Biography:

George Keith is one of the more respected fiddle players/teachers in the Boston area. He’s been teaching fiddle and helping run Boston’s CCE music school for nearly 15 years, helping train quite a few excellent fiddle players while also performing semi-regularly with Robbie O’Connell and/or Aoife Clancy around the country.

George grew up playing violin in a family of classical musicians, and fell in love with Irish traditional music in the early 1990’s at sessions in Chicago and later Boston.  Since then, he’s won both North American senior Fleadh Cheoil titles, performed on WGBH’s Christmas Celtic Sojourn Live DVD, for an instructional dance video produced by the Riverdance cast, and as a member of Tim O’Brien’s Irish/Bluegrass crossover project The Crossing at GreyFox, not to mention multiple appearances on the radio and television in Ireland and the USA.

Class Descriptions:

Basic Irish Traditional Fiddle Tunes (Morning):

In this class, we’ll focus on learning session repertoire with an eye for improving playing quality and the speed at which one can learn traditional tunes.  We’ll also discuss tips/tricks for picking up tunes from sessions more easily, and playing cleanly and confidently in groups.

 

Basic Irish Traditional Fiddle Technique (Afternoon):

In this class, we will focus more on technique than repertoire.  We’ll discuss and learn the ins and outs of playing tunes in the Irish traditional style–with the appropriate acknoledgement to the multiple different regional flavors–particularly as it concerns ornamentation, bowing, and rhythm.  This class is intended for both beginning/intermediate Irish fiddlers looking to improve their technique, but should also prove very useful for more experienced fiddlers from other traditions looking to better understand and play Irish traditional music.