Fiddle Jams

During the school year, the Aurora Fiddle Society hosts a tri-weekly Fiddle Jam in Yellowknife. Fiddlers who are mature youth and adults, all skill levels, accompanists, and friends & family are welcome to come out and play their favorite fiddle tunes with the rest of the community, as well as learn and pick up some new tunes.

Our tri-weekly fiddle jams are held Tuesdays from 6-8pm. The 6-7 pm timeslot is reserved for youth fiddlers and the 7-8pm timeslot is reserve for advanced youth and adult fiddlers. The jams will be taking place in the space above Fiddles and Stix (5018 52nd Street).

Jam schedule for 2024/2025 season:

• September 20 **At Northern United Place this time only**
• October 1 & 22
• November 12
• December 3
• January 7 & 28
• February 18
• March 11
• April 1 & 22
• May 13
• June 3 & 24

A few things to keep in mind

• Limited capacity
• Youth who attend the jam must have arranged rides home

Feel free to visit our YouTube channel if you want to brush up on some of your tunes before then. 

Donations to support AFS and the cost of the space for the jams is greatly appreciated.

 

Background

Learning with an instructor is one thing; playing in a public setting is a whole different, not to mention vital, experience. Jams have always been a way to not only play favorites and hang out with other musicians but to learn from the more experienced players and get a feel for the “vibe” of fiddling. To this day, new fiddlers around the world watch, listen, and play along with the more advanced players, trying to keep up and learn the tunes.

This very important tradition is sometimes seen as a tough-love method of learning. Beginners frequently miss cues and easily get lost in tunes that are seemingly played too fast, too hard, and with too many notes. However, paired with proper home instruction and musical discipline, the jam experience greatly improves any fiddlers' skill set. It cultivates courage and strength in playing the fiddle, tunes the ear to pick up patterns and familiar riffs, and fosters a tight fiddling community that shares and grows. Beginners may fall hard and often, but it’s the getting-back-up that’s integral to any fiddler.

Yellowknife is blessed to have a very young, welcoming, and forgiving fiddling environment. Even among the advanced players, tunes are treated with care and played at a slower-than-normal rate. It is a wonderful learning community that, like a fine wine, will only get better with age.

Aurora Fiddle Society
PO Box 2071   Yellowknife, NT   X1A 2P6