Youth Folk Instrumental Competition

Youth Competition Rules

1.  Categories:

• Junior -  up to and including 11yrs, at time of competition

• Intermediate - 12yrs up to and including 15yrs at time of competition

• Senior - 16yrs up to and including 20yrs at time of competition

• Open - 26 years is the cut off age for the Open Section.
  
  

2. All acoustic instruments (as indicated below) will compete together in each of the age categories:

• Fiddle / Cello / Flute / Whistle / Accordion / Guitar    

3. Contestants can perform any 'folk' style (Irish, Scottish, American, Scandinavian etc) but:

• Junior Category - competitor must acknowledge which folk genre is being played.

• Intermediate Category - competitor must acknowledge which folk genre is being played, and show some stylistic recognition.

• Senior and Open Category - the competitor must acknowledge which folk genre is being played, and show obvious stylistic recognition etc:-  bowing, ornaments, drones, variations, etc.
  
  

4.  Competitors will perform a variety of tunes, rhythm and speed in one performance per category:

• Junior Category - competitor will play 2 tunes, and introduce the name of the tunes before playing.
  They should choose a slow piece e.g. air, waltz, slow 6/8, followed by a faster paced piece e.g. jig, reel, hornpipe, etc.

• Intermediate Category - competitor will play 2 tunes, and introduce the name of the tunes before playing.                                                                                               They should choose a slow piece e.g. air, waltz, slow 6/8, followed by a faster paced piece e.g. jig, reel, hornpipe, etc.

• Senior and Open Category- competitor will play 2 sets of tunes of 2 or 3 tunes each, and introduce the name of the sets of tunes before playing.
  The sets need to show rhythmic variation and/or key development.
  For Example:
  1. March / Strathspey / Reel
  2. Waltz / Jig / Reel
  3. Air / Slip Jig
  4. Hoedown with 1 variation .
  5. Amin tune / Amaj tune (all reels or all jigs or a mixture)
  6. Etc.
  
  

5. The Winner of each Category:

1. Will each perform in the final concert.

2. Each group winner will receive a prize of – 

   •  Junior - $20, 

   • Intermediate - $40, 

   • Senior - $75, 

   • Open - $100

3. 2nd and 3rd prizes will receive certificates.

4. There needs to be more than 3 participants in each section for that section to proceed as intended or the organiser may need to change / combine a section if a section doesn't have enough participants.

6.  Accompaniment:

 1st tune /set selection must be unaccompanied                                                                  

 2nd tune/set selection can be accompanied or not. It will not influence the judging.

7. Perform with or without music:

The participant can perform with or without music. By memory is encouraged.

See the Judges' Marking Matrix here

Judges this year are Tess Hickey and Sophia Bidwell