About

Meet Lauren -
Founder of The Tune Project

Originally from the vibrant city of Chicago, Lauren Abels began playing the violin at the tender age of six, under the Suzuki method, eager to explore everything the instrument had to offer. While attending high school in Vero Beach, Florida, Lauren decided to sharpen her skills as a violinist even further. Her drive and passion for music landed her the position of concertmaster of her orchestra, and she won both concerto competitions and fiddle contests during this time.

Always seeking to further her studies, Lauren attended prestigious summer music intensive programs Eastern Music Festival and National Music Festival, where she was able to study with many famed instructors, including Glenn Dicterow, former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic. She also attended many fiddle camps, and was a returning student of Mike Block String Camp. It was there that she honed her fiddle skills and developed her own playing style by learning various world fiddle styles from inspiring instructors such as Darol Anger, Brittany Haas, and Hanneke Cassel.

In 2013, her passion for music brought her to Nashville, TN, where she continued to grow and develop as a musician. Lauren earned her Bachelor’s degree in Classical Violin Performance from Belmont University in 2017. During her time there, she studied under respected mentors including Elisabeth Small, a Juilliard graduate and former student of Dorothy Delay, and Grammy Award-winning artist Tammy Rogers-King of The SteelDrivers.

Although rooted in the classical realm, Lauren has a deep appreciation for a wide range of genres. Her playing spans everything from Blues, Jazz, and Rock to Bluegrass, Folk, Pop, and beyond.

Lauren's skill and versatility on the violin has afforded her many opportunities, bringing her to both the studio and the stage. She has recorded at prestigious studios on Music Row such as Ocean Way, Columbia Studios, and Sound Emporium, and performed at legendary venues such as Exit/In, The Grand Ole Opry, City Winery, The Bluebird Cafe, and several honky tonk bars along Nashville's famous Broadway Street.

After teaching private violin and fiddle lessons to students of all ages for twelve years, in 2017, Lauren decided to launch The Tune Project—an online platform designed to make violin and fiddle learning more accessible to players everywhere.

Lauren is continuously inspired by her students, and aims to share the knowledge she has gleaned from her own music instructors over the years, along with her love of music, with a growing community of eager learners around the world. Lauren's unique approach to teaching combines an emphasis on classical technique with ear training, as true to the worldwide folk tradition. Her students commend the safe and encouraging environment she creates during lessons, allowing them to blossom in their learning and stay true to the reason they began their musical journey in the first place.

Today, The Tune Project is a multi-faceted resource that offers unique sheet music arrangements of fiddle tunes, virtual jam workshops, video and technique tutorials, and a podcast that features folk and roots artists from around the world. With over 40,000 subscribers on YouTube, The Tune Project community is growing every day.