Fiddle | Beth Chrisman | Intermediate/Advanced | Period 3 | Week 1 (July 7-12, 2024)
In this class, we will focus on honing the classic country fiddle sound, through basic improvisation, playing melodies from ear, and learning to convey emotion and tone through your playing. Students will learn to read from Nashville number charts and follow a rhythm guitar player, and follow a vocal line with the fiddle. We will discuss how to share lead duties with other instrumentalists, how to stay out of the singers way, and how to deal with amplification and volume in a band setting. Fiddlers with the ability to pick up melodies by ear and basic music theory knowledge are encouraged to join this advanced class.
About the Instructor
Though she started out her musical life studying classical violin, Beth Chrisman fell in love with roots music early on. She began playing fiddle music and learning to improvise and sing through the bluegrass & Old-Time scene in her home state of Alaska. After moving to Austin, Texas in 2006, Chrisman quickly absorbed western swing and honkytonk styles into her musical identity. Both at home and on the road, she has joined a variety artists on the stage and the studio including Bobby Bare, JP Harris, Alice Gerrard, Willi Carlisle, Zoe Muth, and John C. Reilly. Best known for her frequent fiddle and harmony work with James Hand, Brennen Leigh, and the Carper Family, Chrisman is now fronting her own honkytonk band – Missy Beth & the Morning Afters, and is one half of roots duo Lost Patterns.