Folk Fiddle - Violin - Piano - Music Theory - Aural Training - Folk Workshops
Ruth has been teaching young people and adults in the West Midlands for over 12 years and has experience teaching in many different learning environments in schools, workshops and privately. She is currently available for private lessons in the Birmingham area as well as online lessons anywhere in the world! Ruth is also available to lead specialist workshops on Irish and Scottish fiddle technique and world music as well as one-to-one lessons. See below for more information on the type of lessons Ruth offers.
Ruth is currently offering one FREE 30 min trial lesson to anyone interested in taking up lessons. After the initial trial lesson, one-to-one lessons are available at the reasonable rate of just £18 per 30 minutes. For prices on group workshops, please contact directly to discuss rates.
‘Learning a variety of folk fiddle tunes with Ruth is a Joy. She has given me confidence to play with others and as an adult learner I have appreciated her willingness to collaborate to choose repertoire and create resources to support my learning. My lessons are one of the highlights of my week’ Steph
Folk Fiddle
Ruth specialises in teaching traditional Irish and Scottish music and technique on the violin. She also has a vast repertoire of folk tunes and knowledge of folk techniques from all over the world, having travelled and studied folk music in a number of countries. She approaches folk lessons in a number of ways, dependant on how you would like to learn. Often covered in these lessons are - learning by ear, how to ornament tunes to make them sound more ‘folky’, simply learning session tunes, detailed bow technique, discussion and sharing of repertoire.
Violin or Piano
Ruth teaches both violin and piano from complete beginner up to grade 8 level and beyond. She covers a huge variety of styles - pop, classical, jazz, folk, contemporary etc. and tailors lessons to incorporate your preferred type of music even from the very beginnings of learning basic technique. Whether you are 5 or 95, there is always a way to keep lessons fun and stimulating and Ruth believes that is through personally tailoring lesson content. She also has a degree in classical music from Birmingham Conservatoire so has vast experience in this style up to an advanced level. Should you wish to take exams, Ruth also tutors students through ABRSM exam programmes, currently with a 100% pass success rate.
Music Theory
Ruth teaches music theory lessons in a number of different ways. This tends to depend on the age of students. For example, with younger children she may incorporate more visual aids and accompanying age appropriate songs to keep them stimulated when learning the beginnings of reading music. With all theory lessons there will also be an emphasis on weekly follow up worksheets and written information to absorb in your own time, and lesson time will be used to answer questions and explain or demonstrate topics fully. Should you wish to do so, Ruth also prepares students and coaches them through graded ABRSM Theory exams, up to grade 6.
Aural
Aural lessons can be taught individually but often are incorporated into theory lessons, in order to gain a more rounded understanding of the relationship between music theory and harmony. In an aural lesson you will listen to musical examples, chord progressions and exercises and come away with an understanding of how to ‘hear’ which chords would work when playing or writing music, how to play things from memory and the extra detail that is involved in creating good music, outside of simply playing the notes. Ruth also tutors students in the aural section of graded ABRSM exams, up to grade 5.