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Decatur Musician Teaching the Fiddle

Decatur musician Moira Nelligan is offering a summer camp series in traditional Irish fiddle and music.

Moira Nelligan's instrument may look like a violin, but she’ll tell you she plays the fiddle.

This summer, she’ll teach you or your kids how to play it, too. Nelligan, a singer, master fiddler, multi-instrumentalist and veteran teacher of "The Music Class" program for young children, is offering a 7-week series of private music lessons at her home studio on Sycamore Drive near downtown Decatur.

Originally from Savannah, Nelligan has been awarded the Folklife Grant for Irish Fiddle twice from the Georgia Council for the Arts, which has included her  on their distinguished touring artist roster. "Sing Out!" magazine describes the curly haired Nelligan’s music as “Irish to the core, but marked with her own creativity and Georgia roots.”

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Her summer lesson series began June 6 and features weekly one-on-one lessons of 30 minutes.  For the younger students, the weekly lessons will include fiddle time and exploring such other instruments as accordion, guitar, recorder, percussion, or keyboard. Students will enjoy beloved folk tunes from Moira's extensive repertoire of Irish, Americana, and world roots music. Students are also invited to participate in monthly group play along sessions. The summer sessions will be on Saturday afternoons. Starting in September, students can drop in to play or listen to sessions on the first Saturday morning of each month from 10 to 12 on the square in downtown Decatur.

Patch talked to the Decatur-based musician about her musical philosophy.

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How long have you been teaching music?

For 25 years. Once I discovered the joy of fiddling, I knew I wanted to teach as quickly as I could. I teach music in a different way than the mainstream approach where sheet music is introduced to the budding instrumentalist early on. I believe strongly in the intuitive process of learning music by ear. I also believe in the positive power of traditional, cultural, "roots" music. How many people do you know who grew up going to piano lessons (expensive ones!) for YEARS who cannot play or feel frustrated that they can't play anything without the "music" in front of them?

How did you learn?

As an adult I discovered a different way to learn music: by ear, otherwise known as "ear training." I believe that learning traditional roots music, or folk music, by ear is a strong foundation on which to build more complex musical skills later, like classical or jazz, if the musician so desires. Roots, or folk music, is something that is so enriching, fun, simple in its form but complex in its style, that it naturally builds confidence and enthusiasm in a budding musician. Also, learning by ear is an almost certain guarantee that the player will not forget how to play a song, once it is learned. 

What’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle?

A fiddle player plays folk tunes. Fiddle music is the music that evolved in any given culture, and every culture has fiddle music. Fiddle music is dance music,; fiddle music evolved as ethnic dance music. You can play reels, and dance reels, airs, and there’s room for improvisation. It’s an oral/aural tradition, passed from person to person, similar to the ancient art of storytelling. It’s a great way to connect to a culture.

Traditional songs and tunes are not just great for ear training. They are a magical way to connect with one's cultural heritage and with any culture that one finds fascinating or beautiful

What styles of music do you play?

I celebrate my Irish heritage with my fiddle music and song, but I also greatly enjoy the music of my homeland, the U.S., with Appalachian tunes, Cajun tunes and gospel songs, as well as European and Mediterranean folk dance music. I always ask my students, "What are your family roots? Would you like to explore the traditional music of your heritage?"

I was in a Cajun band for years, Hair of the Dog. My life is playing music. Me and all of my friends play Tuesday nights at , if anybody wants to come see us and chat. We play for tips, for our own music party. It’s a living room style performance.

We play whatever comes to mind, session style. We sit in circle and it appears to be a jam. We have high-level traditional players: Cajun, Appalachian and Irish. It’s a special meeting of the minds. We’re doing some culture crossing, and we love it.

How essential is learning to read music to your style?

Reading music is an essential skill to anyone who wants to be a classical or professional jazz player, but ask anyone who is accomplished at these genres and they will tell you that ear skills are incredibly important to being a good or great player. Once a player learns how to use his ear effectively, learning often becomes very self-directed and passionate because of the confidence that is developed. Some people aren't aware of the many, many brilliant musicians who have never read music at all:  Django Reinhardt, B.B. King, Dewey Balfa to name a few. 

Tell us about the many musically talented members of your family.

Both of my sons, Mickey (18) and Moses (17) are musically home schooled and self-directed learners, and both play a complex form of music, Gypsy Jazz. But Their dad (noted local musician Mick Kinney) and I started them out, and they continue to grow and excel, as roots musicians who learn by ear:  Blues, Appalachian and Irish roots music have combined to make a fantastic foundation for their jazz playing. My children grew up going to the Swannanoa Gathering, in North Carolina, which is a great place for music. Their uncle is Kevn Kinney of Drivin’ n’ Cryin’.

Mickey was recently accepted to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, the premier jazz music school in the nation, which, incidentally, recently started a roots music program! We are proud. 

Why would young people, or adults, want to learn to play the fiddle?

It’s an option that might appeal to kids. When I was a kid, I didn’t know about traditional music. There are kids who are not drawn to playing Bach and Mozart at the age of six, but who would rather play folk music. Then they could get into classical or jazz.

Are your lessons only for kids?

No, I love teaching adults, especially those who have played violin a while. I’m really good at teaching adults how to cross over into fiddle. It’s not easy to cross over from violin to fiddle. There’s not a lot of fiddle teachers out there teaching.

I know I do things a bit differently than a lot of mainstream music teachers, but learning by ear is FUN, folk music is rewarding, and both are a great foundation for any kind of more complex music one may want to learn later.

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