Fiddle Lessons

I teach a variety of fiddle styles, including bluegrass, old-time, Western Swing, and swing. For beginners, we’ll work on basic fundamentals including proper hand and finger posture, bowing mechanics, and playing in tune with good tone. I use my own materials, including three of my own authored books, and hundreds of additional pieces at all levels.

A major emphasis is on developing proper bowing patterns and playing stylistically in the correct genre, especially important for violinists turned fiddlers. Over the years I have carefully transcribed countless solos from many of the greatest fiddlers for use as lesson material. I do use my own self-published books, Jack Tuttle’s Traditional Fiddle Collection, Jack Tuttle’s Bluegrass Fiddle Primer (which is what I use for teaching my new bluegrass fiddle students) and Jack Tuttle’s Bluegrass Fiddle Collection.

I also work on playing by ear, playing both fiddle tunes and solos for singing pieces. Developing improvising skills is also a major focus for those who are ready and willing. I often play along with the student, sometimes on fiddle, but often accompanying on guitar. Students are encouraged to record the lesson.

Here are some helpful resources for fiddle:

• I have three books on fiddling at my Shop. 
• Read my Recommended Fiddle Albums and my Recommended Bluegrass Albums on the About Bluegrass page.
• View the transcriptions below for a few tunes to work on.

My list of practice suggestions has always included playing with others. Strum Machine is a great online tool for playing along with that can help you get there. It can also be a good “non-complaining” accompanist for when you want to go through your fiddle tunes for hours on end. It can also be your metronome as you try to play slow cleanly, or get faster. It’s also great for improvising over chord progressions.