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AFM 1 Beginner
LEVEL: absolute beginner to beginner
INSTUCTOR: Brian Wicklund
AMERICAN FIDDLE METHOD BOOK: VOLUME I (first half)
AFM Course Tour / Instructor: Brian Wicklund
By the end of the course, you will be able to…
- Play 17 common tunes from a variety of fiddle traditions
- Understand and use good bow and violin technique
- Play with good tone and intonation
- Play tunes using two strings at once
- Know how to care for and tune your violin
- Understand good practice habits and learning by ear
VIEW COURSE CURRICULUM CLICK HERE
AFM 1 BEGINNER
GETTING READY
Lesson 1 Introduction to AFM
Lesson 2 Gear you need
Lesson 3 Parts of a fiddle
Lesson 4 Parts of a bow
Lesson 5 Checking your fiddle’s setup
Lesson 6 Checking your bow’s setup
Lesson 7 Care of your instrument
Lesson 8 Fitting a shoulder rest
Lesson 9 Rosining the bow
Lesson 10 Tuning using the pegs
Lesson 11 Tuning using the fine tuners
Lesson 12 Applying tapes to the fingerboard
Lesson 13 Names of the notes
TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Lesson 1 Three lists
Lesson 2 Anatomy of a fiddle tune
Lesson 3 Learning by ear
Lesson 4 Small Overlapping Phases –SOPS
Lesson 5 Muscle memory
Lesson 6 Using a metronome
LEVEL I
Violin and Bow Position
Lesson 1 Natural body position
Lesson 2 Positioning the fiddle
Lesson 3 Position of the left arm and hand
Lesson 4 Thumb and “Mirror 1st Finger”
Lesson 5 Holding the bow
Lesson 6 Principles of bowing
Lesson 7 Great Tone: Balancing Speed and Weight
Lesson 8 Diagnosing your tone
Lesson 9 Bowing string changes
Lesson 10 Beginning rhythms
Lesson 11 A string – 1st finger
Lesson 12 A string – 2nd finger
Lesson 13 A string – 3rd finger
Lesson 14 A string – three fingers
Lesson 15 A string – practice
Lesson 16 D string – three fingers
Lesson 17 D string – practice
Lesson 18 G string – three fingers
Lesson 19 G string – practice
Lesson 20 E string – three fingers
Lesson 21 E string – practice
Lesson 22 Using ring tones to play in tune
Lesson 23 D Scale
Lesson 24 G Scale
Lesson 25 A Scale
Lesson 26 Twinkle –key of D
Lesson 27 Twinkle –key of A
Lesson 28 Twinkle –key of G
LEVEL II
Lesson 1 Boil ‘em Cabbage Down
Lesson 2 Shortnin’ Bread –key of D
Lesson 3 Shortnin’ Bread –key of A
Lesson 4 Camptown Races
Lesson 5 Little Liza Jane
Lesson 6 Shady Grove
Lesson 7 Cripple Creek
Lesson 8 Efficient Fingering
Lesson 9 Angelina Baker
Lesson 10 Buffalo Gals
Lesson 11 4th Finger
Lesson 12 Cindy
Lesson 13 Crawdad Song
Lesson 14 Low 2nd finger
Lesson 15 Old Joe Clark
Lesson 16 Chinkapin Hunting
Lesson 17 Soldiers Joy
Lesson 18 Arran Boat
Lesson 19 Sandy Boys
Lesson 20 Squirrel Hunters
LEVEL II – EXTRAS
Fluid Bowing
Drones and Double-stops
Lesson 1 Playing two strings
Lesson 2 Tips for bowing drones
Lesson 3 Tips for fingering drones
Lesson 4 Using undertones to play in tune
Lesson 5 Shortnin’ Bread w/drones
Lesson 6 Boil ‘em Cabbage w/drones
Lesson 7 Camptown Races w/drones
Lesson 8 Angelina Baker w/drones
Kick offs and Endings
Lesson 1 “Potato” Kick Offs
Lesson 2 “Shave and a Haircut” endings
“These lessons have been a game changer for me. I’ve got two masters degrees and Brian just might be the best teacher I’ve ever had!”
– AFM Member