Music Education

My Patreon
Please consider supporting my Patreon page HERE.
I have taught bluegrass and/or oldtime at the Kaufman Kamp, Montana Fiddle Camp, and Feis Rois among others. For these camps I have created many American fiddle educational materials which were the inspiration for this Patreon.
My Patreon is devoted to American fiddle styles (oldtime, bluegrass, and swing). There are many tiers with benefits ranging from transcriptions (bowing for bowing) of famous players, lead sheets, practice mp3s, lessons, fiddle biographies, and even private monthly lessons over Zoom.

My Online Fiddle Course
I am pleased to unveil an online course years in the making: How to Back Up Singers on the Fiddle. I first taught a version of this course at The Swannanoa Gathering's Fiddle Week in 2017 and have been building on it ever since. It is focused specifically on accompanying songs in the American folk traditions such as country, bluegrass, and country blues.
This is the inaugural course in Finn's School of Fiddle on thinkific.com where I will be adding more courses over the years. Course suggestions are welcome! (managementafmagill@gmail.com)

Lecture: The Evolution of Irish & Scottish Fiddle in American Fiddle Music
For more than two years I have been giving this interactive lecture/performance to universities and museums.
The lecture has as it’s objective to create a dialogue about the intersections of musical tradition, identity, and history. We explore these intersections by specifically looking at how the traditional dance music of Ireland and Scotland influenced American oldtime & dance music musically, culturally, and historically. I believe that by exploring the interdisciplinary connections between these musical cousins, we in the U.S. can find greater meaning in our shared musical heritage.
Want to learn more? Please email managementafmagill@gmail.com

Fall 2020 Workshop: Irish Ornamentation & Variation
Due to demand, I am making my Fall 2020 Workshop series on Irish ornamentation & variation available for purchase at a discounted rate of $80 (was $120). This includes Zoom recordings of each 75-minute workshop as well as 12 transcriptions of musical performances (all bowings included in the case of fiddlers) and more. To learn more click here.

Private Lessons
I have taught both private and group lessons for 15 years. I have an active roster of online students (Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, whichever you prefer) and can teach a range of subjects. In 2020, I have taught traditional Irish fiddle, bluegrass, harmonic improvisation, Irish low whistle, Irish-style Drop-D guitar accompaniment and Brazilian choro. I also feel comfortable teaching chord theory, swing and oldtime. To see a sample of my teaching style, click HERE. For lessons, please contact me at managementafmagill@gmail.com

The Transcription Project
I have transcribed literally hundreds of jazz, swing, bluegrass, and Brazilian solos by hand and am currently copying these hand-transcriptions into music notation software.
Over the coming years I will be releasing batches of transcriptions from my archive in volumes organized by genre. If you'd be interested in getting access to some of these volumes, please sign up for my newsletter in the form above!
Full Store (CDs, etc)
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Brazilian Strings Trio (CD)
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Brazilian Strings Trio (digital album)
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Canta, Violino! (digital album)
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Christmas Carols for Violin & Guitar (CD)
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Christmas Carols for Violin & Guitar (digital album)
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Bio
For twenty years fiddler and composer Andrew Finn Magill (Finn) has been pursuing parallel careers in traditional Irish music, Brazilian choro, jazz and American fiddle, the result of many years living abroad and a childhood growing up at The Swannanoa Gathering in Asheville, North Carolina where he studied every summer with dozens of Irish, old-time, bluegrass and swing fiddle masters. His nine albums constitute thousands of hours dedicated to each genre and form the basis of Finn’s original music for which he received a 2019 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship in jazz composition. Over the last ten years he has performed with John Doyle, Rising Appalachia, Charm City Junction, Open the Door for Three, Greg Ruby, The Paul McKenna Band, and Malawian singer Peter Mawanga. He has performed in venues that include Milwaukee Irish Fest, Celtic Connections, Olympia Hall in Paris, France, DisneyWorld, and Malawi’s Lake of Stars Festival.
In 2005 he debuted with Drive & Lift, an Irish fiddle album that has been featured on NPR and multiple official Spotify playlists. In 2009 Finn was awarded a Fulbright-mtvU Fellowship to spend a year in Malawi co-writing and co-producing a concept album about HIV/AIDS with Malawi pop icon Peter Mawanga. The result, Stories of AIDS: Mau a Malawi, is a soundscape of traditional Irish and Malawian sounds reimagined as Afro-pop with a riveting message of social justice. It was the inspiration for a multimedia show of the same name Finn wrote and co-directed with Jon Haas and Joseph Megel and debuted at the University of North Carolina’s Memorial Hall in October 2011.
In 2016, Finn released the two-part concept album Roots and and Branches which documents a journey from traditional Irish music to new acoustic jazz. Roots debuted at #46 on the Folk DJ charts and writes Grammy-winning Americana artist Tim O’Brien:
“He has learned from and now plays with the best in the genre. On Branches you can hear a new musical voice emerging. I’m gonna keep listening for Finn Magill.”
In 2014 Finn moved to Rio de Janeiro to study Brazilian choro music. He has been an ambassador of Brazilian violin ever since and has founded many Brazilian music groups including O Finno, Violino no Choro, Brazilian Strings Trio (with fellow American violinist Ted Falcon and Brazilian guitarist Nando Duarte) and Canta, Violino! the album of which was released on Ropeadope Records in 2018. Says Brazilian percussion legend Airto Moreira of Chick Corea and Miles Davis:
“Its nice to see fresh, young musicians carrying on the traditions of Brazilian music. Finn Magill displays a love and authenticity that can fool you into thinking he is from Brazil. His style is playful and light, yet soulful and passionate. Congratulations!”
Fascinated by the connections between the fiddling traditions of Ireland and Scotland and their musical cousins of oldtime and bluegrass, in 2018 Finn created the lecture series “The Evolution of Irish & Scottish Fiddle in our Appalachian Mountains” which is a musical presentation for adults that explores the connections between these styles through their fiddle tunes. This lecture series is part of a larger commitment to music education and Finn has taught traditional Irish music, bluegrass, choro, and old-time at over a dozen fiddle camps across the U.S, Scotland, Brazil, and France.
Finn currently tours with Dave Curley (of Slide and One for the Foxes), Alan Murray (The Colin Farrell Band), Seán Gray (formerly of The Paul McKenna Band), Brazilian group Canta, Violino!, as a solo artist and as a periodic sidemen with dozens of other artists in various genres.
Press
Meet the North Carolina Arts Council’s Fellowship Recipients - Press release for 2019 North Carolina Arts Council Fellowship
N.C. native Andrew Finn Magill finds common ground with Ireland native Dave Curley - Eddie Huffman, Greensboro News & Record for 2018 performance
Andrew Finn Magill celebrates Brazilian music with two Asheville shows - Bill Kopp, Moutain Xpress. Article for 2018 launch of Canta, Violino!
Forget his name and his musical heritage: Andrew Finn Magill wants to bring you to Brazil - Matt Peiken, Blue Ridge Public Radio. Press for 2018 launch of Canta, Violino!
Brazil: Travel and Music with Fiddler Andrew Finn Magill - Kerry Dexter, Perceptive Travel. Press for 2018 Canta, Violino!
Review of 2016 Branches in Liverpool Sound Vision
Review of 2016 Roots in The Irish Times
Review of 2016 Roots in The Living Tradition
Review of 2016 Roots in New York Irish Arts
The Asheville native brings it back home - Jason Gilmer, the828.com. Article for 2016 album release show for Roots
Photo Credit: Anna Colliton Visuals