We’ll introduce the repertoire of 4-6 Missouri fiddlers like Gene Goforth and Nile Wilson, all of whom represent powerful and diverse approaches to the music of their region. We’ll spend each day doing some collaborative listening and discussing, and then learn 1-2 tunes by ear that vary in difficulty and style. We’ll think about what makes each fiddler and tune unique, and how we can draw out some of those elements into our own playing. Students should be physically comfortable on their instrument and accustomed to learning music by ear.
Instructor Bio
Sonya Badigian grew up in New England and learned fiddle amidst a small but fierce old time scene centered around deep, thoughtful listening to 78-era recordings and sources from Kentucky and Missouri. In the ensuing years she turned her ear particularly to traditional players like Snake Chapman and Gene Goforth who pushed themselves to experiment with more modern styles and repertoires. She also picked up guitar along the way. In her early twenties Sonya moved to North Carolina, where she currently resides.
Her approach to old time is to closely investigate and work at channeling the sincere, playful energy that permeates old recordings, and to incorporate that sense of movement into a natural sound that feels informed. She is fascinated with the accumulation of peculiar details that amount to an individual’s musical fingerprint. In teaching she aims not just to guide students toward a playing style that is tonally and rhythmically intact, but also to teach a listening style that inspires a sense of wonder and develops their musical imaginations within the realm of old time.
Sonya can be found playing guitar and singing with Hard Drive (Tatiana Hargreaves, Aaron Tacke, Nokosee Fields), a North Carolina-based band whose first release, Random Access Mash, presents a “high-octane bluegrass-old-time style delivered with deep intuitive insight, manic exploratory zeal and seriously powerhouse instrumental (and vocal) chops” (Folk Radio UK). She has played fiddle and guitar for workshops, concerts, and square dances across the country. In her spare time she helps run Slippery Hill and serves on the board of the Field Recorders’ Collective.