The Adventurous Muse Store and Old Mill Musical Instruments has these courses, workshops, plans and references. There WILL be more!
Cigar Box Fiddles: About Them and How to Make Them
Most comprehensive reference available
for making several different types of cigar box fiddles that are easy
to play and sound great.
This book provides a general introduction to cigar box fiddles, their history, the differences between the solid wood 19th Century style fiddles and “modern” cigar box fiddles made from cheap plywood. The majority of the book deals with the actual making of two different types of cigar box fiddle, as well as a variation, a whiskey bottle box fiddle. 150 pages with over 100 illustrations.
Link to comprehensive outline and the book cover.
PLEASE NOTE: This book is for experienced craftsmen and craftswomen with proper woodworking tools!
Chord reference (a downloaded product) for Viola and 5-String Fiddle
This is a companion guide to our fiddle chord guide, but this one is for for practitioners of viola and 5-string fiddle who play Old Time, Irish, Scottish and other “folk” styles. There are two sets of charts, one for the standard viola (ADGC) and 5-string fiddle (EADGC) tuning; the other for a “D-tuned” C string. This practice of tuning the C string to D is more common for the 5-string fiddler than the violist. Tuning the C string to D really makes the instrument sing with sympathetic overtones, especially when playing in the keys of D and Dm, but also the keys of G, Gm and surprisingly, the key of A (D is neither the 3rd or the 5th of A)
Fiddle Chord Charts for Standard and Various Alternative Tunings
Fiddle
chord charts are for the chords most commonly used in Old Time, Irish,
Scottish and other “folk” styles of fiddling. Includes charts for A and
D cross-tuning
In addition to the standard violin tuning (E-A-D-G), charts for the
E-A-E-A, D-G-D-G and E-A-D-A tunings are included in the long-awaited
guide.
Fiddlers: Tired of being a musical anachronism at reenactments?
All 5 parts of our free online course are available NOW: How to Set Up Your Fiddle 1860s Style (of particular interest to Civil War Reenactors). This
course, brought to you by the Adventurous Muse Store, Musicians'
Sutlery and Old Mill Musical Instruments is available in 5 parts on
YouTube.
Using the Circle of 5ths to Form Modal Chords FREE
Free downloadable guide to using the Circle of 5ths to form fiddle chords consisting of root notes and their 5th harmony notes (called Modal Chords)
Gourd Banjo Making Workshop (contact Jeff Menzies directly jeffsbanjer@yahoo.com or 705-456-9939)
You must contact Jeff Menzies directly to register for this course
(contact Jeff Menzies directly jeffsbanjer@yahoo.com or 705-456-9939).
Link to the workshop poster
Create
a piece of art that sounds as beautiful as it looks! Using a
watch&do approach, noted builder/teacher Jeff Menzies will guide
you step-by-step as you cut the gourd, craft the neck, and stretch the
skin on your new instruments. The workshop will include historical
discussion of the banjo, and its connection to food, culture and
place. It will probably include a few jam sessions around the fire,
too. In the end, you will leave energized, having spent a week in a
unique and beautiful place, with a smile on your face and your own
banjo tucked under your arm.
