About Matt Brown, Teacher

Matt Brown teaches fiddle, banjo, and guitar. He has been on staff at The Colorado Suzuki Institute, The Ozark Folk Center's Old-Time String Band Week, the Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, Ashokan's Southern Week, The Swannanoa Gathering, and The Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week. He teaches workshops for venues, music studios, and universities, and has recently been a guest instructor at Berklee College of Music, the Old Town School of Folk Music, and Morehead State University.

Matt offers intensive old-time fiddle workshops to groups wherever he goes. In contrast to bluegrass fiddling, old-time fiddling is the older style of playing that evolved in the Appalachian Mountains as a result of the mingling between Scottish, Irish, and African traditions. Old-Time music is very much centered on each tune and does not feature the improvisation that is prominent in bluegrass.

Matt focuses on old-time phrasing, bowing, and timing from the start with the idea that the best way to communicate the essence of fiddling is through the repertoire itself. Having studied classical music in addition to being an accomplished traditional musician, Matt can communicate with a wide range of students. His goal is to get fiddlers to play by ear and learn to listen for the subtleties that make the old-time fiddling distinctive. He will discuss some of the great musicians who have made their mark on old-time fiddling and encourage his students to become avid listeners and dancers as well as players.

As a banjo instructor, Matt can help students gain mastery in clawhammer and old-time two-finger playing. He can teach a guitar student how to provide suitable backup for old-time or traditional country music, flat-pick a melody, or play the chords to a jazz tune.

Matt has an instructional fiddle CD, Old-Time Fiddle Lesson, Vol. 1, that is a great tool for both aspiring and accomplished fiddle players. Students can hear Matt play each tune slowly, then again at a moderate pace. This CD encourages learning by ear. With repeated listening and careful imitation, students can learn great versions of these tunes and gain further insight into old-time fiddling.