Songs, skills, and learning tools that help teachers develop students into versatile violinists
What is FiddleQuest?
FiddleQuest is a
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complete curriculum (covers everything a student needs -- songs, scales, sight-reading & more)
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for violin and fiddle teachers (all musical backgrounds are welcome)
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in an interactive website (rather than in printed books)
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for in-person lessons (not on-line lessons)
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where students can practice between lessons (on all the material covered in the lesson)
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featuring loads of great songs (in multiple genres from all over the world)
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including skill exercises (with professional recordings and backing bands)
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and useful tools for ages (like speed control of songs and exercises)
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that runs on any device (Mac, PC, tablet, and phones).
But FiddleQuest is also a
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a project with a big idea (teachers working together to substantially increase the number of violin students who 1) keep playing in school and 2) continue playing as adults)
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community of teachers, students, and families (who have fun together while sharing their love of music)
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a massive library of student videos (that grows daily as teachers upload videos of their students playing the songs they learn every 1-2 weeks)
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a resource to help facilitate recreational music (every song features chord charts and how-to videos for guitar and ukulele to let friends and family join the fun)
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a proven method (that equips students with the skills they need to play with anyone, anywhere thanks to unparalleled ear training, sight reading, harmonization, improvisation, and rhythm exercises).
What Teachers Are Saying
“FiddleQuest is an amazing online curriculum that presents so many crucial skills for a fiddle student—learning by ear, being part of an interactive community, and learning how to jam and improvise. The tunes and techniques are fun and clearly presented. I highly recommend this to teachers who want to teach all styles of music in a new, exciting way!”
Hanneke Cassel
Renowned Performer, Recording Artist, and Educator
“FiddleQuest is just what I have been looking for to teach my students. It brings together songs from around the world and has provided us a custom curriculum specifically for traditional Galician tunes. I love how the tools are perfect for both traditional ear-learning and sight-reading.”
Performer, Educator, Speaker, and World Ambassador for Galician Fiddle
“Never in my 15 years of private teaching have I seen students get as excited about any curriculum as they have about FiddleQuest—it's simple to navigate, educationally sound, and downright fun!”
Accomplished Violinst and Fiddler with performances in 47 states and 13 countries, Private Educator, Masters in Music Education from Harvard
“With FiddleQuest the learning doesn't end when the lesson ends: my students are progressing faster than ever, are excited to practice, and proud to show me what they learned between lessons.”
Remarkable International Performer in everything from classical to hip-hop, Bay Area Private Instructor and Faculty at San Domenico School
“I have spent many years traveling to attend teacher certification classes and have invested inordinate amounts of time and money to do this. Your open, generous sharing of what FiddleQuest is, how it is done, your requests for input and feedback and open mindedness for improvements (which are very nice, by the way) are creating a warm, responsive FiddleQuest community. My students’ parents are very pleased with their interactions with you, as well.
I am excited to be a part of this growing movement to impart a lifestyle of music that will last in the lives of youngsters.”
Buffy Golden
Delaware, OH
What Parents and Students Are Saying
“FiddleQuest is an easy to use and enjoyable site. I like being able to play with accompaniment at normal speed or play with the slower version to make sure I have all the notes down.”
Lucy
Student Age 12
“I like all of the fun songs that I get to learn!”
Ripley
Student Age 7
“FiddleQuest has been a great tool for me to learn new songs and skills on the fiddle. It's easy to use and guides me through the levels, and the three different speeds for each recording make learning a new tune feel natural and not overwhelming.”
Keaton
Student Age 15
“I love the FiddleQuest approach to teaching violin. The combination of fun songs, peer videos, and instructor videos enhance our practice sessions at home. My son is learning to play both by ear and through reading notation. I am so thankful I have this incredible resource to help him learn music—he’s part of a large community of other kids playing violin.”
Wendy Maynard
Parent of 6 yr old
“I’m traveling in Indonesia right now. Yesterday I played for a few hours with a guitarist who does shows in Ubud. He said he would love to do a few shows with me! I wanted to thank you for teaching me how to join a musician literally anywhere—it has lead to some magical experiences.”
