Advanced Bluegrass Fiddle
In this class we will learn tunes and songs while exploring the role of the fiddle in a bluegrass band context. We will discuss different techniques for playing a supportive musical role, including punchy fills that add energy but don’t interfere with lyrics, and mellow lines that create interest and contour in a song. We will study how great bluegrass fiddlers take solos and improvise over tunes while remaining oriented to the melody. Familiarity with these concepts and techniques will be valuable not only for backing up a singer or playing a supportive role in a bluegrass context, but transferrable to many genres beyond bluegrass as well.
Julian Pinelli
Sprung from the music of southern Appalachia, Julian is a free-spirited violinist who spins lush tone with modern ease. Named the 2021 Momentum Instrumentalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association, Julian has also won the Fresh Grass Fiddle Award and the RockyGrass fiddle competition. He has toured extensively with Peter Rowan’s Bluegrass Band, Punch Brother Noam Pikelny, Ben Sollee, and The Foreign Landers.
Julian’s debut record of original music Bent Creek was hailed by The Bluegrass Situation as “... a surprisingly mature, impressively realized record that not only showcases exactly how the future of bluegrass-based, new acoustic-tinged music will play out, it shines a spotlight on a few of the exact pickers who will make that future happen."
Julian is a graduate of the American Roots Music Program at Berklee College of Music.