

"I want to play more in sessions."

This statement in and of itself is fairly simple, but we can really unpack what that means! Because there's "playing in sessions" and then there's "playing in sessions".

There's a big difference between attending a session where you know all the tunes, and attending ones where the only tunes you know are the ones you start.

There's a big difference between having tunes with your friends and having tunes with a group of strangers who barely talk to you except to politely smile in your direction when you sit down. (There's also a big difference when those strangers are super friendly and curious about you, and you become instant friends!)

There's a big difference between hanging on for dear life to keep up with the person who plays hornpipes like they're reels, and throwing your head back and laughing without abandon or missing a single note of the tune.

Side note... I tend to throw my head back and look at the ceiling when I just flubbed through a whole phrase and am trying to remember how the tune really goes. I also put the fiddle in my lap and rub my left eyebrow when I'm feeling too awkward to make eye contact with the folks clapping after we finish a set. Do you have any similar mannerisms? 😅

Is every session going to give you that out-of-body, super confident and happy experience? No. Not even if you're playing at a professional level. Some days the group as a collective is just tired, but you're showing up together anyway!

There are a few different factors that go into "playing more in sessions":

• Knowing more tunes (repertoire)
• Building ear training skills to pick up more tunes on the go (phrasing and interval recognition)
• Building speed (having supportive bowing patterns and developing muscle strength)
• Increasing flexibility -- ie knowing how to quickly bounce back when something doesn't go as planned (spoiler alert, that's the way of life!)

The Tune Library already covers the repertoire, speed, and phrasing practice just based on how each of the videos are structured (tunes played at three speeds + phrase by phrase breakdowns).

But I'm thinking it could stand to have an additional resource section too, Reader! One that has a collection of short exercises you can use to further develop each of the above areas that aren't tied specifically to a tune, but more of a general practice.

Here's another funny thing about that questionnaire from a week ago... I went into it thinking I wanted to start offering monthly live Zoom workshops throughout the end of the year. But take a look at these numbers:

Glad I asked!!!

Granted there are multiple ways to learn, a lot more than 16 of you reading this, and the question refers to a preferred method instead of asking if you would attend a Zoom call. However, I still find these numbers telling: in person and pre-recorded tutorials win out!

Of course in-person can be a bit tricky logistical-wise to sort out, but I am definitely cooking up more ways to offer workshops local to southeast Michigan or by me traveling to your area.

But my general work philosophy is to start with the tools and resources you have at hand, and build from there -- and if the Tune Library doesn't check the online pre-recorded tutorial box, I don't know what does!

I'm not going to change the price for awhile yet (right now it's a $10/month subscription that you can join or cancel at any time). This is an experiment to really build out this library into not just a tune-learning resource, but a "develop that lilt and groove as you learn more tunes" resource.

And of course, there are always private lessons if there's something you want more individual feedback on or the accountability of working with an instructor!

So on the teaching side of things, that's what you can expect from me in this next season: more Tune Library resources (I also do Tune requests from members there -- this week's newest addition is Love at the Endings), lessons, and hopefully an in-person workshop or two!

That's a wrap from me, Reader. Happy tunage this week!

~Hannah