“Hi Dan, just letting you know how much I enjoy your classes and I am always in a good mood afterwards. Also letting you know that I am actually impressing myself with my increase in speed. I have had many different violin/fiddle teachers in the past and you are by far the best. You instantly know solutions to long term problems and can identify them easily. I try several of your suggestions and they are working for me. Maybe one day we will meet in person!”
— Jocelyn Jennings
FIDDLE SCHOOL
Join Dan over Zoom to learn how to play traditional Cape Breton, Scottish and Irish Music.
Lessons are suitable for all levels of learners - beginners will learn melodies and how they’re put together, while advanced learners will kick it up a notch with lessons in ornamentation, rhythm and perfecting the right accent.
Dan has been teaching fiddle for 20 years. “My main inspiration has been my father, Lloyd and my older brother Shawn but there are so many great fiddlers to look to for inspiration like Jerry Holland, Buddy MacMaster, Winston Scotty Fitzgerald, Ashley MacIssac, the Barra MacNiels (old family friends) to name a few Cape Bretoners and on the Irish side, Michael Coleman, Sean McGuire, Frankie Gavin, Kevin Burke, Fred Finn and that is also just to name a few.”
Beginner Class - Sunday mornings at 10:00am - 11:45am ET
Intermediate Class - Monday evenings at 7:00pm - 8:45pm ET
Oakville Celtic Fiddle Orchestra Rehearsals - Wednesday evenings at 7:00pm - 8:45pm ET
Cost: $80/month
“I took up the fiddle as my first musical instrument at the age of 70, after a lifetime of listening to fiddles and bagpipes. I was fortunate to have picked up several tunes, however in the process I developed several bad habits and technique. Luckily I came upon Dan in a workshop and have been taking private lessons from him since. Dan has been concentrating on intonation and bowing technique which are essential to produce a musical sound. As well he is giving me great instruction on the fine points of the many different types of Celtic music, of which he is an excellent performer. Dan is a natural teacher with a warm empathy towards his students, whatever their level of ability. I strongly recommend Dan as a musical teacher. ” — Peter McDougal
Here are just a few examples of how the lessons will look and feel:
Beginner
INTERMEDIATE
ADVANCED
FAQs
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New students can start at any time throughout the year! No need to wait until the start of a semester.
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Lessons are $80/month and can be paid through e-transfer, Paypal or Stripe.
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The classes are recorded every week and NO PARTICIPANTS ARE RECORDED.
Videos are uploaded to YouTube and sent to the students at the end of each class.
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Yes, I prefer if people leave their camera on during class but understand if you can’t due to technology or connectivity issues.
It is very important for me to be able to see and correct your bowing and hold.
The zoom window is actually an excellent way for both me (the teacher) and the student to keep an eye on the bow. Even better than the mirror because it is not a mirror image, it's a true image and since i'm recording it, you can always refer back to the video to see if you were really pulling off whatever it is you're trying to do or only "sort of" pulling it off.
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I do teach private lessons! Let’s chat about it - send me an email! danmacdon@gmail.com
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I teach by ear but provide sheet music as well. I curate the versions of the tunes from www.thesession.org since that is the most popular resource for this music. This will also help you navigate that website and know what to look for in terms of finding good and reliable versions of the tunes you are trying to learn.