Private lessons with top Fiddle instructors

Want to learn bluegrass, old-time, western swing, country or Irish fiddling? With 18 years playing fiddle and 10 years teaching, I have the experience to help a beginner gain basic skills or an advanced student analyze bowing patterns, moving double stops, backup and improvisational skills and ideas and more. From the student who is picking up the fiddle for the first time to the fiddler who’s been playing their whole life, I hope to inspire a love for traditional fiddle music and culture.

I teach bluegrass fiddle using an approach designed to help students be able to learn both by ear and with sheet music, and to prepare to play with other musicians or attend bluegrass jams, as well as play with good technique and posture. I teach children age 6 and older, and adults, and welcome adult beginners. Students use the book Jack Tuttle's Bluegrass Fiddle Primer, by Jack Tuttle, if they can already read music. Students who do not yet know how to read music should start with Strictly Strings Violin Book 1 by Dillon, Kjelland, and O'Reilly. I only offer online lessons.

I've been playing the fiddle for 26 years and have been teaching for 10 years. I welcome students of all ages and have taught people between the ages of 5 and 60. I started out learning with a fiddle teacher playing by ear and then later switched to a classical teacher so I have a broad range of music that I love. But my favorite style to play is fiddle music.

I am from the south bluegrass and blues are some of my favorite to teach. I focus heavily on bow technique. I have gotten students into youth orchestras and passed college auditions. I like to use the Essential Elements and Suzuki books. I also offer online group lessons at a highly discounted price. I suggest that all my students join. This is a great option for kids while class is out.