Fiddle

Become A Better Fiddler - Bluegrass Tunes & Techniques
Kenny Kosek
90 min.
CHF 35.-
HL00641948
Here's a great way to build up your repertoire of tunes while improving your bluegrass fiddling technique. Veteran fiddler Kenny Kosek has recorded this lesson with the intermediate player in mind, and his DVD is chock-full of fantastic fiddle features, including invaluable tips on bowing, fingering, playing licks and other “tricks of the trade.”
Kenny is a top player and an experienced instructor. He teaches eleven important tunes and their variations with patience and humor, breaking each one down in detail. You'll first learn how to play the basic melody, then get instruction in adding ornaments and creating improvised solos in a variety of styles.

By the time you finish working with this lesson you'll be playing the following tunes and their variations: Little Rabbit, Bill Cheatham, Cotton Patch Rag, Midnight On The Water, Tall Timber, Sugar Hill, Ace Of Spades, Footprints In The Snow, Linda Lu, Salty Dog Blues, The Duke of Fife. 

Bluegrass Fiddle - A Private Lesson with Richard Greene
Richard Greene
85 min.
CHF 35.-
HL00641773

Take a lesson with someone who has been called "one of the most innovative and influential fiddle players of all time!" Richard Greene has played everything from bluegrass to rock to string quartets, and he knows all the techniques that will make you a better player.

Every minute of this lesson is filled with amazing information. You'll learn how to warm up, produce good tone, tune your hand to your instrument for proper intonation and play with "freedom and abandon." Richard shows a myriad of bluegrass bowing patterns and techniques: crossbowing, "separate" bowing, the bounced bow (spiccato), hemiola (accenting off beats), the "Georgia shuffle" and rhythm chopping. You get in-depth instruction on double and triple stops, fingered unisons, the use of "bluesy" 3rds, 5ths and 7ths, bluegrass slides, tricks for playing fast and much, much more.

The Fiddle According To Vassar
Vassar Clements
90 min.
CHF 35.-
HL00641826

No fiddle player will want to miss this powerful DVD lesson! Vassar Clements’ superb technique and imaginative musical ideas are slowed down and brought up close to help you improve your technique, increase your repertoire and expand your musical horizons.
Vassar explores more than a dozen of his classic licks, showing how he uses slides, chromatics, double and triple-stops, slurs and boogie-woogie patterns to enhance a variety of tunes. You’ll learn some of his best-known original and traditional fiddle breaks and how he uses his earliest influences—blues and jazz—to transform ordinary bluegrass/country fiddle sounds into extraordinary ones.

You’ll learn to play Vassar’s awesome fiddle arrangements for classic tunes such as Avalanche, Good Woman’s Love, Listen to the Mockingbird, Lonesome Fiddle Blues, Windjammer, Orange Blossom Special, Down Yonder and more. Sit in on a conversation with his friend and accompanist Bob Hoban as Vassar reveals some “trade secrets” about pick-ups, bows, rosin, strings and other fascinating topics. He even gives a rare demonstration of flatpicking the fiddle in a blues-style improvisation! 

Learning Bluegrass Fiddle 1
Kenny Kosek
65 min.
CHF 35.-
HL00641638

Tune up the fiddle and rosin up the bow! Kenny Kosek will have you playing your favorite tunes and jamming with friends in no time—even if you’ve never played a lick before. Within minutes you’ll be into your first tune, “Jack Of Diamonds,” learning to play the melody and then adding slides, open-string drones and bowing patterns to give it an unmistakable bluegrass flavor.
Then it’s on to classic country hoedowns: “B’ile Them Cabbage Down,” “Waterbound” and “Liberty” will introduce you to rhythm playing, melodic variations, double-stop harmonies and country-style bowing. You’ll learn tricks of the trade such as fills, intros and endings that help you get the true bluegrass fiddle sound. Kenny completes this lesson with an exploration of “Bury Me Beneath The Willow,” for which you’ll learn vibrato, slides, hammer-ons and legato bowing.

