Fiddle Tunes of John Hartford

with Megan Lynch Chowning

About the class:

 This workshop is all about discovering the undiscovered! Shortly after his death, folk, old time, and country music legend John Hartford's family unearthed thousands of his unheard original fiddle tunes and set about making them available to anyone and everyone to learn and listen and enjoy. As the fiddle player of the John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project live show (and one of the fiddlers on the Grammy-nominated album) I am so excited to teach you a couple of these fabulous tunes. We might even have a special guest drop by to share some John Hartford stories. We will be learning in a call and response style, by ear, but I'm patient and repetitive and will endeavor to leave no one behind. Fiddle tab will also be available. This workshop is best for upper beginners through advanced players.

Weeks 1 and 2: Tennessee Politics - This Hartford tune is starting to make its way into jams and old time circles and is so fun to play! We will also address bowing and timing/phrasing while learning this tune.

Weeks 3 and 4: How Can We Love - This beautiful waltz has one of the most classic melodies I've ever heard. I can't wait to share it with all of you. We will also work on tone and vibrato techniques while learning this tune.

4 Mondays: Sept 9, 16, 23, 30, 6pm-7pm

Classes meet at Soft Junk, 919 Gallatin Ave

About Megan:

Megan Lynch Chowning, originally from Redding, California, is a seven time national fiddle champion, touring musician, Grammy-nominated (for her participation in the John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project) recording artist, teacher, singer, and flatfooter. She spent four years touring with legendary country music artists Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan, and has played with bluegrass stars Dale Ann Bradley, Roland White, Larry Cordle, Jim Hurst, Chris Jones, 3 Fox Drive, Due West, Chris Stuart, and BEML (the duo of Bill Evans and Megan). Megan has fiddled and sung on dozens of projects, and has released a series of entirely solo fiddle albums, focusing on crowdsourcing fabulous but slightly more obscure fiddle tunes. She has taught fiddle and vocals at prestigious camps such as Augusta Heritage Week, the British Columbia Bluegrass Workshop, Sore Fingers Bluegrass Week in the UK, Walker Creek Music Camp, and the California Bluegrass Association Camp, among many others. Megan has also judged the National Fiddle Championships three times, as well as many state championships throughout the country. She’s the co-director (with her husband, Adam) of the IBMA-award-winning Nashville Acoustic Camps. But sometimes she just likes to sit quietly and smell the flowers.