Old Harmonies Francis David Millet (American, 1846-1912) These poems, stories, songs, quote, and art have been gathered from all over the world, partly via FIDDLE-L, an online list for fiddlers and those who love fiddle music. dhebert@crocker.com

Breaking the Code by Donna Hébert Summer music camp is intense - it goes on all day, and the experiences it generates can be equally intense. There's one I'll never forget. While teaching young fiddlers at my Amherst, Massachusetts camp, one student had a breakthrough. She had great ear learning abilities, but had been blocked about learning to read music. I never pushed sight-reading, just taught her by ear since her piano teacher had tried to force her to sight read, making her even more resistant to learning that way. At camp that year I included a Swedish waltz, "Vals from Boda" and had the students read and play the tune at the very same time that I played a Swedish recording of fiddlers playing that tune. The students were hearing it loudly while they were reading it and playing along. Halfway through the tune, one girl started to gush tears and kept playing throughout the tears, and when she could talk she said, "I can READ! It makes sense to me now!" Somehow the totality of hearing and reading and playing the tune at the same time helped her to break the code and understand what she saw on the page. To celebrate, we waltzed off the porch and around my house several times playing the tune, and my student's eyes weren't the only ones full of tears. © 2002 Donna Hébert. Printed in Strings Magazine's 2002 Summer Study Guide Donna Hébert is a New England contradance and Franco-American fiddler and teacher whose essays and poetry about the experience of making music have been published in SING OUT! Magazine, Fiddler Magazine, Country Dance and Song, The Old Time Herald, and Strings Magazine. She also edits "The Muse of Joy and Sorrow: why we play the fiddle."