Kenny’s careful note-for-note breakdowns of each tune make learning easy. This DVD or video is the clearest and most effective way to learn the fiddle you’ll find anywhere. 

Learning Bluegrass Fiddle 2
Kenny Kosek
70 min.
CHF 35.-
HL00641639

Kenny Kosek continues his in-depth breakdown of the techniques that will help you become an accomplished bluegrass and country fiddler. You’ll learn to play several well-known traditional tunes, then dress them up by adding slides, blues notes, double-stop harmonies, rhythmic patterns and other essential musical elements.
Kenny teaches licks and solos in the styles of Benny Martin, Chubby Wise and other fiddle greats, as well as percussive bowing techniques, triplets, advanced harmonies and country-western style turnarounds, rolls and drones. Before long you’ll be playing bluegrass favorites "Dixon County Blues," "Pig in a Pen," "Sally Goodin" and "Roll in my Sweet Baby’s Arms," complete with variations and fancy endings. Finally, you’ll learn the most famous showstopper in bluegrass, "Orange Blossom Special," with its distinctive shuffle bowing and melodic improvisations.

This DVD/video, with its split screens and unique over-the-shoulder camera angles, will get you ready to jam with friends or start playing in a bluegrass band. It’s the perfect lesson for those who already know the basics, or have completed Kenny Kosek’s "Learning Bluegrass Fiddle 1." 

Learn To Play Cajun Fiddle
Michael Doucet
90 min.
CHF 53.-
HL00641928

If Cajun music makes you wish you could be at Mardi Gras, you're not alone. Learning to play this lively music yourself could be the next best thing to being there, especially if you've got fiddler Michael Doucet to show you how it’s done.
Cajun music, first popularized in the Acadian communities of southwestern Louisiana, has now spread throughout the world. Michael Doucet, with his band Beausoleil, is largely responsible for bringing Cajun music to the attention of this wider audience. Once you've heard the powerful fiddle- and accordion-led rhythms of Cajun music, you can't help but want to learn to play it. Its zesty flavors blend well with country, rock and other forms of popular music: Michael makes it easy to add a taste -- or a heaping helping -- of Cajun to your playing.

This DVD gives you the opportunity to add some classics of the Cajun music repertoire to your set list. While learning to play over a dozen waltzes, two-steps, blues and breakdowns, you'll gain an understanding of the differences among Cajun, Creole and Zydeco styles. Michael explains the stylistic devices -- slurs, harmonies and ornaments -- that give this music its distinctive sound.

"Allons à Lafayette," "Ma Chère Bébé Créole," "Locassine Special," "Jolie Blond," "J'été Au Bal," "Chère Toot Toot," "Johnny Can't Dance," "Tolan Waltz," "Lake Arthur Stomp," "Les Barres de la Prison," "Les Veuves de la Coulée," "The Reel de Nez Piqué."

Learn to Play Irish Fiddle - DVD 1: Polkas, Jigs & Slides
Kevin Burke
90 min.
CHF 35.-
HL00641755

Kevin Burke’s easygoing manner and encouraging teaching style invite you into the world of authentic traditional Irish fiddle. In this superb starter lesson, he passes on his vast knowledge and experience through an in-depth study of some of his favorite tunes, styles and techniques.
Kevin understands the needs of the learning fiddler, and he conveys his ideas with clarity and simplicity. Focusing on Irish polkas, slides and jigs, he teaches the basic tune, along with several variations, explaining the rhythmic devices that distinguish each dance form. He then shows you the grace notes, rolls, double-stops and other ornaments that make this music so distinctive, and that keep it in the true Irish tradition.

By the end of this first lesson you’ll be playing Saddle the Pony, The Connaughtman's Rambles, The King of the Fairies, Bill Sullivan's Polka, Johnny Leary's Slide, Micho Russell's Slide and more. Best of all, you’ll have gained a solid foundation that will enable you to play this beloved music with real flair and authority.