Classes

NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend 2026
Sat 4th & Sun 5th July 2026

with Stewart Hardy & Grace Smith
Riding Mill Parish Hall, Millfield Rd, Riding Mill NE44 6DJ

  • Saturday 4th July: The Wider World of Jigs – 9.30 am to 5.00 pm
  • Sunday 5th July: Ways into Creativity in Folk Fiddle – 9.30 am to 4.30 pm
  • Satuday Evening Social: Concert by Bottle Bank Band, followed by a session for everyone – 7.30 to 9.30 pm

For more details, please visit the NEFS Summer Workshop Weekend 2026 page.

NEFS 2026 Block 4: June/July 2026

We’ve started – but it’s not too late to join us. All calls are recorded for access at any time, and video tutorials are there to be worked through at your own pace. Book now via the NEFS Shop

NEFS 2026 Block 4 will run from Wednesday 10th June to 8th July, with an optional play-along session to finish the academic year, on Weds 15th July. Stewart Hardy and Grace Smith will be teaching live on Zoom for the block, focusing on fiddle practice and techniques in the first half of each meeting, and learning tunes together to build up our shared repertoire in the second half.

In this block, we will be taking another in-depth look at jigs. There are so many different and fascinating styles for us to delve into, both in our technical studies and in our Live Tunes. We’ll be adding to that repertoire, as well as revising and exploring current tunes. There will even be a revision video focussing on one of the stylistic approaches associated with the North East of England.

If this was not enough, we also have a new video tutorial series from the wonderful Kevin Lees. It is so good to be working with Kevin again, and we look forward to his teaching.

The Online block runs for five weeks, with live Zoom calls on Wednesday evenings. These are also available as recordings on-demand, and video tutorials are published weekly for you to work through at your own pace. There will be an optional (free!) play-along session at the end of block, in which we will play through much of the repertoire from Blocks 3 and 4. Notation will be provided for all tunes if you missed a block.

Our Saturday Workshop will be on Saturday 4th July, as part of our NEFS 2026 Summer Workshop Weekend, with Stewart and Grace. This will run on Sat 4th and Sun 5th July in Riding Mill Parish Hall, and each day can be booked separately or together. There will be a social event on the Saturday evening, with a concert from the fabulous North East fiddle quartet, Bottle Bank Band followed by a tune session for all.

Visit the NEFS Shop to book

Online – Zoom calls and Video Tutorials
with Stewart Hardy and Grace Smith on Zoom, and a video tutorial from Kevin Lees
Weds 10th June – Weds 8th July, with an optional social play-along session on Weds 15th July
£75

  • 5 week course of fully-online fiddle tuition, accessible on Zoom and YouTube from anywhere and at any time, with Stewart Hardy, Grace Smith and Kevin Lees
  • Two in-depth Video Tutorial series, which include elements of technique or a tune taught by the phrase with a detailed look at bowing, ornamentation or stylistic interpretation.
  • Wednesday evening live Zoom calls, including Fiddle Practice and Tune Learning in the Zoom workshop, plus we play through previous tunes which form our core repertoire.
  • Recordings of all Zoom calls available for catch-up on demand.

Details of the Online Block option:

Fiddle Practice Calls are available to all participants on a Wednesday evening (7.00 – 7.45 pm). These are held on Zoom and are an extra, regular way to practice along with learning the tunes in the video tutorials. They are a chance to play along with a tutor-led practice session, giving you 40 minutes of fiddle practice and ideas to take away for your own practice. There is also a Tune Surgery Q&A event which is held from Week 2 onwards at 6.45 pm (before the Fiddle Practice Call) to address any questions raised from the video tutorials, or fiddle playing in general. A recording of every call will be available on YouTube, and is included in the cost.

The Live Teaching calls will be on a Wednesday evening following the Fiddle Practice Call, running from 7.50 – 8.30 pm for the 5 weeks. These will focus on core repertoire using fundamental fiddle techniques, and will aim to be accessible to all from competent beginners upwards. This will include revision of the tunes previously taught, with full resources and recordings of past calls provided for those new to the Live Teaching element. There will also be new tunes to add to your core repertoire, taught by ear with full supporting resources available. Recordings of the Live Teaching calls will be available each week if you miss one, have technical difficulties, or prefer to work from YouTube and not Zoom.

All course materials are provided via your NEFS account webpage. Worksheets (pdf files) and audio files (mp3 files) are available to view/listen online or download. Video Tutorials and Recordings of live calls are provided as links to unlisted YouTube videos. New resources will be added each week, and then all materials will be available for you to access in your own time for as long as you need them.

NEFS workshops are aimed at improving fiddle players, and are not suitable for absolute beginners. We aim to introduce tunes that are accessible for a wide range of players (from Level 2, those able to play a simple tune steadily – see the Ability Level Guide for reference) for the melody and bowing suggestions. We then explore the tunes in greater stylistic detail and with suggestions for ornamentation for Level 3 players.

Please use the contact form if you have any queries. Payment (by bank transfer, cheque or PayPal) is required to confirm all bookings and can be selected through the Shop. Details for bank transfers and cheque payments will be sent to you after the booking is made.