FiddleQuest Practice Club
FiddleQuest Practice Club
Fun
first & foremost
For Students
At FiddleQuest, music is, first and foremost, an activity that kids and adults learn in pursuit of self-expression and connection with others. It's fun, it's creative, and it's a break from the more burdensome responsibilities of life.
Fun
The single most common skill that lifelong musicians have is strong ears. They can play whatever they hear. When FiddleQuest fiddlers sit down with another musician, they can confidently play along with melody, harmony, and rhythm parts. To make this possible, students start developing their ears on the first song. They begin by learning single notes and intervals between those notes. By the time they finish, they learn songs phrase by phrase. Every song or tune is learned this way, from Bill Monroe’s Bluegrass to Bach’s Sonatas.
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Ears first
Violinist students who learn music with notation typically struggle with memorizing music. They work hard to sight-read, and then they're asked to memorize what they finally learned to play! There's a better way. When a FiddleQuest student learns a song by ear, it is automatically memorized. As we work through phrases of songs –– whether the tune is easy or difficult –– the song is imprinted on our brains. And when the song is learned, we have it for life. We may need to have our memory jogged occasionally –– “How does that tune start?” –– but the song comes back, even decades later!
By Heart
The violin has often been an instrument learned in an environment of competition and perfectionism. Those goals will soon bring playing to end for most students. FiddleQuest builds an environment of community and lifelong learning that makes playing an activity that can add to the quality of life of 5 year olds, 25 year olds, and 85 year olds.
Lifelong
Music is only as fun as the songs you learn to play. FiddleQuest spans a huge variety of traditions: Irish, Bluegrass, Classical, Scandanavian, Blues, Jazz, Pop, and more. We pay attention to what students say about the songs they are learning. Students let us know if a song is too easy, too hard, fun, or boring. And we adjust our curriculum each year to reflect these important assessments. That continuous feedback and adjustment creates FiddleQuest's remarkable, dynamic collection of songs.
Shared
Very few students relish learning scales, sight-reading, and other skills. FiddleQuest gets that. We understand that simply telling students “Practice your scales” won't get the results we all want. While students are naturally motivated to learn songs, they need to see the skills they are assigned as relevant, interesting, and helpful. So, we have designed our skill section to include only the most necessary, helpful, and relevant skills students need –– skills they can keep building on, skills they can put into effect right away.
Relevant
Become The Player You Want To Be
Young players who want to perform for a living? No problem. Your focus and determination will move you through all 10 levels of FiddleQuest quickly, giving you the foundations to launch into the style of music that you love.
Is your idea of success playing with a few friends every-so-often after dinner? Perfect! FiddleQuest will give you over a 100 songs you’ll be able to share and teach and all the skills you need to learn new songs from your friends.
FiddleQuest makes success possible for everyone.
Get Started
If you have a FiddleQuest teacher already, when you sign up for your account, you’ll be asked to select your teacher. That will allow them to create a practice page for you.
If your teacher is not a FiddleQuest teacher, let them know about us. Many teachers have not yet heard about FiddleQuest. Send them a link to fiddlequest.com and let them know you are interested.
Have A Teacher?
Need A Teacher?
FiddleQuest is designed to work with a teacher. There are some students who have already had lessons and want to learn new songs on their own. That works fine. But for new students –– children or adults –– we strongly encourage working with a teacher.
Can I Learn On My Own?
The northern castle
An interactive adventure game which provides additional incentive for students to practice skills they might otherwise be hesitant to learn. By completing skills like scales and sight-reading, students unlock points that allow them to progress through an exciting adventure where they control the actions of their character. So, instead of being told to practice their scales, students will proactively learn skills as they seek to complete their adventure.