Free Fiddle Lesson – Turkey in the Straw

This two part free fiddle lesson is created for the Suzuki Violin Students attending the Fort Collins Violin Celebration, Suzuki and the Fiddler Workshop.

Sheet music will not be provided for this tune because I want you to use your listening skills to learn this tune. Play the melody along with this video until you are comfortable playing it at the slower speed.

When you are sure you have the melody in your head, try playing the tune without the video. Only refer back to the video when you can’t hear the next note in your head. If you can hear the tune in your head, you know what you need to play. You just need to find it on your instrument.

Once you feel comfortable playing the tune without the video, work up the speed of your playing with a metronome. Start it at whatever speed you are currently playing it. Increase the metronome tempo by 2-4 beats per minute each time you play it until you get to a speed that you can’t keep up. Then bump the metronome back to the previous speed and play it a couple of times. Do this daily until you can play it comfortably at 105BPM.

When you feel that you have mastered the melody of Turkey in the Straw, you can proceed to learning the harmony to it.

Play along with the Turkey in the Straw harmony video to learn the twin fiddle part. Play it slowly along with this video until you feel comfortable playing it at this speed.

Then try playing the harmony along with the melody in the first Turkey in the Straw video. Listen carefully to hear how the harmony fits in with the melody.

Work the speed up slowly with a metronome as before. If you have someone to practice playing this with, take turns playing the melody and harmony so that you both get a chance to play each part.