The fiddle is one of the sounds that defines country music, from the earliest recorded string bands to modern Nashville pop, a fiddle makes it country. In this class, I’ll show you a style of fiddling from somewhere in the middle: the classic era of Honky-Tonk singers in the 1950s and 60s. We’ll focus on bowing techniques, how to find a play double stops, how to fit fills in around the vocals and we’ll learn lots of kickoffs and breaks as examples. All music will be taught by ear. The class will be especially useful to students who play fiddle tunes and want to branch out.
Instructor Bio
Jesse Milnes grew up in the world of West Virginia old-time music (his father is fiddler and folklorist Gerry Milnes). Though he is widely known as a fiddle player, Jesse’s first instrument was a guitar and he has developed a personal style of finger-picking, drawing on influences from blues to bluegrass to country. He has played fiddle and guitar with many country, old-time and bluegrass bands over the years, including the Sweetback Sisters, a country band for which he was also a main songwriter. Jesse has won many local and regional fiddle contests, including the WV State Folk Festival in Glenville, WV, and the Ed Haley Fiddle Contest in Ashland, KY. Jesse and his wife, Emily Miller, recently toured in Australia and California and recorded their first album as a duo. They live in Valley Bend, WV.
Check out Milnes in action at Augusta in 2014:
The fiddle is one of the sounds that defines country music, from the earliest recorded string bands to modern Nashville pop, a fiddle makes it country. In this class, I’ll show you a style of fiddling from somewhere in the middle: the classic era of Honky-Tonk singers in the 1950s and 60s. We’ll focus on bowing techniques, how to find a play double stops, how to fit fills in around the vocals and we’ll learn lots of kickoffs and breaks as examples. All music will be taught by ear. The class will be especially useful to students who play fiddle tunes and want to branch out.
Instructor Bio
Jesse Milnes grew up in the world of West Virginia old-time music (his father is fiddler and folklorist Gerry Milnes). Though he is widely known as a fiddle player, Jesse’s first instrument was a guitar and he has developed a personal style of finger-picking, drawing on influences from blues to bluegrass to country. He has played fiddle and guitar with many country, old-time and bluegrass bands over the years, including the Sweetback Sisters, a country band for which he was also a main songwriter. Jesse has won many local and regional fiddle contests, including the WV State Folk Festival in Glenville, WV, and the Ed Haley Fiddle Contest in Ashland, KY. Jesse and his wife, Emily Miller, recently toured in Australia and California and recorded their first album as a duo. They live in Valley Bend, WV.
Check out Milnes in action at Augusta in 2014: