Welcome to the JamWithLauren Blog
Many of these articles are inspired by questions from our JWL students. If you can’t find a post that digs into the issues that are plaguing you, consider signing up for lessons with Lauren. When you sign up you will gain access to her amazing curriculum and she’ll be able to answer your questions during our bi-weekly LIVE Lessons. Who knows, maybe your question will inspire the next post!
How and Why to Join the Rhythm Section as a Fiddler
Today, I want to talk about rhythm. I am primarily a fiddler, and the fiddle is often considered a “melody” instrument. However, this is a misnomer because many instruments including the fiddle can play melody, chords, and rhythm simultaneously and separately. There is no good melody without good rhythm!
Understanding Bow Direction and Why It Matters: A Fiddler’s Guide
The bow sets the fiddle apart from all other instruments. With the bow, a fiddler can emote like a vocalist and groove like a drummer. Bowing styles can help listeners identify the musician from a single phrase- perhaps even a few notes. On the flip side, the bow can be a source of aggravation and keep fiddlers from unlocking their full potential.
How (And Why) To Practice Scales
As a young student, I remember teachers making me play scales. I never wanted to play them, but I always had to play them for school orchestra tests and youth symphony auditions. To make things worse, I didn’t understand why I needed to learn scales. Or even how to practice them. Why would I work on something if I didn’t understand how it could help me or how to practice it? I only wanted to practice things that were fun!
How To Improve Your Groove
Groove is such a difficult concept to pin down in words. And I already knew this because I try to talk about it on a regular basis! I talk about it with my bandmates, with my students, and with my musician friends, and we often find ourselves struggling to articulate what exactly we want to say. Groove is mysterious. Groove is what makes music and people dance.
How to Use Source Recordings for Inspiration
I want to talk to you about listening to old recordings. These days there are many incredible resources available to us—a big one being YouTube. For example, this great video popped up a few days ago of Tommy Jarrell and Fred Cockerham in 1971. If you have only a few spare minutes, check out their rendition of “Cluck Old Hen” just after 9 minutes in.
How To Know When to Move to the Next Tune
One of the most common decisions I make as a teacher is when a student should move on to new repertoire. When one of my JamWithLauren subscribers asked me how he’ll know when he’s ready to set one tune aside and start working on another, I thought it might be helpful to outline some general guidelines and share them.
Figuring Out the Key: A How To for All Musicians
When I lead workshops and jams at fiddle camps, one of the most commonly asked questions is some variant of, “How do I know what key I’m in?”
This question often happens when someone has learned a fiddle tune melody and might be trying to figure out the chords, or just tell their guitar playing friend what the key is so the friend can have a go at it.
How To Practice Your Fiddle Efficiently and Effectively
What should you practice?
It’s kind of a silly question, but it’s the most important. I mean, there are SO. MANY. THINGS. You could practice; new material, old material, technical facility, foundational building blocks like scales and arpeggios, improvising, composing, arranging, the list is endless.
Can You Sing It?
I’m a firm believer of the ‘if you can sing it, you can play it’ mentality when it comes to ear training. Correctly singing a phrase, or the entire tune, before you attempt to put your hands on the notes saves valuable practice time, which promotes efficient learning and good muscle memory.