Shape & Rhythm Work this Saturday!
Hi Fiddle Friends,
Are you ready for some advanced fiddling? I will demonstrate how I would practice for an hour working through the 3 shapes and bow rhythms. Many of you are ready for this and some of you will appreciate seeing how the future might look with your own practice. It isn’t my aim to leave anyone behind but I probably won’t slow down and demonstrate things that we have worked on these last couple of years. It’s ok if you try and don’t get it. Know I will get back to the individual skills after this session.
I have added new dates for this summer. I decided that if you all show up, I will keep working on material for y’all. The summer is spotty due to festivals and camps but it will be good to keep meeting. Write them down on your calendar and join if you happen to be around.
Tricia’s Zoom Room: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/2648621651?pwd=UVJFdVZuZUNoZ3RDTkpOV2tpTHcxZz09
Saturday Mornings
Time: Log in at 10:45 am CST and we will start at 11:00 am CST
Current Dates (subject to change):
May 24: Advanced Practice
May 31:
June 21 & 28
July 5
Saturday Seconds
I will be putting together additional information and here is where you can find it. Feel free to print it out and study it. https://triciaspencer.substack.com/s/saturday-seconds
2-3 Shape
How to put it all together
The Videos from Saturday Mornings
These are often available the day after now or on Monday if you want more time with the videos! Sometimes I offer repeat videos if for some reason I miss teaching on Saturday.
Where to purchase or check new videos: https://www.patreon.com/c/spencerandrains/shop
(FYI, you do not need to become a member.
#21 May 10, 2025 Zoom Fiddle Session: Rounded bowing work and looking and working on the bowing for Porter's Reel.
#22 May 17, 2025 Zoom Fiddle Session: The focus of this session is: All about cross-tuning! For the lesson, I tuned to GDGD but this information is valid for all cross-tunings. Newt Payne's Tune is what I used as an example.
Free Tune Videos that Reinforce Skills:
Candy Girl (double lick) :
Stumptown Stomp (3-1 chord shape):
Big Taters In The Sandy Land (traditional end lick w/ saw stroke):
Big Taters In The Sandy Land (chord work w/ bowing):
About the Videos for Sale on Patreon:
I’m excited to now be offering a video recording of the Saturday Sessions. It is because many of you continue to show up on Saturday mornings and provide donations that I can offer the videos. I enjoy working with fiddlers, having you in front of me and donating for my time keeps me inspired to teach more effectively and also makes the sessions fun for me. Please keep showing up regardless if you can donate!
In trying to keep the integrity of fiddlers showing up for the weekly live sessions, these videos are available to view but please check the video’s expiration date. The LINK will no longer work on/after the EXPIRATION DATE. They come down on Sunday night/Monday morning. For those of you who cannot attend or would like to repeat the session, I will have them available the day after our session and the video can be purchased for $15 on Patreon. I cannot offer these for free as it is another layer of work for my team (Howard, Orion, and Birdie), which is why they will have a nominal fee for use (as opposed to the sessions themselves, which are still free). I am not ok with the videos being available permanently which is why you have over a week (depending on when you purchased) to work on the lesson. If you can’t show up and can’t afford the video lesson, please email me back. We will work something out.
The live Saturday Sessions are free but if you are inclined to donate for my time, I do appreciate it as it helps me keep doing what I’m doing and allows us to upgrade and make more educational videos. If you can’t donate, that’s fine, just tell your friends! I believe everyone should have the opportunity to learn regardless of their income.
Zelle: triciaspencerfiddle@gmail.com (without phone number)
Venmo: https://www.venmo.com/u/lawrencefiddler
Paypal:paypal.me/TriciaSpencerFiddle
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/triciaspencer
If you are NEW to the Saturday Sessions!
Welcome! These sessions are designed to work on the mechanics of fiddling and give you ideas on how to utilize your own practice. These are the same mechanics that I continue to work on even after fiddling for 49 years and are some of the fundamentals I cover with my private students. Think of it as fiddle yoga. There continues to be a group of fiddlers from all over the world who show up on Saturday mornings. You don’t have to let me know if you will be there or not and you don’t have to have your camera on. Just show up and take what you can.
What I will be doing: I am going to be combining bowing elements and working through chord shapes in all registers. If you have The Fiddle Garden, keep it handy as I will be using lessons from the book. If you don’t have the book, have a pen and paper handy to take notes.
Other helpful things not necessary but recommended:
Keep your video turned off during the session. This transmits less data and allows my video quality to be better.
If you can, plug directly into your ethernet.
Audio too low? “For those who are having audio issues, I would recommend that they click the little arrow to the right of the microphone button and go to audio settings, and they can adjust their audio volume using the speaker slider. They can also select a specific audio output, such as headphones vs. speakers. If their volume is still too low, they can go into their computer's volume settings and adjust volume there.”
Make sure you are in tune before the session as I will have tuned beforehand.
Put a mute on your fiddle & wear headphones while working with me. You still want to hear your fiddle but make sure I am louder than you.
sounds challenging yet fun!