FiddleQuest Practice Club
FiddleQuest Practice Club
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enjoyment
on & off stage
For Teachers
FiddleQuest’s focus is to create students that enjoy playing socially in all stages of life. We teach songs and skills that provide students with the confidence and ability to sit in with any type of musician – whether they're in an Irish session, garage band, or chamber group.
Enjoy Music,
On Or Off Stage
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
FiddleQuest takes motivation seriously. Music is an important, but discretionary, activity. There comes a point when no one forces you to play violin. Whether they are 25 or 85, people play the violin recreationally because they enjoy it. And that enjoyment isn't just about hitting a certain skill threshold. It starts with how they are taught and the environment they learn and play in. FiddleQuest teachers work together to help cultivate an environment that supports intrinsic motivation in their students. It's fun for the students, and it's fun for the teacher.
Motivation
People teach what they know and enjoy. The people who use FiddleQuest have discovered the power of music to connect with others, not just on-stage, but in social settings. Some teachers didn’t experience that as children but have come to appreciate it now as adults. Many teachers have created small communities of families that meet up regularly to play music, have a potluck, and even dance. Some teachers discovered existing FiddleQuest communities in their area and have joined in with even more students. Being a FiddleQuest teacher doesn’t require you to be an extroverted event organizer. But it does give you the tools and resources to help create community on a level that feels fun and energizing for you and your families.
Connection, Recreation, Fun
Creating young musicians is a team effort. The responsibility falls on more than the teacher. Getting others involved can seem challenging. The music of FiddleQuest provides a foundation that makes it easy to pull a team together to help children learn music – and create a community along the way.
It Takes a Village
FiddleQuest students can start young. The first level is all on the open strings. There are dozens of songs that can be played by the student if they are particularly young and need a few months (or longer) before they start on their left hand. But students need not move through all of Level 1 to jump into the melodies of Levels 2 and 3. Some students can be there in a week or two. With FiddleQuest, the ability to move students from “first notes” to “making music” couldn’t be easier.
Easy On-Boarding
FiddleQuest teachers come from a variety of backgrounds. Some had serious studies in classical music in childhood. Some started as adults, have never played a concerto, yet play music throughout the week with joy and fluency.
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Regardless of their educational background or favorite style of music, all these teachers share some things in common.
Ready When You Are
FiddleQuest has everything a teacher and student need, all in one place: songs, scales, improvisation, sight-reading ... everything! That means when you sit down with your student, you don’t need to worry about forgotten lesson materials. It's all on the practice page. Teachers report that they require no time to prep for their lessons. They are ready to go as soon as they start the lesson.
