Saturday, Sept 12 & Sunday, Sept 13, 2020 CDT
These wonderful artists have lots of music and insights to share. Please read the complete descriptions of the workshops being offered. Register on-line, or call the Office at 620-221-3250 to register by phone with a credit card. These are hands on workshops so get your computer ready, set up your instrument and get ready to Zoom!
All workshops will take place in the comfort of your location, whether that is your home, the park, or elsewhere. REGISTRATION IS BEING EXTENDED TO 3:00pm MONDAY, SEPT 7, 2020 CDT. Late registrations will not be allowed. You will receive an emailed confirmation for your class with a link to a TEST ZOOM MEETING within 24 business hours after WVA receives your registration. If you are not familiar with Zoom, please follow the instructions in the Orientation and the Important Info & FAQ’s page attached to your confirmation email. Please follow the instructions to download Zoom before September 8th.
Please review the workshop descriptions below and feel free to choose more than one workshop if the timeslots allow.
ALL WORKSHOPS ARE $30 PER SESSION.
Maximum 30 Participants Per Class Unless Otherwise Noted.
Stephen Bennett - Advanced Finger Style Guitar
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 - 10am to 12pm CDT
In this workshop I’ll teach my arrangement of a cool old song called Miserlou (or Misirlou). There’s a lot of interesting info about this song on Wikipedia. The identity of its composer is lost to time but the music was apparently known to Arabic, Greek and Jewish Klezmer musicians in the 1920s. Dick Dale did a surf guitar version of it for the film Pulp Fiction (which I’ve still never seen) and to bring a weird element of connection to this, I learned several years ago that a distant cousin of mine was Dale’s manager for some time. At any rate, I think Miserlou is very cool and it’s definitely fun to play as a fingerstyle solo. If you are a fairly strong intermediate fingerstyle player, you’ll be fine here too. We’ll tune to Drop D for this song.
Maximum of 15 participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Stephen Bennett - Intermediate Finger Style Guitar
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 - 1pm to 3pm CDT
(note you may use a flat pick or you may finger pick this session)
For this workshop I’ll teach an old tune of mine called Waltz For A Maple Tree. You’ll need to have a capo that allows you to leave one of your strings open, your 6th specifically. I wrote and recorded this tune using a pick but also play it fingerstyle. It works equally well either way and so that’s why I don’t really care which approach you take. My goal is to have everyone play each component phrase of the song for me during the session. If you can do that (and odds are that you can), then even if you can’t play it all the way through that day, you’ll be able to put all the pieces together afterwards when you next sit down with your guitar. We’ll be in standard tuning with capo on the 2nd fret, leaving the 6th string open.
Maximum of 15 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Dan Crary #1 - Intermediate Flat Pick Guitar
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 -- 11:00am -- 12:45pm CDT
How to Teach Yourself — Things to do and also not to do to teach yourself the guitar. Dan explains what steps to take, how to make a plan, get unstuck and make regular progress, stay encouraged, be a little better next week and a lot better one year from today. This stuff really works.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Dan Crary #2 -- Intermediate Flat Pick Guitar
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 - 3pm to 4:45pm CDT
Develop Your Accompaniment – Achieve the power of basic flatpicking accompaniment. Then branch out to variations in accompaniment that enrich the music and are fun to play. Dan helps your right hand get going and get solid.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Dan Crary #3 - Intermediate Flat Pick Guitar
Sunday, Sept 13, 2020 -- 3pm -- 4:45pm CDT
Build Your Repetoire: New Tunes & Songs – Learn how to build your repertoire, arrange new tunes and songs, and improvise. Turn a bunch of tunes into Music. Dan shares insights into getting it right and making fresh and original arrangements.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Bill Evans - All Skill Levels Banjo
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 - 1pm to 2:15pm CDT
