Online fiddle lessons

Strings Magazine 9/09 review: “A substantial contribution to the growing field of fiddling pedagogy . . . should be required reading for all string teachers hoping to branch out into fiddling.” Laura Risk
"should be required reading for all string teachers hoping to branch out into fiddling." Laura Risk, Strings Magazine, Sept. 2009

Calling all fiddlers and string teachers!

Donna now teaches long-distance to students in the U.S., Canada and Australia! Here’s what Donna’s students & parents have to say about their online lessons:

“I’ve had Skype lessons with Miss Donna for a year now. Miss Donna is a magnificent teacher and not being by her side when I’m learning a song is not difficult for me.  If you can’t learn a tune by ear, she can send sheet music and a recording of the tune by email for practice.  Miss Donna is always patient and nice.  I think more people would like Skype lessons because it is so easy to use and I can be right at my own house.” Lia Hanes-Stetter, 13 years old

“As fiddling is such a specialty, to find the very best instruction for your child or yourself you most likely will have to look outside of your local area.  Skype allows us to give our daughter the very best fiddle teacher available – Ms. Donna Hebert.  Lia is learning from such a well known fiddling expert on a weekly basis. The cost is comparable to our local violin teacher and I can be in the kitchen cooking dinner while a lesson is going on in the computer room.  Donna teaches to our daughter’s level and then encourages her to progress with every lesson – I can’t even believe the improvement she has made in such a short time.  We love Ms. Donna and wish she lived next door – but since she doesn’t – online is the next best thing.” Paula Hanes-Stetter, parent

Six reasons to contact Donna Hébert for online fiddle lessons!

  • 1. You want to work on your fiddling, but can’t find a teacher nearby
  • 2. You LOVE French-Canadian fiddling but live too far away from Québec!
  • 3. You want to learn to groove and manipulate rhythms on the fiddle
  • 4. You want a reliable and efficient way to learn tunes by ear
  • 5. You want to improve your chord theory and harmony chops
  • 6. You are a string or fiddle teacher looking for fiddling tunes and lore for yourself or your students

fidjam

For years, I’ve heard “If only I lived closer to you and could come for lessons . . .” Well, like the song says, “AT LAST!” I’m now offering online lessons. My local students commit for a semester at a time, but with online lessons, you can book individual lessons or block book half and full hour lessons (half hours $25 in blocks of ten, hours $50 in blocks of ten). I use Gmail video chat. It’s free!

Donna at 2008 Champlain Valley Festival - Louis Beaudoin workshop Donna at 2008 Champlain Valley Festival – Louis Beaudoin workshop

As many of you know, a good teacher can make the difference between success and failure on the fiddle. An unforgiving instrument at best, it can frustrate and test us at all levels of musicianship.

I’m considered an expert teacher of French-Canadian, Contradance, Irish and Scottish fiddling and I’m very competent at Appalachian Old TIme. I regularly teach ear training, transcription skills, music theory, rhythm and improvisation at Smith and Amherst Colleges, where I’m a fiddle instructor. I perform and teach in multiple groups, including a French-Irish band with Irish singer Molly Hebert-Wilson and an Old-Time band with fiddler Jane Rothfield. I’ve taught with Darol Anger, Mark O’Connor, April Verch, George Wilson and many others. See my teaching bio below.

HOW THIS WORKS . . .

  • 1. You send me an email outlining your skills, goals and interests.
  • 2. I answer and we test the online connnection, setting a lesson time.
  • 3. I bill you and you pay online through PayPal or by check, if you live in the U.S.
  • 4. During the lesson, you can present tunes or lesson agenda items such as techniques, rhythms or tunes you want to learn. I watch and listen to you play and offer suggestions. I can also teach bowings or a tune, phrase by phrase, as if we were in a room together.
  • 5. I email you transcriptions for any new tune I present. You’ll want the chord chart even if you don’t need or read the music.

You will need the following: a computer with a Gmail account (free), a webcam (internal or external) and a high speed connection. DSL can be tricky; a broadband connection is best. We test the connection before I bill you so we know everything works. Lessons are available from 10 am-7pm, with some weekend times available.

Want to watch/listen to me online? My new Fiddling Demystified Channel on YouTube has clips, including 2009 onstage at Philadelphia Folk and Old Songs Festivals and other concert footage over the past several years.

my bio . . .

  • 2010-present: Adjunct fiddle instructor Smith College
  • 2009 Commonwealth Awards: cited by Mass. Governor Deval Patrick for “outstanding artistic achievement.”
  • 2008 Massachusetts Artists’ Fellow in the Folk Arts, Mass. Cultural Council
  • 2008-present: Creative Teaching Partner in Fiddling, Mass Cultural Council. Partnering with school music teachers in the northeast in developing a regional model and curriculum integrating fiddling with school string instruction. “I consider Donna to be at the forefront of the developing field of fiddle pedagogy,” says Dr. Alan Jabbour, Dir. (ret.), American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • 2002-present: Adjunct fiddle instructor, Amherst College; 2010: Adjunct fiddle instructor, Springfield College Fiddle overview, ear training, rhythmic improv, composition
  • 2001-2009: Seven Franco-American fiddle apprentices through the NEA’s Master/Apprenticeship in the Traditional Arts program, performing with three apprentices in Franco-American bands.
    • Great Groove Band, main stage, 2009 Philly Folk Fest, with Groovemama

    Great Groove Band, main stage, 2009 Philly Folk Fest, with Groovemama

  • Teaching partners: guitarist Max Cohen, Groovemama (Jane Rothfield, Max, Cohen, George Wilson, Stuart Kenney); fiddler Katherine First, accordionist John Whelan, accordionist & pianist Sabin Jacques and Rachel Aucoin, Franco fiddler/singer Daniel Boucher and singer Josée Vachon
  • With seven Franco-American fiddle apprentices through the NEA’s Master/Apprenticeship in the Traditional Arts program, Donna has made significant contributions to the culture, including new musical compositions as well as working to preserve the family musical culture of her Burlington, VT mentor, Louis Beaudoin. She also teaches and performs at schools, festivals, camps, concerts and workshops with guitarist Max Cohen and with Groovemama, Mist Covered Mountains, Josée Vachon and Daniel Boucher, Rachel Aucoin and Sabin Jacques and more.
  • Recent teaching credits include Mark O’Connor’s Strings Symposium, Wesleyan, Evansville and Arizona Universities and the Philadelphia and Old Songs Folk Festivals, where she leads participatory music programs every year for ages 6-18. She is also the program director for Old Songs summer music camps, including 2010 Fiddle and Strings youth camp July 5-9 and French Accent Camp Aug 16-20.
  • Donna is author and publisher of Fiddling Demystified for Strings, with a respected catalog of instructional materials. Strings Magazine’s Sept. 2009 review from Laura Risk said, “Fiddling Demystified should be required reading for string teachers hoping to branch out into fiddling.”
  • Says string pioneer Darol Anger in his foreword to Donna’s Fiddling Demystified, Vol. I: A Practical Guide for String Players: “Donna gets it all right! I suspect that thegeneral level of fiddle knowledge and playing will take a major uptick soon after Fiddling Demystified ispublished, just as other great music books such as Earl Scruggs’ original banjo book, O’Neill‘s great Irish fiddling reference and the infamous jazz Real Book influenced the course of musicians’ lives and work.”