Edited by Jonathan Gla
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Background: Kiana June Weber is a violinist and fiddler from Chelsea, Michigan. She is a product of the Michigan public school system, and is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and currently performs with Gaelic Storm. In the fall of 2016, Kiana started a weekly blog project in which she teaches a new tune each week (on Tuesday). She is calling this project #TUNEsday.
In a recent discussion with Kiana, she mentioned that she started this project for several reasons.
“I wanted to inspire myself to learn new tunes.” Weber said. “There is just so much good music out there, and I felt myself falling into musical and performance rut so I wanted to make myself learn something new at least once a week.”
If you join the MASTA Facebook page, you will currently find 6 Celtic fiddle tunes posted that break down the melody slowly for you to learn by ear, and to present to your students. Some of these tunes include The Roving Bachelor, The Humors of Ballincarrig and Breeches Mary.
“I also wanted to inspire others to learn and listen to more tunes.” Weber said. “From how things are presented on stage, taught from student to teacher, and especially on social media, there is just so much “perfection.” It often seems there is no space for mistakes, which is a terrible environment to learn in. I wanted to show my fans, music students of all ages, or just Celtic music enthusiast that there is another side,“ she continued. “I am learning these tunes along with my followers so there are mistakes and variations, there are things I wish to improve, grooves I am working on, and bowings I would change. Part of the challenge for me is being ok with that. I am learning, we are all learning, Being a lifelong learner – that is the only goal. “
For more information regarding the #TUNESday project, or to learn more about Kiana, please visit her website at kianajuneweber.com. You can also find this project using #TUNESday via social media.
