Violin Methods 3

Become a more sought-after violinist by exploring musical genres often overlooked in traditional training.

As the music industry continues to evolve, versatility is essential for career success. This four-week course is designed to expand your violin skills beyond the classical realm. From pop music to jazz improvisation, folk fiddle styles, and the commercial recording industry, the course explores a different musical style each week, teaching you techniques specific to each genre and how to apply them to performance and recording scenarios. You’ll broaden your musical portfolio and prepare for a successful career where you thrive in diverse musical landscapes.

The course begins with examining violin in pop music, both as a background instrument and as the main voice. Through hands-on exercises, you'll practice playing simple string arrangements and melodic lines inspired by famous pop songs, including examples from artists like Dave Matthews and Coldplay. You'll also learn to play alongside backing tracks, culminating in a recording assignment where you'll choose and perform various violin parts for a remake of Clean Bandit's "Rather Be."

You’ll then shift to folk and bluegrass styles, exploring techniques such as left-hand trills, mordants, and bow cuts. Through a series of practice exercises, you'll apply these techniques to folk tunes from Celtic and Scottish traditions, as well as American bluegrass. From there, you'll explore jazz music, with a focus on improvisation using the blues scale, syncopated rhythms, and chord progressions. Through exercises on chord tones and arpeggiating the blues form, you will be prepared to perform and improvise in jazz contexts.

You'll also gain insight into the world of commercial recording, including how to prepare for studio sessions, handle microphones, and navigate professional recording environments. The course culminates with a studio recording assignment, giving you practical experience in recording violin tracks for media projects.

What you will learn:

✔ Perform and record violin parts in pop music, including both background and lead roles, while understanding their role in studio settings
✔ Demonstrate proficiency in traditional folk fiddle techniques, including left-hand and right-hand embellishments, and apply them to Celtic, bluegrass, and other folk tunes
✔ Gain improvisational skills in jazz by learning rhythmic patterns, blues scales, and chord progressions and applying them to both structured and spontaneous jazz settings
✔ Develop technical and professional skills to record in commercial music settings, including mic placement, studio etiquette, and self-recording techniques

Prerequisite Skills:

• Completion of Violin Methods 2, or or equivalent knowledge and/or experience.