Tricia Spencer is old-time music’s Laura Inglis Wilder, but without the tragedies.  She writes in her own voice, avoiding any formality or “pedagogue-ese.”  When she writes about her loathing of the key of A, you come away with a real sense of a strong-minded person who doesn’t mind speaking their opinion vigorously, while also simultaneously avowing that each person may have their own way of thinking.

She candidly discusses her struggles with fiddling, and for those of us who also struggle (which I’m guessing is everyone!). It is encouraging to know that it would be possible for such a great fiddler to put aside the fiddle for several years and then come back to it better than ever!

Tricia describes a way of life that used to be the norm when the US was mostly agricultural – she herself had an upbringing that was much more common to people in previous generations.  She uses evocative metaphors: “Think of these chord shapes as helping you know where the stones are to cross a stream.” She describes playing late at night “when thoughts of sleep are swirling up in the trees”

Her instructions combined with her own notation/tab (which is pretty easy to read and you don’t need to be able to read music) to create very clear, step-by-step instructions for finding and practicing the intervals that make up various chords: an excellent method for familiarizing oneself with the way chords work on the fiddle.  There’s a very good section on cross-tuning and Calico, along with tons practical advice that would be of great help with learning tunes on the fly, including a section on jam etiquette.

The Fiddle Garden can be obtained here. Highly recommended!

Tricia has made free, instructional videos that supplement the book