Last fall, 15 students enrolled in the first course in Newfoundland and Labrador Fiddling at the MUN School of Music, taught by Master Fiddler, Christina Smith. Some were regular MUN students from various departments, a couple were university staff and others like myself were folks who had long ago attended college. Several were Suzuki parents, a few had experience with other instruments, a couple had training in their youth, a couple had just started learning and a few had never picked up a fiddle before in their lives. Some could read music, some could pick up notes by ear but most could do neither. As Christina commented at a recent session at the Ship Inn, "They were there from Mitchell's." *

Unlike most music courses, which only focus on technique, Christina's lessons also included a healthy dose of the history of Newfoundland music and musicians. Settlement and migration patterns resulted in a rich cultural mix and are reflected in the music.

Why did we take the course? I think to a person we all love Newfoundland music and wanted to be able to participate more directly: to make it rather than just listen to it. At the end of the course we thought it would be a good motivation to practice if we met weekly in someone's home. So, I sent around a sheet. Names were jotted down. I called. They came.

Every Monday from 7 to 9 pm, we've been gathering in my kitchen to play. So far the neighbors haven't complained although at times I'm sure we must sound like a pack of cats. It's been pointed out that we have unusual difficulty starting together...our forte is finishing in time. The core group from the course was Jill Allison, Karen Cimer, Matthew Cook, Tony Dearness, John O'Leary, Gertie Pike and myself. But we've grown; when I meet other folks who tell me they'd like to play the fiddle or they used to play as a child but haven't touched it in years, I invite them to join us. Now Louis Chiaramonte, John Kennedy and Linda Howlett have joined us. And we're excited to have snagged a couple of guitarists to help keep us steady: Doug Baggs and Jack Kivlichan. Quite simply we love it. We love the music and the coming together to make the music. We've been using the Step Fiddlers CD "Galing for a Storm" as our syllabus and are trying to learn the tunes on it. Recently we've developed a tendency to burst into song on some of the tunes simply because it feels good; folks who can't play up to speed can sing along and we can all sing the tunes we haven't a prayer of playing yet.

Plans for the future? None as a group. Tony is going to the Mark O'Conner fiddle camp in Tennessee this summer and a couple of folks have mentioned maybe taking a few private lessons. I've begun to toy around with the penny whistle and Doug plans to learn to play the bodhran he got for his birthday this year. Whatever the instrument, the focus will continue to be Newfoundland music. We figure it will take a decade or two before we're decent players but the fun is in the doing.

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*For a historical background, see http://www.historictrust.com/bannerman_house.shtml: "Because of the abundance and excellence of the Mitchell's produce, the Mitchell name became an enduring Newfoundland synonym for unsurpassed quality, quantity, or diversity."