A new generation of fiddlers
Two days of lessons with Kole Crook Fiddle Association builds up skills in Trout Lake
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, May 15, 2014
SAMBAA K'E/TROUT LAKE
Charles Tetcho School was filled with music last month.
The Trout Lake senior fiddle class including Deanna Jumbo, left, Edzea Rocque-Jumbo, Atanda Kotchea and Jada Lamalice along with instructor Wesley Hardisty perform a song during the community concert April 28. - photo courtesy of Charles Tetcho School
|
Almost all the students in Trout Lake took lessons from Stacey Read and Wesley Hardisty who visited the community April 28 and 29 as part of a teaching tour with the Kole Crook Fiddle Association. The two instructors divided the 16 students into groups based on their grade levels and worked with them over the course of two days.
"They had a great time," said Hardisty, who's originally from Fort Simpson.
Read and Hardisty revisited what the young fiddlers had already learned and added to it with some new songs.
"They picked up quite quickly on the new tunes because of what they knew already," he said.
Deanna Jumbo, 14, who was in the most advanced group learned three new songs – Skittles at Buckley Bay, Faded Love and Patrick's Reel. The Grade 9 student has been fiddling for about five years.
"It's fun learning new songs with them," she said, of the instructors.
It's best when fiddle instructors come to Trout Lake, as opposed to travelling to fiddle camps in other communities, because airplanes are costly and it's easier to learn in your home community, said Jumbo. She wishes the instructors were able to come more often.
Atanda Kotchea, 11, would also like additional visits by fiddle instructors. The last teacher tour that came to Trout Lake was in the fall.
"You get to learn new songs and the fiddle teachers are nice," she said.
Kotchea said she liked fiddling with Read and Hardisty, learning two new songs and playing soccer with them during recess. Kotchea also enjoyed the concert.
On April 28, after the first full day of lessons, the students performed in front of family and community members in the gym. Each group played at least two of their strongest songs. Read and Hardisty also took requests from the crowd.
"They were playing some really nice songs and moving their fingers really fast," said Jumbo.
Some of the requested songs had people jigging in their seats although no one took the plunge and stood up to dance, said Steve MacFadyen, a teacher at the school.
"The elders get such a kick out of it," he said.
"They very much enjoyed it."
The students really look forward to the
visits by fiddle instructors, said MacFadyen.
"They really have a way with the kids," he said about Read and Hardisty.
"The kids learn quickly."
Having grown up in the Deh Cho and learned to fiddle thanks to the Kole Crook Fiddle Association, Hardisty said he can relate to the students' situations and their fiddling levels.
"To me it's really a neat experience knowing I've done the full circle from being a student to being a teacher," he said.
"It's really touching to be able to come back and give back to the community."
This was Hardisty's first visit to Trout Lake. As a new instructor, he said it was great to work with and learn from Read who's a renowned fiddler and teacher.