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER In this workshop designed for all levels of players, Bill will help each participant to improve their sound through better body posture and good right- and left-hand playing techniques. He’ll offer recommendations to teach students how to improve tone, volume and accuracy as well increase ease of playing and relaxation. He’ll then move on to demonstrate the roll patterns used by all bluegrass banjo players and share his secrets on how to make them sound great. Next, you’ll learn how roll patterns are used to accompany others in bands and jams as well as create exciting sounding bluegrass banjo solos. Bill will show you many of the most essential licks in Scruggs style and how and when to use them and will also discuss up the neck playing techniques, including vamping and soloing. Class topic requests are encouraged! Tab examples will be provided for everything covered in class and audio and/or video recording is encouraged.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Bill Evans - All Skill Levels Banjo
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - 2:30pm to 3:45pm CDT
BLUEGRASS BANJO JAM SURVIVAL SKILLS I’m in a jam session but what the heck am I supposed to do? This will be a down-to-earth “hands-on, bring your banjo and let’s pick” kind of workshop covering practical and easy to learn techniques that you can put to immediate use in your next band rehearsal or jam session. We’ll start by using roll patterns and vamping techniques to provide basic accompaniment to others. We’ll then cover the basic up the neck chord positions and play backup using the F and D shapes using the “In The Mood” roll. We’ll then move down-the-neck to incorporate forward rolls into accompaniment and we’ll even learn more than a few of Earl Scruggs’ great backup licks to enhance your sound. We’ll discuss how to easily and quickly “hear” chord progressions and discern the form of a new song so that you’ll be more comfortable figuring out what to play, even on a song that you’ve never heard before. We’ll also use the capo to play in different keys. Tab examples will be presented for everything that will be covered in the session but it’s not necessary to read tab well to get a lot out of this workshop. This workshop is open to all levels of students but is ideal for those with one or more years of playing experience who are ready to start playing bluegrass with others. Audio and/or video recording is encouraged.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Juni Fisher - Songwriting
Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 -- Noon -- 1:45 CDT
Multi award-winning songwriter, singer, and entertainer Juni Fisher invites you to dip into your well of life experiences and create story songs that show the heart and soul you were meant to share through music.
After doing time as a Nashville songwriter, and co-writing with songwriters like Billy Edd Wheeler (Jackson, the Reverend Mr. Black, Coward of the County) and the late Paul Craft (Drop Kick Me Jesus, Brother Jukebox) Juni broke out of the mold to write and produce an album of Western Folk songs that have stood the test of time for the past 20 years. Fisher’s work as a songwriter broke the ceilings of Western music when she introduced unusual casts of characters in story songs that shook up the traditionalists and launched her career as an independent artist. “There wasn’t really a defined place within that genre for what I wanted to do, so I created my own place,” she says.
Winner of multiple Song of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and four Female Performer of the Year awards from several organizations, as well as two Album of the Year awards for her sweeping epic, Gone For Colorado, Fisher was the first woman in the history of the National Cowboy Museum Western Heritage Awards to win the coveted Wrangler Award.
“What we crave from music is connection,” she says. “And it’s not easy to dig down deep and find the pulse and hold the heart of a song in your hands, but it’s our job as songwriters to do just that.”
Come with your notebook or legal pad, a pen or pencil, some ideas you’d like to work with and be prepared for a challenge that will open a whole new portal to the craft of writing memorable, and meaningful songs with lyrics and melodic pairings that create fitting mood and impact points.
Juni will have guitar in hand and will be sharing passages from some of her most memorable songs and telling you how those hard-hitting lines came about. “If you get to the end of your own song and choke yourself up, congratulate yourself. Because now you’re writing.”
