Tutors

Jenny Gardner started Fun Fiddle as a small informal group of adult learners in 2002 and has helped build the project from the beginning. She is a seasoned and respected Scottish fiddle player, whose playing has graced many recordings, among them The Poozies, Eat the Seats, Rock Salt and Nails, and Salsa Celtica. Her self-penned album Cho Chuk reflects Jenny's many influences from trad to trip hop, and is backed by the cream of Edinburgh's folk community. Jenny now lives in Pathhead, Midlothian, and has two sons.

Teaching the fiddle to both adults and children has been a continuing thread throughout Jenny's career as a freelance musician. Having learned both classical and traditional styles as a child, she recognises the importance of establishing good technique and reading skills as well as well as the ability to play 'By Ear' (Without music) which is a significant characteristic of learning traditional music.

Having found it quite difficult over the years to develop a way of delivering a 'Fiddle education' of this sort, she recently stumbled across the joys of  Kodaly Musicianship and has never looked back! Having now attended a number of courses, she uses much of what she has learned in classes and finds it an excellent way of developing good general musicianship skills, as well as ear training in preparation for applying the repertoire to the fiddle, and is especially appropriate in the initial stages of learning.

Gica Loening joined the Fun Fiddle team in 2003 and has been teaching fiddle in a community setting since 1998. She has also been a longstanding fiddle tutor for Edinburgh's Scots Music Group and has nurtured countless adult fiddle learners into the world! She founded and performs with Edinburgh's well established all women Belle Star Band and also Chelter Schmelter klezmer ensemble. She has gained a reputation as one of the few Scottish klezmer tutors. Gica is also employed as Research Officer at the RSAMD in Glasgow attached to Sistema Scotland children's orchestral programme and she holds an MSc in ' Music in the Community '. She lives in Portobello with her partner and three sons who are also musicians.