If you have a child who knows how to play the violin, but loves traditional music, Fiddlevideo is a perfect opportunity for you. Fiddlevideo is a web-based trove of video lessons and accompanying printable sheet music covering Old-Time, Traditional Irish, Scottish, Canadian, Contest, and Bluegrass music styles. These online lessons are best for people who already know how to play the violin as the instruction assumes that you know the basics of your instrument.

My daughter has taken lessons across these music styles locally in the past and we found that Fiddlevideo is a top-quality alternative that is almost like a series of master classes. Each lesson will take your child about half an hour to work through the first time. You can choose to focus on a specific technique, like grace notes, fiddle chopping, or Scottish grooves, or you can work on specific pieces. The choice is up to you. Regardless, to fully learn each technique, your child will probably watch each video again and again as they practice.

The 130 lessons are organized by musical style, with an expert instructor teaching each of the styles. If you prefer to find a specific type of music to study, for instance a Strathspey or a Waltz, you can also select lessons by type of piece across all the styles. Or you can select lessons by difficulty level, but regardless you need to know how to play the violin first.

Each lesson includes detailed explanation of the background and a bit of history of the style as well as discussion of the technical aspects of creating the specific sound and quality necessary to play each musical style. The instructor will demonstrate the style and play the full pieces of music so that the student can easily understand the nuance of the technique.

Personally, I am fascinated by the Quebequois style as it involves your entire body. You play the fiddle and accompany your music with rhythms tapped out with your feet. It is so complex and uplifting! The lessons in Fiddlevideo include everything you need to know. In the case of Quebequois, you will learn both the bowing and ornamentation necessary, as well as the footwork.

Beyond all the lessons on Fiddlevideo, your membership includes access to the forum where you can discuss various music styles and make some friends across the country, and a trove of printable sheet music.

There are free lessons available for you and your child to try before you purchase, but the overall quality of the membership is well worth the $295/year fee. Also, Fiddlevideo offers a number of different discounts for new members with details on their site. If you have a child who loves music and plays the violin, Fiddlevideo is a fantastic choice for your homeschool.

-Product review by Kirsten West, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2018

Another Reviewer Perspective:


Fiddlevideo
http://Fiddlevideo.com

Fiddlevideo offers online fiddle lessons for students who already know the basics but want to expand their fiddling skills. A subscription includes 130 full lesson modules as well as access to their membership forum.

Without buying a subscription, you can sample several things that Fiddlevideo.com has to offer. If you choose a song to learn as a sample, such as the Lover’s Waltz, you can still view the information about the song, listen to the performance video, and preview a short section of the guitar backup audio file if you are not logged in. There are eight free full lesson videos that you should definitely take advantage of.

When you log in to your account, there are tons of options to make your learning experience easier. You can loop videos so that certain parts are automatically repeated. You can also download sheet music and audio files for the song of your choice.

When choosing something new to learn, you can start by choosing a teacher, a certain technique, or just jump straight into a song. There are many, many song options available to learn. You can choose from various types of fiddle songs, such as waltzes, reels, hoe-down, Scottish ballads, and more. Some songs may be familiar to most students, but not all. I’ve come across some very nice songs that I look forward to learning.

There are also many levels of techniques and songs available as well. Whether you are a beginner or advanced fiddler or violinist, you can start learning from Fiddlevideo.com today. Some songs have sheet music and tutorials for both beginner and advanced levels. Certain advanced songs are easiest if you learn the beginner version first, then add in the advanced techniques. Even young students can begin using the techniques taught in the Fiddlevideo lessons to help transform their regular songs into fiddle songs. Many times in the instruction videos, as they tell you techniques to learn for each song, you can go find videos about those specific techniques.

Because of the need to download and view various types of files, such as audio, video, and sheet music files, it is not compatible with all mobile devices. However, those same things worked on other devices. Everything seems to be accessible from a laptop.

I recommend Fiddlevideo.com to anyone with a desire to increase their fiddling repertoire.

—Product review by Jennifer Miller, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2018