Old-Time Jam

Ages: 12+
Session Length: One Day
Skill Level: Advanced Beginner and Up

Registration for the 2025 - 2026 school year will open June 1, 2025.

Gather with friends new and old...

Join us each month for an informal jam session at our Ohio City campus as we learn and share folk tunes by ear. This music is the kind you might hear at square dances or contra dances. Everyone is welcome -- bring your instrument!

Open to fiddle/violin, viola, cello, double bass, banjo, guitar, mandolin, autoharp, and dulcimer (hammered or mountain/lap). Musicians should have at minimum some experience and familiarity with their instrument.

Keys for Jam Sessions:

• September: D
• October: G
• November: A
• December: D
• January: G
• February: A
• March: D
• April: G
• May: A
• June: D, featuring Mini Old-Time Jam Workshop (6/18/25)

Key of C and modal tunes may be added spontaneously at one of the G or A jams.

This program is free of charge, but donations are welcome! All donations will support the mission of The Music Settlement and the talented team who coordinates these events.

This program is made possible by support from the William O. and Gertrude Lewis Frohring Foundation.

Mini Old-Time Jam Workshop -- June 18, 2025

The June Old-Time Jam will begin with a 30-40 minute mini workshop on the tune Porter's Reel, a tune from Stafford Stephen Harris (1927 - 2010) of Nacogdoches County, TX. Following sectional instruction, musicians will reconvene and begin the D tune jam with Porter's Reel.

This is a great opportunity to sharpen your skills in an easy-going, friendly environment. All levels from beginner to experienced will benefit from this workshop session.

As always, the monthly jam and workshop are free, but we encourage you to make a donation to keep the program going.

View next month's featured tune, as well as tunes lists from our recent jam sessions!

Click Here

Jam sessions take place the third Wednesday of every month. Registration is required as space is limited. Click the "Enroll" button below to reserve your seat today. From the enrollment screen, you can select as many sessions as you wish to attend.

Enrolling for additional sessions? Click the "Enroll" button below and add additional sessions.

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Faculty

Paul Kirk

Instructor, Fiddle; Coordinator, Old-Time Jam

Paul Kirk has been playing bowed string instruments since 1980 and has been teaching them privately in classroom settings and workshop formats since 1988. He studied music theory, composition, music education, music history, and musicology at Cleveland State University. While at CSU, Paul played vio... Expand

Paul Kirk has been playing bowed string instruments since 1980 and has been teaching them privately in classroom settings and workshop formats since 1988. He studied music theory, composition, music education, music history, and musicology at Cleveland State University. While at CSU, Paul played violas da gamba, krummhorns, and recorders in early music ensembles. He was a founding member of Good Company: A Vocal Ensemble and has founded many of his own bands over the years including A Hundred Thousand Welcomes Celtic Ensemble, Knives and Forks English Country Dance Ensemble, and Down the Road Old-Time String Band. He has composed over 500 folk tunes in a variety of styles.

Paul has closely studied the music of Appalachia, the history of American old-time fiddling, source fiddlers, as well as the social aspects of the music. Since July 1, 2018, he has been creating and sharing videos each Sunday through his Old-Time Tune of the Week series on YouTube. Paul puts a great focus on fiddle bowing patterns and techniques and has devised practical methods for teaching with excellent results. One of his specialties is teaching old-time fiddle to crossover students, especially those coming from a background in classical violin and other musical traditions.

In 2022, Paul was designated as a master old-time fiddler and received a Traditional Arts grant from the Ohio Arts Council to work with an apprentice of his choice.

Paul taught viola, choir, music history, and assisted with drama and art for ten consecutive summers at orchestra and fine arts camps for The Music Settlement when it was known as the Cleveland Music School Settlement.

Education

Cleveland State University Close

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