Why Bluegrass Matters in the Public School Music Classroom The International Bluegrass Music Association holds it’s annual conference in Raleigh, North Carolina each fall. Drawing over 200,000 people to this 5 day conference and music festival, it is one of…
There is a story that I often share in the “fiddle” community (otherwise known as “alternative strings” and a host of other clunky names that seem to connote that we are opposing the dominant paradigm). It is based the observation…
Hello! It’s been a while since we last connected and a lot has transpired in the world of string playing AND at Savage Fiddler! One of the biggest developments is that I have a band that performs both in it’s…
Over the next few months, we will be shifting the focus of this blog every so slightly in the direction of young people and those in our readership who are contemplating taking their musicianship to a professional level. We will call…
Annie has recently partnered with the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society to produce highly energetic informed performances with the help of a crew of professional bluegrass musicians, bringing you and your students the very best in performance AND education. Each session…
Improvisation. It’s a buzz word in most string education programs and has even begun to worm it’s way into those beginning of the year public school music department meetings. But what does it really mean? Yesterday I taught a lesson…
How many of you have had the good fortune of working with a musical mentor? Someone who had the time and patience to sit with you and run tune after tune, passing on their unique sense of musicality to you…
So you wanna jam? Well…it can be a pretty darn daunting process for someone who: 1. Cares what other peoples’ not always subtle assessment of their abilities are 2. Did not grow up in a bluegrass family band or 3….
One of the big reasons I love to teach is the openness with which young people perceive their world. As a student at the Interlochen Arts Academy, I was lucky enough to have a professor who felt it necessary to…