Carolyn is passionate about teaching folk fiddle and banjo in the traditional way: by ear. She starts beginners with simple tunes such as “Twinkle, Little Star,” “Frere Jacques,” and “Oh Susannah,” tunes that we we’ve carried around in our heads since we were children, and from there moves on to standard fiddle tunes in Southern, Irish and French-Canadian traditions.

“Clawhammer” banjo style is the Old Timey Southern method of playing without picks, as opposed to the newer and more well known “Blue Grass” style. As with the fiddle, Carolyn starts with simple tunes like “Skip to My Lou,” “Aunt Rhody,” and the like, and moves on to more difficult tunes in the banjo repertory.

She has been teaching for more than 20 years and currently has 25 banjo and fiddle students who range in age from 11 to 76. Lessons are at her house in rural Hopkinton, NH, six miles from Concord. She charges $25 per half hour lesson and teaches in blocks of 12-weeks.

Carolyn’s husband is a luthier and has restored fiddles for sale and for rent to her students.

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Carolyn Parrott lives in Hopkinton, NH, where she teaches traditional fiddle and five-string banjo, and is on the faculty of the Concord Community Music School where she directs the Songweavers a cappella women’s chorus.

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Carolyn lively performances feature stories with songs or chants that employ her vast array of familiar and exotic instruments, while residencies can be "mixed and matched" to meet the needs of health care and nursing home providers. Carolyn has advanced degrees in music and comparative literature and is on the faculty of the Concord Community Music School where she directs the Songweavers, a 200+ women's a cappella chorus, and teaches five-string banjo and folk fiddle. Carolyn is experienced in working with seniors, people with disabilities and those who are institutionalized.

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