I’m excited to announce my next baby, which has been in the oven for a solid six months: the Red Desert Fiddle You Tube channel.
I’ll post regular videos there giving you some great content and tips for both American and Irish fiddle playing.
The channel will also feature a whole bunch of instructional videos to help you learn some of the best-loved fiddle tunes of all time, such as Orange Blossom Special, Ashokan Farewell by Jay Ungar, and, available right now, the beautiful Lovers’ Waltz by Jay Ungar (with special and gracious permission from Jay Ungar and Molly Mason). Also available now, a three-part tutorial series on how to play Boil Them Cabbage Down.
I’ll let you in on a little secret: the channel is my run-up to an online fiddle lessons course that is fantabulous! The channel will include sneak-peeks, free tunes, special announcements, performance footage, and more. Ready to get your fiddle on?? Visit Red Desert Fiddle at YouTube and subscribe so you won’t miss anything.
Get all the details about my online fiddle lessons right here.
Lora, I’m glad I found your YouTube Orange Blossom Special videos! I am competing in a Ms. Texas Senior America Pageant, August 2013 and plan to play “OBS” for my talent! I take private fiddle lessons weekly, and yet your techniques / tips are most helpful in my quest to play OBS by August. You mention sheet music for Orange Blossom Special and I’m wondering if you have this available for download purchase? I’ve got several versions of the song, but am thinking as I follow your training videos it would probably be to my advantage to have your version of sheet music.
Thank you in advance for your reply – and thank you for the helpful tips for the challenge I’ve placed on myself to learn to play Orange Blossom Special! 🙂
Sharon W.
Hi Sharon. That is fantastic news! I will be extremely interested in following your progress and in the competition. Eight months is long enough that you should be able to kill it! And OBS is a great tune for audience involvement. I have two resources that can help you: playalong tracks and sheet music.
The playalong tracks are 12 MP3 files in slow, medium, and fast tempos, with violin, without violin, and several tracks to help you with the “transition” from the improv section into the main body of the OBS. The sheet music is a printable PDF with fiddle music and chords. The tracks and the music are available for sale through Paypal. Email me at lora[at]reddesertviolin[dot]com if you want further information.
Good luck with the competition!
Hi Sharon!
I am certain that the Orange BLossom won’t be a problem for this contest. It’s only for FIDDLE contests where they say, “No Trick Fiddling”…but this is the talent portion of a pageant, so you should be all set!
Let me know how it goes!
I’am 79 years old and started playing on my own at 75. taught myself for two years and took lessons for two years. I recently lost my fiddle teacher and i’am interested in your upcoming fiddle course. i play left handed and can read music but not fast enough to play at reasonable tempo, so i use sheet music that i markup with the notes. i’am a hoobbyest and know my limitations and i can’t play by ear. i’am told that my playing is
good for a hobbyest. I also play the same tunes on my Irish whistle. My question is do you think i can benefit from your fiddle course? I would appreciate your advice.
Thank You
Hi Edward! Nice to meet you!
My fiddle course is designed to be used by people who read music AS WELL AS those who cannot read music at all. The class has a fiddle book which was specially prepared by me for those who rely on sheet music….but I also have videos that show you note by note how to play each tune. Here’s a list of all the tools you will have at your disposal to make sure you are successful in this class:
>Free downloadable audio recordings of fiddle and guitar for every tune (people have bought this cd just for listening pleasure, but it’s mostly a tool)
>Free downloadable audio recordings of fiddle only, and guitar only for every tune (this is especially fun for students to play with the guitar track)
>Play-Along Videos of every tune where you can clearly see my fingers and bow. Every tune has a Slow, Medium, and Fast video
>Downloadable, Printable summaries of every lesson, to help you remember the points you learned
>The fiddle book (costs about $10 extra, but it is NICE NICE NICE), has guitar chords, and piano accompaniments!
>Access to ask me questions as much as you need to
>Over 2 hours of instruction on every tune
>After your final payment, you continue to have free access to the lessons for another 7 months (longer if you need it, for free)
So, if you were to combine your knowledge of note reading with your limited ear training, I’m sure you could learn these tunes.
However, this course is challenging. It is a beginning FIDDLE course, but it assumes that you know the basics of violin playing, like intonation, bow hold, posture, tone, bow control, etc. If you don’t have those basics in place, then you will benefit GREATLY from completing my Beginner’s Violin class, which is called “Fabulous VIolin Fundamentals”…..and it takes you through Suzuki Book 1, giving you an excellent foundation for ANY style of violin playing.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I hope to see you on the inside soon!
–Lora
how can I obtain the video that will teach me how to play the Orange Blossom Special?
Thanks
Mick
Mick–
Have you seen the YouTube Orange Blossom Tutorial videos that I posted?
Or were you wanting a follow-up from the YouTube tutorials?
I think I mentioned sheet music on one of those videos too….just let me know exactly what it is you wanted, and I’ll try to get it to you!
-Lora
I saw some of your videos on u-tube and I am impressed with you. I remind me of some of my beloved teacher I had in school. I tried some of the techniques and even though I cant do themvery well yet I have improved and have more confidance on playing the violin. I would like to now more about the program you teach and as you stated that it will take seve months to get through the program, will I be playing at the end of the program?
Hi Denny!
Thanks for the kind words!
YES, you will be playing at the end of the program! I am so impressed by what my students have been able to accomplish from taking these courses.
I need to contact you to figure out if you are interested in fiddle or classical violin, and what your level of experience is thus far…so I’ll just email you. –Lora