Fiddle Lessons

Photos

Jennifer and her Chanot Style violin (2026)
My parent's music store, Springfield Illinois. (2013).
Jennifer Sordyl
Thyme Travellers with Norman Farrell, Jennifer Sordyl & Don Berg. Celtic, Swing and Contra music.
"Contra Swings" Our duo.
Beginning bow grip marks on the hand
Fiddle Camp Fun!
More Students
Contra Dancing
This is how you play it...
2014
2014

Singing helps with phrasing and musicianship and can also help with "audialization" of pieces. A fiddle player needs to be able to accurately audiate (mentally hear) the pitch, and ideally, to be able to match the pitch with their voice. Mentally hearing the note in advance of playing it can help with intonation, which is especially helpful with instruments like the violin where intonation is notoriously challenging - especially for beginners. The quickest way to learn a phrase is to sing it, then play it and repeat alternating sing / play until the phrase is perfected. I insist on listening to the recordings of the homework to achieve the goal of being able to recall, from memory, the song they are learning.

Recognizing notes played on the piano is also a very helpful skill, but not the same thing.

Serious musicians are generally able to sing, eventually. They might not like to sing and they might not sound very good, but they are generally able to sing on-pitch.

What can you do in your family to encourage singing? It’s fun to sing along with a song. Add tapping or clapping the rhythms or using your egg shaker to maximize the experience. Be silly and playful. Even if you’re hearing the Twinkle recordings for the 1000th time, smiles and encouragement will improve practice time.

Fiddle Lessons

Photos

Fee increase as of September 2026.

Why I ask students to sing

Fiddle Lessons

Photos

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Fee increase as of September 2026.

Why I ask students to sing