Chords for Fiddlers/Violinists
online course
This course is for you if you’ve ever thought to yourself…
When other musicians try to talk to me about songs in terms of their chord progressions, I just go blank. What am I supposed to do with that information?"
"Why can’t I even google satisfying answers about chord stuff? All I’m finding is guys with guitars/pianos/whiteboards talking over my head and/or so abstractly that I still can’t retain or apply the info. How do I apply this stuff to the fiddle/violin, so I can actually use it?"
“I can’t even hear the chord changes to begin with. Why? Am I secretly bad at music?"
Here’s how I figured out chords and chord progressions on the fiddle:
Over a decade of trial and error in jams and bands before I felt confident I could do this without embarrassing myself…
A college music degree and hours spent laying in bed at night thinking about how my classical music theory classes applied to fiddle playing across genres…
Years of playing rhythm guitar, learning to hear chord changes and think like an accompanist…
Not to mention working with hundreds of students, finding out what worked for them and what didn’t….
You shouldn't have to do all that.
Most people aren’t in a position to put in that time, even if they were motivated to do it.
And: there’s no reason you should have to be as much of a nerd as I am to master chords and chord-based thinking on the fiddle/violin!
I’ve worked one-on-one with sooooo many students on this specific issue. It doesn’t matter whether they’re beginners or have been playing for decades—ultimately everyone gets frustrated around the chords thing.
Why, everyone wants to know, aren't there simple answers to simple questions, like “what do I play when it’s a C chord?” or “how do I know it’s time to play a C chord unless someone tells me?”
So about five years ago, I realized this was something
I could create and offer:
a quick-start system for chords on the violin/fiddle.
The Chords for Fiddlers/Violinists online course
This material began as a one-day workshop at Bellingham Folk School, turned into a popular PDF download, and now I've expanded it into a four-week online course.
It’s a low-theory approach that will get you participating on the same level as your guitar/banjo/piano/etc. friends as quickly as possible.
Now, I love music theory, and I teach a lot of it in other contexts. But in my experience, most adults get too hung up on the theory, thinking they need to be 100% fluent in all that before they can start playing. You don’t.
You can start now, with certain moveable finger shapes that follow predictable patterns.
All the additional layers of music theory, aesthetic choices about rhythm and register, etc. can build on this foundation…
...but without the foundation it’s just a lot of mind noise that doesn’t help you in the middle of a jam or band practice.
So let’s get you that foundation!
What’s in the
course:
Each week for four weeks, you’ll receive:
A video recording of a 1-hr class - a combo of lecture & play-along practice
Homework play-along videos & audios to guide your practice sessions between sessions, so you can build muscle memory while playing actual songs. (You’re basically jamming with me, except you can pause and rewind me as much as you like!)
You’ll also receive these bonuses:
Video tutorial: Troubleshooting Your Double Stops
A 20-minute deep dive into what to do if you don’t like the sound you’re getting when you play two strings at once.
Video tutorial: How to Find More Songs To Practice With
A guided tour of my favorite tool for figuring out what’s already in your music collection that you can play along with using any given pattern you’re working on.
Video tutorial: What To Do With Your Bow While Playing Accompaniment Chords
How to do chucks on the offbeat… and how to figure out what to play instead when offbeat chucks don’t make sense musically.
Downloadable reference guide
Print this and keep it in your case, so these chord patterns are always at your fingertips going forward.
Eartraining quiz audios
These will help you recognize chords and chord progressions by ear when you hear them on the guitar (not piano or MIDI like most eartraining resources out there)
$129
for the whole shebang
Five hours of video & audio content,
delivered in manageable portions for 4 weeks.
We'll take a three-prong approach to jump-starting your chord fluency:
Your Ears (eartraining):
Increase your sensitivity to hearing and identifying the chord changes so you can play along.
Your Note Choices (voiceleading):
Identify finger shapes that flow in and out of each other smoothly (sounds best + easiest to play)
Your Effortless Execution (muscle memory):
Practice the chords hands-on with different songs, to build 100% fluency connecting the chord you hear + the fingering that will make it happen
These patterns of finger shapes make it much easier to quickly find the chords you need to:
accompany other musicians
add double stops to your solos
and do it well, no matter which key you’re in.
By identifying the underlying patterns (standard chord progressions, as well as finger shape patterns), there is SO SO SO much less to learn than if you just try to memorize a zillion ways to play a C chord!
We’re going to spend much of our time actually practicing this together. That way you start building neural pathways/muscle memory so your body knows the patterns forever.
We want to reduce your reliance on the reference diagrams as quickly as possible!
We’ll also spend time practicing knowing which chord you need when you’re accompanying other musicians, or making your own arrangements of tunes.
$129
That’s less than the cost of two 45-minute lessons with me!
Plus you can pause and repeat the videos/audios as much as you want.
Is this really for me, though?
All levels:
This class is suitable for of fiddlers/violinists of all levels, who want to feel more confident around chords. (If you're not yet confident playing double stops, that will be one of the skills you're working on alongside the rest of the material.)
Most genres:
This material is applicable to all genres of music that involve creating your own parts based on a chord structure—including (but not limited to) folk, rock, jazz, and pop.
FAQ
I’m excited to start, but I’m worried I might get busy and fall behind.
No worries! You’ll have access to all course material forever, so you can follow along on your own schedule.
I wonder if I’m too advanced for this course to speak to where I’m at.
Even if you’re the concertmaster of a major symphony, if you don’t feel fluent playing off a chord chart or responding in real time to chords you hear in a jam, this course will help you move beyond theory to connect those wires in your mind and fingers.
I don’t know if I’m advanced enough to understand and integrate the material.
As long as you’ve been playing fiddle for at least a few months, you’ll probably be fine. If double stops (playing two strings at once) are new for you, this is a fantastic opportunity to work on the bow control for getting the sound you want, at the same time you’re learning the chords material. It’s a twofer!
OK, but it’s hard to prioritize this when the world is on fire.
Um, yeah. That is a super legitimate feeling, and if this isn't the right timing for you based on other stuff in your life, I totally support you not taking on this project on top of everything else right at this moment.
But here's a thought: we all need to protect space in our lives right now for stuff that helps us feel connected and empowered. Building a skill that is about your joy and your ability to connect positively with others is a balm that helps you feel more control and more positivity in the face of challenging world events.
I can't wait to share this with you!
Love, Kat :)