Robertson Guitars

We are very excited to be the exclusive Austin dealer for Robertson Guitars!  Jeff Robertson from Bastrop, Texas, makes guitars that are truly amazing.  We have two models for sale now in the shop and we hope to get more as he makes them.

Someone please contact this person!!!!

From time to time we get people posting ads in the shop about wanting to find other musicians to play with.  The other day we got this one from Lindsay Shane and we were so impressed by her creativity that we wanted to let everyone know about her.  Email her at girlmeetsbanjo@gmail.com  Check out the awesome flyer she wrote:

Hem and Haw

The new CD from Hem and Haw is now on sale at Fiddler's Green.  This CD is awesome and it's been picking up a lot of airplay around town.  Hem and Haw, otherwise known as Jenn Miori and Ben Hodges, are playing at the Cactus Cafe this Monday March 12th.  They're opening up for Wood and Wire.  Go check 'em out!

Mandolin and Fiddle Boot Camps!

We have just started up an ongoing series of "boot camps".  On the second Sunday of each month (1-3pm  $35) Billy Bright will be leading a MANDOLIN BOOT CAMP that will guide players through tunes and techniques.  Check out his full description on Fiddlersgreenmusicshop.com.
Also, Chojo Jacques will be doing a FIDDLE BOOT CAMP on the fourth Sunday of each month (1-3pm $30)  Chojo will help fiddlers from high-level beginner through advanced to further develop their style.  Check the website for full info on Chojo's camp
These Boot Camps are a great way for people to have a regular group setting in which to learn and have fun!

Fiddle Workshop with Chojo Jacques

Sunday January 22nd

2pm - 4pm

A 3 part introduction to fiddle - learning the basics of bowing, fingering, and other proper techniques to get started. This will be a general overview of the necessary skills needed for any style of beginning fiddle.

The first part will be focused on learning proper bowing techniques, including exercises to take home. 

The second part will be focused on proper left hand and fingering techniques, with scales to take home.

The last part will consist of learning a tune together, and applying the techniques discussed.

Primarily designed for beginners, but intermediate players wanting a tune-up of their technique would benefit.

Workshop is $30

Give the gift of music!  Gift Certificates for this workshop are available

Sign up now!  Space is limited!

Irish Tune Teaching Session

For some time now we have been having Irish tune teaching sessions on the first Sunday night of each month.  They have been going great and people seem to be enjoying them.  In an attempt to make them even better we are changing the format slightly.  We will now be making our way through the "Tunes for the T.I.M.E.S." Cd's, starting with volume 1.  These CDs were created by the Traditional Irish Music Education Society as a teaching tool to be used at the O'Flaherty's Irish Music Retreat, which everyone knows I'm a big fan of! (You can check out the TIMES website at http://www.irishtradmusic.org/ if you want more info)

Anyway, I have about 30 of these CDs to hand out for free at our sessions and then every month we will go over the next three tunes on the CD.  The CDs present each tune at full speed and at a slow speed and they are great for learning tunes!  The schedule of what tunes will be covered when check the Fiddler's Green website under the "Irish sessions" tab.  I'm hoping that if people have a good learning source to take home with them that they will "do their homework" and really start building up their tune list.

The whole point of these sessions is for people to get together and have fun learning tunes in common.  We're using the TIMES cds because they seem to be the unofficial tune list for central Texas.  Hopefully, when all the central Texas folks get together for a session at the Austin Celtic Festival (ACF) or the North Texas Irish Festival (NTIF) or Tour and Candy's room at O'Flaherty's we will all know more tunes in common.

So if you've never been to our sessions please come!  The more the merrier!  Hopefully, we can build up the Austin Irish Trad scene and show those Dallas folks who's boss!

Cool Stuff: How many tunes can you hear at once?

I'm a recent fan of Radiolab (http://www.radiolab.org) and one of their shorts caught my ear enough that I thought I'd share. It's about a pianist who is able to listen to four symphonies at once, in his head, complete with all the instruments. I'm not even sure I could hear one fully! It's pretty amazing, so have a listen to the podcast below:







-Michelle