Mel Bay's Fiddle Sessions Archive

From June 2003 to October 2009 Mel Bay published a bi-monthly webzine called Fiddle Sessions.  Each issue featured 3 or 4 articles pertaining to the fiddle or fiddle playing, although much of the content is of general interest.  The issues are archived here.  I don’t play fiddle, but I was happy to have found the archive because I think you can learn about your own instrument by relating it to how other instruments are played.

I browsed through all of the Fiddle Sessions issues, and below are links to the articles I found to be the most helpful or interesting. 

Ecstasy at the Contra Dance (Donna Hébert, June 2003)

Learning Without Lessons (Stacy Phillips, April 2004)

BLACK EYED SUSIE - a version for beginners (Stacy Phillips, December 2004)

Pages From A Fiddler's Notebook (Joel Shimberg, February 2005)

Thoughts on Self-Starting as a Fiddler (Stacy Phillips, April 2005)

Practice Ethics: Part 1 (Betse Ellis, April 2005)

Practice Ethics: Part 2 (Betse Ellis, June 2005)

Jehile Kirkhuff - My Music Mentor (Ed Berbaum, August 2005)

More on Jehile Kirkhuff (Ed Berbaum, October 2005)

Natalie McMaster (Elizabeth Szekeres, December 2005)

Natalie McMaster, Part 2 (Elizabeth Szekeres, Feburary 2006)

Analysis of a Swedish Waltz (Karen Myers, April 2006)

Regional Fiddle Styles in Ireland, Part One: Sliabh Luachra (Brendan Taaffe, June 2006)

Tips and Techniques on Irish Fiddling, Part One (Tim McCarrick, June 2006)

Regional Fiddle Styles in Ireland, Part Two: West Clare (Brendan Taaffe, August 2006)

Tips and Techniques on Irish Fiddling, Part Two (Tim McCarrick, August 2006)

Regional Fiddle Styles in Ireland, Part Three: East Clare (Brendan Taaffe, October 2006)

Fiddle Styles by (Tim McCarrick, October 2006)

The Ivy Leaf as played by Jehile Kirkhuff (Ed Berbaum, December 2006)

John Hartford Comes to Dinner (Bill Gurley, June 2007)

Learning By Ear Vs. By Reading Music or Tab (Carolyn Osborne, August 2007

Alternate Fiddle Tunings inIrish Fiddling (Tim McCarrick, October 2007)

Tommy Jarrell's Family Stories 1830-1925 (Nancy Neithammer, October 2007)

Tommy Jarrell's Family Stories 1830-1925 Part Two (Nancy Neithammer, December 2007)

Tommy Jarrell's Family Stories 1830-1925 Part Three (Nancy Neithammer, February 2008)

Road to Lisdoonvarna and Sergeant Early's Jig (Philip John Berthoud, August 2008)

Secrets of Efficient Practice (Paul Anastasio, February 2009)

Listening to the Tradition (Missouri Girl, February 2009)

Sharpening Your Ear Without a Pencil Sharpener (Paul Anastasio, August 2009)

More Secrets of Good Practicing (Paul Anastasio, October 2009)

Jehile Kirkhuff's Version of Mildred's Schottische (Ed Berbaum, October 2009)

Like I said, you can sometimes gain new insight and expand your overall knowledge and understanding of music by studying material intended for other instruments.

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