Muziekpublique’s String Band meets once a week with a menu of traditional western music deriving from the great migrations of the 19^th century to the USA.

To be more precise, their interest focuses mainly on American old-time music, but also on music from Quebec, as well as their Irish or Ulster Scots roots. With them, one can learn their rhythmic specialities (Jigs, Reels, Brandis, Fiddle Tunes…), melodic techniques (ornamentation, patterns, variations, accentuations, etc.) and harmonic figures (chords, bass lines) as well as some of their songs from a variety of origins, which have been saved thanks to the work of the song collectors.

These musical styles are the fruit of unlikely exchanges that have taken place in the United States down the centuries. Their character has its origins in a phenomenon known as “creolization” among the Europeans who colonized the territory, slaves brought from the African continent and the few members of the indigenous population who survived. These encounters gave birth to a multitude of musical forms and to an unprecedented cultural enrichment.

The group reaches out to all kinds of players – whether beginners or at a more advanced level – of instruments traditionally found in US string bands (violin, mandolin, claw hammer banjo, guitar and double bass) but can be open to other string instruments (e.g. ukulele, cello and so on). The instrumentalists will sometimes be called on to sing and to set some traditional songs to music. An end-of -year concert will be prepared with the students as the course progresses.

Courses will be given orally: we will learn the pieces without a score and we will play them in a way that will give rise to the style, atmosphere and joy in playing together that are characteristic of this kind of music. We shall go on to enhance our abilities with the help of rhythmic exercises and series of variations or ornamentations, but the first stage will be above all to learn the repertoire and to play or sing it together just as they did, and still do, over there. The collective and participatory experience will be in the forefront.

The group will be coordinated by two multi-instrumentalists, Lorcan Fahy (violin, mandolin) and Jérémie Fraboni (banjo claw hammer, guitar, voice).

Lorcan Fahy intends to focus mostly on the ensemble’s melodists.

Jérémie Fraboni will mainly deal with the harmonic instruments and sung parts of the string band.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7goYDhc1lkewMWO8v59neb?si=bfc192e0ea064447&nd=1&dlsi=fd9fa2cbdcc84fc7

Inscriptions open on August 7 2024!

Come discover this course during the free try-out session on Tuesday 17 September 2024, from 8 pm to 9:30 pm.

Ensemble (10 lessons/cycle)

Tuesday: 8 pm – 9:30 pm

Registration is mandatory from the second lesson of a cycle.