Kayla Fennell
18 year old
Why FiddleQuest?
Kids Progress Faster
Through carefully curated songs that offer incremental changes in difficulty, FiddleQuest empowers students to move quickly and seamlessly between songs, thus allowing them to see and feel their progress. Students will no longer run into songs or skills that knock their confidence and make them want to quit.
Kids Practice more
Every FiddleQuest skill and song is designed with the typical child in mind—and typical children don’t always want to practice. But with FiddleQuest, kids practice more because even playing scales is fun when you have a jazz or bluegrass band backing you up. Plus, all kids enjoy the feeling of success.
Kids play with their peers
FiddleQuest values the natural desire and benefits that come from kids who play music with their friends. Studies show that kids who play music socially are much less likely to stop playing as they get older. That's why FiddleQuest is packed with jamming favorites. Now parents no longer have to push their kids to play—FiddleQuest students do it naturally!
Teachers create the ideal lesson for every student
Every student is different. Some consistently practice each day and others don’t. So FiddleQuest allows teachers to assign just the right amount of material appropriate for each unique student. As a student builds her confidence and skill, teachers can easily introduce new skills with the click of a single button.
How it works
During lessons
Teachers can assign songs and skills flexibly to accommodate the needs of each individual student. Every screen used during lessons is identical to what the student interacts with at home. Teachers can make notes during the lesson that the student see during practice. While high quality, multi-speed recordings allow teachers to free up their hands to help students with posture and positioning.
At home
Between lessons, students can interact with screens that match the lesson experience, thus alleviating confusion and frustration. A simple practice page which houses teacher notes and assignments helps make lesson time easy and orderly, while multi-speed recordings help students improve incrementally during the week. Full band accompaniment makes practice more fun and realistic and student videos help students learn songs more quickly while motivating students to prepare for their next lesson.
With Friends
Social playing is a key factor in inspiring kids to play music their whole lives. That's why FiddleQuest students enjoy a shared library of great jamming tunes from all over the world, complete with full chord charts and instructional videos for guitar and ukulele that make it easy for friends and family to join the fun.
for Family
Using our free FiddleQuest for Teachers iOS app, teachers can shoot and upload performance videos during lessons which keeps kids engaged and motivated as they see their progress and share it with others. FiddleQuest makes it a breeze to share these videos via email, Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Grandma and Grandpa’s everywhere rejoice!
the foundational ideas
Nothing succeeds like success
The FiddleQuest curriculum is designed with small jumps in difficulty between songs and skills so students can move consistently forward. As students make progress, their sense of accomplishment increases their motivation and leads them to want to play more.
Students have different levels of motivation and available time
Every student has a different level of interest, motivation, resolve and available time to learn the violin but FiddleQuest makes it easy for teachers to adapt to every kind of student and every level of motivation.
Not all students have musical parents
FiddleQuest is perfect for supportive parents that don’t have musical experience! FiddleQuest recordings and videos are set up so that a student and/or parents can easily navigate the songs and skills assigned in any lesson and hear how they should be played. FiddleQuest even includes guitar and ukulele chords with how-to videos to help parents learn the basics so they can play along.
Playing with others is important
Many parents and teachers want their students to engage in social playing—jamming—with other musicians. FiddleQuest is designed to simulate playing with others which equip students with the skills they need to confidently participate in jams.
Hearing the violin at home is crucial
FiddleQuest is a music-immersion curriculum in which the repeated use of recordings helps students advance more quickly, steadily guiding the their sound towards the beautiful sounds they hear from their teacher and the recordings.
Pricing
Teachers
Free with subscribing students.
Students
Annual subscription: $12.50/mo.
Monthly subscription: $15.00/mo.
Family
Annual: additional students from a family are $8.33/mo.
Monthly: additional student $10.00/mo
Site License
Site licenses are available for schools and private studios. Contact FiddleQuest for information on the reduced per-student costs with a site license.