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ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - Fort Liard has joined the list of Deh Cho communities where youth are learning to fiddle with the assistance of the Kole Crook Fiddle Association (KCFA).

The association sent two fiddle instructors to the community in September and again from Jan. 6 to 9.

Fiddle instructor Calvin Cairns, centre, leads new fiddlers as they perform for their schoolmates at the Echo Dene school in Fort Liard. Fiddlers include, from left, back row: Vaughn Weninger, Katilin Nelson, Julianne Norn and Dillon Lomen; front row: Alice Berreault, Alinda Edda and Brittany Berreault. - photo courtesy of Deborah Wotherspoon

During the recent visit 28 students in the senior grades began the process of learning to fiddle.

"They did really well," said Calvin Cairns, one of the instructors.

All of the students had high levels of enthusiasm and aptitude, he said.

The students were broken into groups and each group had a one-hour lesson every day.

By Friday the fiddlers had learned a few tunes and displayed their new skills during a school assembly.

"It was amazing how much the two fiddlers accomplished during the time they were here," said Victor Dikaitis, the school's principal.

"They sparked quite an interest."

Learning how to play a musical instrument holds a variety of benefits for students, said Dikaitis. Music is an international language that everyone can communicate with, he said. Playing an instrument can also have a positive effect on a person's mood.

"It just puts the students into a beautiful frame of mind," he said.

Calvin Lomen, a Grade 11 student, said he decided to participate in the lessons to build on the small amount of fiddling experience he already had.

"It's a lot of fun playing the fiddle," said Lomen.

The visit from the fiddle instructors was a good experience, said Lomen, who hopes to keep playing.

The KCFA has wanted to start a chapter in Fort Liard for awhile and made its opening an objective last year, said Gerda Hazenberg, the president of the association.

With Fort Liard's chapter started there are only two communities in the Deh Cho left where the fiddle association doesn't have a presence. The association hopes to get into both Trout Lake and Nahanni Butte next year.

"There's a will," said Gerda Hazenberg.

"We haven't found a way."

The association has been growing very rapidly, it now has chapters in 11 communities in the territory, and is currently searching for more avenues of funding so it can offer more programming, said Hazenberg.

The association has reached a point where there's a need to send fiddle instructors to the communities every two months, she said. During this school year the association sponsored teacher tours at the end of September and the beginning of November.

The association plans to continue expanding and introducing more youth to fiddling.

"The kids love it and it's so good for them," said Hazenberg.