Hear Betty introduce herself and play a bit.
Betty Druckenmiller
Teaches at Meadowood: Alternate Saturdays
Betty is a rock-solid old-time fiddler who teaches her art at Meadowood Music. While she can teach beginning violinists using written notation, she strongly prefers the aural tradition of the Appalachian Mountains. In this tradition, she plays tunes for and with her students and records lessons as her primary teaching methods. Betty has studied with Dave Bing, Bill Hicks, Bruce Molsky, and Mike Bryant; the late Wilson Douglas of West Virginia was also one of her mentors.
With her family band, she has recorded six CDs: The Road Home, ’Til the Clouds Roll By, Harvest Time, Morning Star, Bound to Change, and Back Home. The Druckenmillers have performed with Beausoleil, Byron Berline, Bill Hicks, Jones & Leva, Brad Leftwich, and Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer. Their venues include the Augusta Heritage Center in Elkins, West Virginia, Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem, and the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
Betty teaches beginning through intermediate old-time fiddlers and emphasizes listening to traditional string band music of the past—especially styles that combine fiddle and clawhammer banjo. She uses and teaches older tunings characteristic of the old-time style. Betty accepts students of all ages. As someone who began playing fiddle as an adult, she brings unique insight when working with adult beginners. With decades of professional experience working with young children and formal training in early childhood education, she also offers specialized skills for very young students.
Meadowood is delighted to have Betty as one of its teachers.
Students visit Meadowood Music from communities throughout Berks County and the Lehigh Valley — including Reading, Allentown, Bethlehem, Kutztown, Fleetwood, and Boyertown — for private music lessons. We also sometimes have students who travel to us from places as distant as Lancaster, Harrisburg, the Philadelphia area, and occasionally from New Jersey, New York City, Baltimore, and Washington DC.