Maximum 15 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Bing Futch - Beginner/Intermediate Mountain Dulcimer
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - 9am to 10:30am CDT
This workshop is for anyone who is either just starting out with the mountain dulcimer, or has been playing for a little while and wants to pick up some new tips and tricks. As America’s only indigenous stringed folk instrument, the mountain dulcimer is easy to play and fun to explore! Whether you’re a “string-side up” rank beginner or an advanced beginner, there will be something for everyone as we take a look at this extraordinary musical box. We’ll start with fundamentals, like counting rhythms and strumming, learning the scales and how they become melodies, reading tablature and using the fretboard to play notes. Using a series of exercises, we’ll work on coordinating both hands to create rhythms and melodies using just one finger. We’ll also learn easy ways to add harmony on the middle string. I’ll be teaching a few fun, simple tunes in the drone-melody style, which is traditional to the instrument. I’ll also sneak in some more modern music that you can play for your friends. For players who have spent a little time with the instrument, the early part of the workshop will reinforce solid fundamentals and help you to evaluate your current playing style. The later half of the session will introduce more challenging content to help you on your musical journey. I’ll be introducing chord theory and teaching you how to build chords in three basic shapes. Then, I’ll show you the secret of the chord-melody style of playing, using a couple more tunes to demonstrate and practice. To tie it all together, there’ll be some discussion and demonstration of music theory to help tie everything together. To make sure that all of the concepts have been recorded and archived for your review, there will be copious amounts of printed resource material made available to you via download prior to the workshop. You’ll also receive a video download of the workshop to watch as many times as you like while you study. Students will get the most benefit from this workshop if they have a mountain dulcimer with the 6+ (or 6 1/2) fret on their instrument. Electronic tuners and picks are also very much recommended! We will be tuned in DAD for most of the workshop, so please be sure that you have fresh strings on your instrument. Any retuning that we do can be stressful to old, faded strings that have been on the mountain dulcimer for a long time. A capo isn’t necessary, but it can’t hurt to get one! This will be a fun, informative and engaging session and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you who are ready to really get to know this extraordinary American instrument!
No Maximum For Number Of Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Bing Futch - Intermediate Mountain Dulcimer
Sunday, Sept 13, 2020 - 9am to 10:30am CDT
The Appalachian mountain dulcimer has a unique place in American folk music as the only indigenous stringed instrument in the United States. Over 280 years old, and inspired by instruments from Europe, it has a distinctly traditional sound with an old soul, a hypnotic drone and a sweet sound that instantly captivates musicians and audience around the globe. Though it’s largely thought of as an Old-Time or gospel instrument, it’s also extremely versatile and can be played in a variety of ways in a number of musical genres. From 40’s doo-wop to 50’s rock and roll, between 60s lounge music and pop from the 70s and 80s, beyond classical, Celtic, Latin and country, the dulcimer is a magic carpet that can take you anywhere that you want to go. This workshop is for intermediate players and assumes that you’ve been playing for a little while, can read tablature, have memorized a few tunes and can play some chords on the instrument. What I’ll be introducing is a method of approaching the mountain dulcimer in a way that makes it possible to play anything that you want to play. Using different types of exercises, some repetition, a few helpful tips and tricks, plus a lot of solid music theory, I’ll give you the tools to explore the mountain dulcimer in a new and exciting way! We’ll get to know the fretboard, and I’ll show you an easy trick to memorize all of the scales. Though we’ll be in DAD tuning for much of this session, we’ll also explore retuning to get into a couple of very effective modes for exploring moods. I’ll teach selective strumming, a rhythm technique that will give you the ability to easily provide a solid back up to whatever you play. Chord theory will also play a big part, as I’ll demonstrate how to build chords using the major scale, introduce scale degrees for the purposes of creating chord progressions and melodies, and we’ll also study voice leading, which will help you to understand how tension and release works within the context of a tune or song. I’ll have a handful of great tunes from a number of genres, including blues and bluegrass, that will help illustrate all of the different elements presented during this session. To get the most out of this workshop, it’s recommended that you have a fresh set of strings on your instrument, a tuner, capo and pick (though we will be covering finger-picking at one point.) Looking forward to a fun and dynamic session that shares some great tunes and inspires great music!
No Maximum For Number of Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Chris Jones - Bluegrass Rhythm Guitar
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - NOON to 1:45pm CDT
Playing rhythm is in many ways the bluegrass guitarist’s most important job, and in this class we’ll cover a range of rhythm techniques from basic rhythm strum patterns, to bass notes, bass runs, chord variations, and that pesky G-run. Along the way we’ll work on right hand technique, timing, improving speed, and playing with dynamics. We’ll explore ways to vary the basic “boom-chick” pattern, and discuss the difference between backing up fiddle tunes and playing vocal songs. We’ll also listen to some of the masters of bluegrass rhythm and discuss and try different rhythm styles. We’ll work on a variety of bluegrass songs and instrumentals in various tempos and time signatures.
I’ve played rhythm guitar in my own band for 25 years, and as a sideman with a variety of artists from Lynn Morris, to Vassar Clements, to Weary Hearts, and through the years bluegrass rhythm has become a teaching specialty of mine. I’ve taught the subject at music camps around the world and have released a rhythm guitar instructional DVD.
