• Home/Register
• Fiddlehub Lessons
•       Video Tune Lessons
•       Audio Tune Lessons
•       Tune Lesson Demo
•       Which Video Format?
•       Using Video Files
•       Using Audio Files
•       Using TEFview Files
•       Lesson Components
• Free Fiddle Videos
•       Bowing Lessons
•       Bow Position Mgmt.
•       Fingering Lessons
•       Fingering Exercises
•       How To Read Tab
•       Parts Of The Bow
•       Parts Of The Fiddle
• Other Useful Stuff
•       Fiddle Tune Structure
•       Tuning Tones (EADG)
•       Video Player Tips
• Testimonials
• Books/DVDs/CDs
•       Learning Methods
•       Tune Collections
• Fiddle Gear
•       Fiddles/Violins
•       Bows
•       Accessories

Intro To Fiddlehub Tune Lessons

Violin and fiddle teachers have known forever that learning to play well means repeating certain bowing and fingering patterns over and over and over.  But there's a problem:  It can be (and it usually is) boring.  It's not fun--especially if you're repeating scales.

But fiddling is all about fun.  The music is fun; and learning to play it should be fun too.  So to provide for the all-important repetition in the learning process, and make it fun at the same time, I use what I call "Tune Lessons."  Here's the idea:

• Instead of focusing on scales, in a Tune Lesson you focus on individual sections of a fiddle tune.
  
  
• You take a single phrase (just a few notes--a couple of measures), and you work on the bowing and fingering for just that phrase until you can play at slow speed. 
  
  
• Then you move on to the next phrase and work on it.  Once you have a few phrases down (usually 4), you work on them together. 
  
  
• Finally you put everything together and once you can play the whole tune through from start to finish slowly, you begin to speed it up.  Now two things have happened:  (1) You've learned a new tune, and (2) you've mastered the bowing and fingering techniques required for that tune arrangement.
  

I first introduced this method on the original fiddlehub.com site in late 2008.  Since then thousands of people have been using, and enjoying Tune Lessons.  This much is very clear:  Tune Lessons are fun, and they work. 

Now I've redesigned the site, and here at the new fiddlehub.com, these Tune Lessons are available as downloads.  Plus, because they are now downloads, I've been able to add some features what were unavailable at the previous site.  These lessons come in 2 forms:

• Video Tune Lessons:  These are available individually.  Each Video Tune Lesson includes
  • Video files in either mp4 or wmv format (usually 11 separate videos),
  • Audio files in mp3 format (usually 11 audio files),
  • Sheet music in standard notation and fiddle tablature that you can view on screen or print out,
  • A TEFview file of the fiddle arrangment that you can play on your computer at any speed, and
  • A TEFview file of the guitar chord accompaniment that you can play on your computer at any speed.
    
    
• Audio Tune Lessons:  These are available as a collection.  Each of the 16 Audio Tune Lessons in the collection includes everything that's in a Video Tune Lesson except the video files.
  

To learn more, check out the individual tune lessons and hear samples, follow these links: Video Tune Lessons, or Audio Tune Lessons. 

To learn how each tune lesson is put together and how to take a tune lesson, watch the Tune Lesson Demo.