The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Hannah playing her fiddle break on "Colleen Malone"

2010 Youth in Bluegrass Competition @ SDC

Dad, Mom, Hannah & Daniel... with Benjamin concentrating in the back!

May 2009 @ Silver Dollar City, Missouri

Hannah, at age 12, has been practicing & studying Fiddle with Ricky Boen since her very first lesson about six years ago (November 2003).  Hannah handles a good percentage of the instrumentals for our family band, playing old favorites such as Clarinet Polka, Liberty, Red Wing, Leather Britches, Soldier's Joy, Ashokan Farewell and many others.  She also sings some traditional bluegrass & sweet gospel songs.  Most recently she has added some tunes that she learned while our family attended O'Flaherty's Irish Music Retreat in Midlothian, Texas... <more below>

In June of 2005 she participated in her first fiddle competition.  We were bowled over when she took "First Place" in the Pee-Wee Division for the 13^th Annual Old-Time Fiddler's Contest at Snyder Park near Lawrenceburg, Missouri.  She placed 4^th in 2006...  And on June, 23^rd, she came in 2^nd place!  Guess she'll have to keep practicing...

May 2006 @ Silver Dollar City

June 21, 2008 - Time for the 16^th Annual Snyder Park Fiddle Contest... and, Yahoo!  Hannah did a great job and took "First Place" again this year.  We reckon a little practice may have contributed to that, plus she's been getting more experience playing music with her family.

As a result of her fine fiddle playing at Snyder Park, Hannah received her first Fan Letter!  We're so thankful for all our children, but Hannah has a special place on earth for her talents.  See what we mean after you read Hannah's Birth Story.

Hannah's fiddle teacher, Ricky Boen, is an excellent, classically-trained musician with nearly 30 years of teaching experience.  You can catch his band, Texas Mud, in Branson sometime, and he also plays fiddle at Shepherd of the Hills with the Sons of the Pioneers.

October 2009:  Along with her entire family, Hannah recently returned from O'Flaherty's Irish Music Retreat held in Midlothian, Texas.  She was introduced in a rather sudden way to some of her Irish Musical Heritage (on her mother's side).  Attending on a family scholarship, she participated in an intense 3 days of exposure to Irish fiddling consisting of approximately 9 hours of instruction by the premier Irish-American Sligo-style fiddler, Mr. Brian Conway.  As a result, Hannah is very excited about adding more traditional Irish tunes to her fiddle playing repertoire!

(Some pictures will be posted soon!)

View Farnum Family Résumé Here

Academia:  About the Fiddle or Violin

"The violin is the best known of all Western orchestral instruments.  The smallest in a family that includes the viola, cello, and double bass.  The violin developed in the 16^th Century and descended from the Medieval fiddle and rebec.  All the members of the violin family have four strings, a tailpiece, a bridge, a waisted body, f-shaped sound holes and an arched top.  The design has changed little since formalized by the great 16^th Century Italian makers Stradivari and Guarneri."

Click Here for a more complete article regarding the Fiddle.

Click Here for an easily printable version about this article about the Fiddle.

For additional and more exhaustive information, take a look at the Wikipedia page on Fiddle.

Hannah knows the difference between a fiddle and violin. . . about Ten Thousand Dollars!

Sam Davis Youth Camp

Harriet, Arkansas / July 2006