Lessons

Isaac has been teaching private and group lessons for nearly twenty years. His experience includes teaching all ages and skill levels on fiddle, guitar, mandolin, bass, and banjo. He has taught at multiple camps, universities, and workshops around the world in addition to maintaining a private studio of students locally and online. 

Below you can reserve your spot in a group class, pay for private instruction, or book an online lesson. 

Free Lessons

The Montana Old-Time Fiddlers are proud to sponsor.

Free Beginning Fiddle 5:00 Tuesdays 

Free Beginning Guitar 6:00 Tuesdays

These classes are free of charge and open to all ages. 

Classes will start Tuesday January 23rd 2018

Location:

Bass Clef School of Music and Fine Arts

525 Central Ave, Suite M2, Great Falls, MT

 

5:00 Beginning Fiddle Group Class- This is for folks who haven’t played before or are just getting back into it. We will cover the basics from how to hold the instrument, basic mechanics of playing, beginning tunes that develop your technique, and basic music theory. We will be learning mostly by ear but we will also incorporate some music and tablature so you become familiar with those forms of learning as well.  We have fiddles available to rent or borrow if you need one

5:00 Beginning Guitar Group Class- This class will be for the rank beginner to the guitar and we’ll cover the basics of how to hold the guitar, how to play basic melodies with a flatpack, and how to make and change all your major and minor chords.

 

Other Classes

6:00 Scottish Fiddling- Louise is continuing to teach her group class on Scottish fiddling. Come and learn the nuance and quirks of this great style of music. Marches, aires, strathspeys, and many other cool tunes will be covered along with Scottish ornamentation and technique.  $10 per session and Pre-registration is appreciated. 

6:00 Intermediate Fiddle Group Class- This class will be a follow-up class to the beginning fiddle class.   $10 per session and Pre-registration is appreciated. 

7:00 Bluegrass Instrumentals- This class is open to all bluegrass instruments: fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass, banjo and dobro. And open to all levels of playing ability.  We will learn basic bluegrass instrumental tunes that are commonly played at jams all over the world.  Learn the melodies, chord progressions and what to do when you're not playing the lead.  $10 per session and Pre-registration is appreciated. 

Other Classes and Private Lessons

Private Lesson 1 Hour
  • Private Lesson 1 Hour

Private Lesson 1 Hour

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$50.00

Fee for one hour of private instruction.

Please email to schedule time and check availability before paying for lesson time.

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Private Lesson Monthly Fee
  • Private Lesson Monthly Fee

Private Lesson Monthly Fee

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$200.00

Fees for four lesson (one month). Discount of $5 per lesson for paying for the month in advance.

Please email to schedule time and check availability before paying for lesson time.

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Other Workshops Offered

Beginning Fiddle 

This workshop covers the basics of playing the fiddle including proper technique, tone production, fingering, bowing, how to read TAB and music notation. By the end of the workshop students will be able to play a basic melody. 

Intermediate Fiddle 

This workshops is for players who can play the fiddle but want to improve tone, timing, bowing, and musicality. We cover tone production and phrasing, bowing patterns, double stops and drones, and stylistic differences and ornamentation. We will learn a tune and discuss how to make it your own using the techniques described. 

Advanced Fiddle 

This workshop is a masterclass setting where students select a tune and play it for the class. We discuss the performance and each student gets individual feedback on how to improve. 

Fiddle Backup 

This workshop covers how to play behind singers or other melody players. We talk about how to improvise solos, fills, and how to compliment a melody while staying in the background. 

Twin Fiddling 

This workshop is all about the harmony. We learn how to find two and three part harmonies. We will discuss the various methods of finding the harmony using theory and our ears. 

Improvising 

This workshop covers the different techniques and theory involved in improvising. We cover chord and basic theory, altering melodies, rhythm, and how to form solos using melody and chord

Beginning Guitar  

This workshop covers the basics of rhythm guitar including how to hold the instrument, proper pick technique, strumming patterns, alternating bass patterns, and moveable chords. By the end of the workshops students will understand chords, their structure and relationship to one another, and how to play rhythm behind a melody.  

Texas Style Guitar  

This workshop covers how to develop moving bass lines, passing chords, and how to improvise chord progressions for Texas style and contest type tunes. We will cover the various chords needed and study some of the standard progressions used to get in “the groove”.  

Swing Guitar  

This workshop covers the strum patterns, chords, and timing needed to play for swing tunes. We will discuss the history and various styles of swing and how to alter our playing to fit with the specific tune being played.  

Style Specific Fiddle and Rhythm  

Workshops are available in Texas Style, Appalachian Old-Time, Canadian Old-time, Scottish, Irish, Swing, NW Old-time, and Bluegrass. These workshops focus on tunes from the specific styles and what techniques are used to differentiate that style from others.

Teacher Training 

This workshop is designed for people interested in teaching beginning workshops on fiddle or guitar. Teachers should already be proficient on their instrument and have a repertoire of tunes they are comfortable with. The workshop covers basic techniques for effectively teaching technique, tone production, practice techniques, and aural learning. 

For this course we supply printed and online resources for teachers including materials for a ten week course. Online resources include videos, pdf files of handouts, lesson plans, and printed music and tune collections for teaching basic fiddle and rhythm. 

This workshop is intended to prepare students to teach a ten week course on how to play the fiddle. Students will leave with all the materials and information needed to successfully run a community Group class.