'Rewarding:' Firsthand dive into orchestral violin and attending a trad fiddle workshop

Éimear Smith on exploring trad and classical violin while tackling the challenges of becoming the ‘adult student’

You hear it all the time: 'you can only do well if you started as a child.'

I attended the Féile Joe Callaghan in Edgeworthstown for the fiddle workshop, on Saturday, February 21, to write through the eyes of a participant with plenty of reflections after.

Having not touched trad music in eleven years before coming to this, it was a weekend of violin activities.

Saturday was the fiddle workshop, Sunday was at the RIAM, Dublin, for orchestra rehearsal.

My current ensembles are in Dublin.

Happening upon the Féile and its workshops in Edgeworthstown, it seemed like the right time to see the opportunities locally for any reader who may want to pick up their instrument.

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When on Eventbrite, there was the choice between intermediate and advanced, so I chose the latter.

I began the violin at the age of five and then stopped when I was 15.

In that decade, I was in a school orchestra and school trad group.

Then there were the concert-to-youth orchestras, the latter granted by audition.

I got up to Grade 5 ABRSM, but discontinued because when moving back to rural Longford in 2015, the accessibility was difficult.

Thus, my Junior Certificate (2017) and Leaving Certificate (2019) were based on muscle memory of my Grade 5.

By 2022, I went to Mullingar Music School but after a month, the lessons ended.

Then I enrolled in Waltons New School of Music in Dublin at 24-years-old (Emer Barry once taught there; and Brontë Fitzmaurice of Brontë Stage School attended it).

I jumped to Grade 8, but with the RIAM exam board. When I restarted my violin study, I was at the end of my undergraduate degree in UCD, entered a master’s in DCU and then, simultaneously with the master’s final, began my career in journalism.

In December 2025, I received the Grade 8 merit.

Jumping from Grade 5 to Grade 8 is no joke to achieve in 19 months after nine years from official study, as Grade 8 is the last of the official grades before the diploma.

Lockdown got me reflecting on the things that I had taken for granted.

Getting back into it properly in 2024 was another attempt after 2022. I wanted consistency, so whenever enrolling, I asked for the same teacher, and the school always made it possible.

The lessons started off with relearning dexterity, scales, Kreutzer exercises. Double stops were a nightmare.

All the frustrations came with it. My set pieces were by Kreutzer, Paganini and Bach. I was competing against Grade 1 me, the one who spontaneously achieved the distinction–as if they were even on the same difficulty level.

There were times of incredible doubt, shyness, self-criticism, yet elation when that certificate came through the door.

There was an element of perfection and rigidity when doing those recorded performances to submit. In an in-person exam, if you make an error, you play on.

With the recorded exam, although it sounded easier, it became harder because the mistake would be permanent.

There was desperation, too. Some of these techniques were being learnt by me as an adult, not as a child. I had some advantages with my prior education, but it was not easy. Sometimes, it felt impossible.

Endless recordings, defeatism when they went wrong, and the expectation of failure hindered days of progress.

Perseverance corrected the physical rustiness, time management and constant doubts, to get to the final goal.

However, that was classical music study. What about the trad, the most approachable, common genre in rural Ireland?

Whenever listening in on a trad session in Drumlish or Ballinamuck, the ages are mixed.

The mature ones are happy and proud. The younger ones have been raised by the culture. Listeners enjoy it and players are smiling as they make a place come alive.

There is no doubt that if one can play classical, then transitioning over to trad should come naturally with a little time and patience.

The fiddle workshop was three hours, like an orchestra rehearsal.

Many of the classes had various age ranges. By this point, being the oldest was to be expected.

No matter how old I am, there are always those initial nerves. It is like imposter syndrome, second guessing my capabilities.

We learnt three pieces by ear, later being handed ‘notation’ which was through the ABCs on paper rather than staves.

I am used to staff notation. What was challenging with this was that the ABCs had no indication of octaves, so it was more like a guide while learning by ear.

These three pieces were 'Eagle's Rock', 'Love at the Endings' and 'Dancing Eyes'. A very different selection to the three Grade 8 pieces.

Caoimhe Kilkenny, the workshop tutor, audio recorded each of them for future reference, and it was a moment to admire her confidence.

Although my own grades were video recordings, she effortlessly played all three.

It was fascinating to watch. She had faith in her skill.

One would think trad music as easy, as you are only working in first position on the fingerboard, but adding rolls in and getting a sense of fluidity gives it additional challenge. You are changing a way of thinking.

I used my ears more than reading music as a child.

Down the classical trajectory, I was guided to grow out of it. The fiddle workshop, and overall trad scene, permits that freedom or hybridity.

Through reciting rhythms and melodies, it gets you back to basics with intonation rather than the overwhelming formality of sheet music.

It encourages one not to overthink but to trust the process.

There were small observations. My bow hold was different; my pinkie goes on the screw. My fingers are encouraged to be bent.

The fellow attendees and tutor held at the stick, with straighter fingers.

Postures were different, yet no matter the differences, the results were turning out the same.

This is because a fiddle player and violinist are trained with separate techniques.

The thing with the classical music world is the feeling of missing the milestones.

I loved performing, then time passed. The question was how much skill was salvageable? So, through a staggered method over nineteen months, it was an interesting journey.

Caoimhe Kilkenny spoke of her own fiddle background (her brother was leading another workshop that day, too).

It was enlightening to hear that no matter the genre, there can be a love-hate dynamic with your instrument growing up.

Those phases can pass, and, in my own case, picking it back up is more enjoyable.

Everyone has doubts and can return.

The best place to start in Longford would be these trad workshops or trad nights that welcome musicians to play, network and refine their skills. They tend to be open nights.

Being a full-time member of the DCU Orchestra in 2024-25 built a lot of confidence to step into these workshops and play publicly again after nine years.

DCU Orchestra was unique as it had no hard prerequisite, and the new RIAM Adult Division Orchestra did similarly (Grade 4+ for strings for Phase One; no audition).

So, there are classical music environments nowadays that are adopting a ‘dust off your instrument and come along’ ethos.

Close by to Longford is the Cavan Sinfonia Orchestra and there is now a Mullingar Music Academy.

The Camlin Keys Festival provides an event for various capabilities.

There appears to be an evolving balance of both genres in the midlands now for all ages.

There was a lot of joy from those exiting St Mary’s National School that day, despite the torrential rain. Some of them were family members who entered separate workshops.

My workshop had two students who were from Cavan and Mullingar.

People were drawn into Edgeworthstown to try these workshops out, regardless of age. It is good to see that there are opportunities for everybody.

We walked out having learnt new tunes, or in my case, how to do a roll which will be added to my own practise schedule. Rolls were not in my recent grade or orchestra repertoire, so there is value to attending such workshops.

It was a busy weekend, getting to explore firsthand the world I was accustomed to, and one I had not visited in over a decade.

I write this as somebody may be unsure whether to pick up their instrument again and that it is too late.

The journey is not simple, but rewarding. County Longford is full of local talent and inviting performance nights.

It is worth signing up for a trad workshop if you have gone rusty with it, and worth joining an ensemble.

Both lead to performances, enjoyable set lists and fun.

There are social advantages, too. It becomes a shared experience to learn and evolve. I am glad I took the risk to return.

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