Class skill level: This will be an intermediate skill level class. You will be expected to be able to play in common major and minor keys (G,C,D,E, A minor, E minor, etc.), be able to play bass notes in addition to strumming with a flat pick, and have at least a few songs or tunes already in your repertoire.
Maximum of 25 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Andy May -- Beginner Guitar 101
Sunday, Sept 13, 2020 -- 1pm -- 2:45pm CDT
Grab your guitar out of the closet or from under the bed (where you hid it!) and Zoom into this fun online workshop. Andy will demystify flat-picking and finger-picking techniques to help you improve your playing and performance skills and increase your confidence. He will give you a foundation that will help you bypass roadblocks that many beginners encounter and enable you to build on what you’ve learned once the workshop is over. And, he will arm you with common-sense practice techniques to help you achieve your goals.
In this class, Andy will show you how to:
- Avoid common pitfalls and problems
- Improve your timing
- Accompany yourself
- Interact with others musically
- Play back-up and lead
- Read basic tablature
- Move forward and expand on the basics
Andy will provide and go over reference worksheets that he has created himself for his beginning students, including:
- Basic chord charts with useful positions
- Flat-picking techniques
- Finger-picking techniques
- Common-sense fingering exercises for both hands
- Several fun and accessible songs
To put all this in context, Andy will give an overview of a variety of popular and foundational styles, (including folk, bluegrass, blues, old-time, country, and rock-and-roll) so that you understand the technical, historical, and cultural aspects of these styles.
Bring your questions and a smile!
About Andy: For over fifty years, Andy May has been a professional musician and a teacher. His credentials include a Grand Championship on guitar from Union Grove, NC, at the age of 18; playing Carnegie Hall; and an IBMA Award garnered by his own record label, Swift River Music. He has been a regular guest on the Musician’s Spotlight workshop/concert series at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and his beloved Acoustic Kids Showcases, which he created to mentor young musicians, has been a fixture at the Walnut Valley Festival for three decades.
Although he enjoys teaching guitarists at any level, he particularly enjoys teaching beginners of any age, giving them the framework they need to become successful players. He has a relaxed, common-sense approach to teaching that is rooted in his background in developmental learning, his interest in creative problem-solving, and his passion for American music. Read More
Maximum 25 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Andy May -- Beginner Mandolin 101
Sunday, Sept 13, 2020 -- 3:30pm -- 5:15pm CDT
Dust off your mandolin and Zoom into this fun online workshop! Andy will cover techniques to help you improve your playing and performance skills and increase your confidence. He will give you a foundation that will help you bypass roadblocks that many beginners encounter and enable you to build on what you’ve learned once the workshop is over. And, he will arm you with common-sense practice techniques to help you achieve your goals.
In this class, Andy will show you how to:
- Avoid common pitfalls and problems
- Improve your timing
- Accompany yourself
- Interact with others musically
- Play back-up and lead
- Read basic tablature
- Move forward and expand on the basics
Andy will provide and go over reference worksheets that he has created himself for his beginning students, including:
- Basic chord charts with useful positions
- Flat-picking techniques
- Common-sense fingering exercises
- Several fun and accessible songs
To put all this in context, Andy will give an overview of foundational mandolin styles so that you understand their technical, historical, and cultural aspects and importance.
Bring your questions and a smile!
For over fifty years, Andy May has been a professional musician and a teacher. His credentials include an IBMA Award garnered by his own record label, Swift River Music, for Everett Lilly and Everybody and His Brother, a project on which he played mandolin, and his own critically-acclaimed mandolin album, Dance of Life – A Mandolin Celebration. He has been a regular guest on the Musician’s Spotlight workshop/concert series at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and his beloved Acoustic Kids Showcases, which he created to mentor young musicians, has been a fixture at the Walnut Valley Festival for three decades.
Although Andy enjoys teaching mandolinists at any level, he particularly enjoys teaching beginners of any age, giving them the framework they need to become successful players. He has a relaxed, common-sense approach to teaching that is rooted in his background in developmental learning, his interest in creative problem-solving, and his passion for American music. Read More
Maximum 25 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Adam Miller - Melodic Autoharp
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - 2pm to 3:45pm CDT
Can you really learn to play recognizable melodies on the autoharp in a single hour and forty-five minute workshop? Yes, you can!
