A one-day fiddle workshop with Mikey Kenney and Dave Shepherd. There will be a series of four workshops two each from Mikey and Dave where we’ll learn some tunes but also delve further into various topics around playing for dance.
Teaching will be primarily by ear, but sheet music will be available/provided.
Suitable for intermediate players and above.
WORKSHOPS
Dave Shepherd
Workshop 1 will be looking at the repertoire and playing style of the Cotswold Morris fiddlers that Sharp and others collected from in the early and mid 20th century. Expect some quirky versions of tunes and ways of decorating tunes.
Workshop 2 will be looking at the types of traditional English social dancing (NOT english ceili) and some of the fiddle music associated with these dances, with a view to establishing a core repertoire to support future dance workshops/events.
Mikey Kenney
Workshop 1: Mikey will teach a few tunes sourced from Lancastrian manuscripts and investigate how we might interpret them using ornamentation, bowing etc.
Workshop 2 will develop these themes looking at how to find the groove/pulse inherent in all good dancing music, and how to make rhythmic dancing music sound much tighter when performing with an ensemble.
EVENING SESSION: We’re planning to have a session afterwards at the Royal Oak (a friendly, informal, independent pub with great beer!).
COST: Numbers are limited, and tickets priced at £35 for the day including tea, coffee, and biscuits.
BOOKING: please email
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LOCATION: The Maltings, St Mary's Gate Wirksworth, Derbyshire, DE4 4DQ
Wirksworth is a beautiful, small market town in the Derbyshire Dales on the edge of the Peak District National Park. Worth a visit in its own right, Wirksworth has a thriving community including many artists and a good collection of pubs and independent shops.
TUTORS
Mikey Kenney
Mikey Kenney is a respected traditional fiddle player and educator from Liverpool known for his informed practice of both English and Irish traditional music and his philosophical approach to teaching. His innate understanding of geographical context and the migratory nature of human beings lies at the core of his fiddle playing; being a son of Liverpool – an English city in historic Lancashire (now Merseyside) with a prominent Irish influence. Mikey regularly tours internationally as a performer. He is the current Vice-Chair of the historic Liverpool Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann and has served as MD for the Lancashire Youth Folk Ensemble as well as being a member of the Liverpool Céilí Band. Of his last release, 'Northwestern English Fiddle' – an album dedicated to tunes sourced from Northwestern manuscripts, Tradfolk wrote: ‘he's like a walking tune book and his dedication to keeping the old music of Lancashire alive is something to be cherished’. mikeykenney.bandcamp.com/album/northwestern-english-fiddle
https://mikeykenney.co.uk/
Dave Shepherd
Yorkshire-born Dave Shepherd is well known through his work with the band Blowzabella and is acknowledged as an expert performer and teacher of fiddle music and traditional dancing. Dave has been researching English traditional social dance and music, and is actively involved in creating an interest in, and reviving, the ‘old’ village dance and music. Dave has recently formed the trio Terza, performing English and European fiddle music.
https://blowzabella.co.uk/
Also check out other Workshops in Matlock, Entertainment events in Matlock, Performances in Matlock.