Adam Miller’s beginners autoharp workshop promises to be one of the most focused and enriching autoharp experiences you’ll ever have. No matter what your level of proficiency – even if you have never played the autoharp before – this informal, in-depth class will significantly improve your musical abilities. It is also recommended for autoharpists who want to boost their melody playing skills and improve their technique on the instrument.
This hands-on workshop allows plenty of time to answer all of your questions and address all of your concerns. We’ll cover purchasing an autoharp, getting comfortable with tuning your autoharp, the use of straps and fingerpicks, techniques for strumming, chording, and picking simple melodies, posture, hand position, and the accompaniment of singing. We’ll break down several right-hand and left-hand techniques that let you learn new tunes better and faster. Build your confidence and your repertoire. Develop your rhythm, timing, fingering accuracy, muscle memory, and dynamics. Enhance your ability to play familiar songs by ear. Learn how to organize your practice time so you find yourself making music instead of excuses. Regardless of your skill or comfort level, you will take home a bushel of new tips, tricks, and tunes to integrate into your playing and your jamming.
Songs and concepts are explained through demonstration and by ear, using easy-to-read tablature handouts in the keys of C and F.
Maximum of 25 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Adam Miller - Melodic Autoharp
Sunday, Sept 13, 2020 - 3pm to 4:45pm CDT
Can you really learn to play recognizable melodies on the autoharp in a single hour and forty-five minute workshop? Yes, you can!
Adam Miller’s beginners autoharp workshop promises to be one of the most focused and enriching autoharp experiences you’ll ever have. No matter what your level of proficiency – even if you have never played the autoharp before – this informal, in-depth class will significantly improve your musical abilities. It is also recommended for autoharpists who want to boost their melody playing skills and improve their technique on the instrument.
This hands-on workshop allows plenty of time to answer all of your questions and address all of your concerns. We’ll cover purchasing an autoharp, getting comfortable with tuning your autoharp, the use of straps and fingerpicks, techniques for strumming, chording, and picking simple melodies, posture, hand position, and the accompaniment of singing. We’ll break down several right-hand and left-hand techniques that let you learn new tunes better and faster. Build your confidence and your repertoire. Develop your rhythm, timing, fingering accuracy, muscle memory, and dynamics. Enhance your ability to play familiar songs by ear. Learn how to organize your practice time so you find yourself making music instead of excuses. Regardless of your skill or comfort level, you will take home a bushel of new tips, tricks, and tunes to integrate into your playing and your jamming.
Songs and concepts are explained through demonstration and by ear, using easy-to-read tablature handouts in the keys of C and F.
Maximum of 25 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Missy Raines - Upright Bass (Part 1 of a 2-part Series)
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - 11am to 12:45pm CDT
Part 1 – Bass Fundamentals with Missy Raines We will go over fundamentals of the bass including left hand and right techniques, learning the fingerboard, playing in the pocket, and discussing important practice tips that can help you build as a bass player. This will be great for beginners and intermediates alike. Even advanced players can brush up on basic elements of their playing.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Missy Raines - Upright Bass (Part 2 of a 2-part Series)
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - 2pm to 3:45pm CDT
Part 2 – Ear Training and Playing on the Fly with Missy Raines This workshop will be about developing your ear and your fingerboard knowledge so you can more easily learn songs on the fly. We will discuss using numbers instead of letters to help you find the chords to songs in any key. We will discuss how learning some basic scales can help you to recognize intervals and how those scale patterns open up the fingerboard for you and connect the dots. This will be a very hands-on workshop and is designed for intermediate to advanced players. It will help if you can play (however simply) in several keys. Beginners are always welcome.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Mark Sganga - All Skills Level Finger Style Guitar
SUNDAY, Sept 13, 2020 - Noon - 1:45pm CDT
Movable Chord Shapes for Guitar Learn to play any chord, up & down the neck, based on the CAGED system
If you can play open C, A, G, E & D chords, this class will expand on those shapes to create movable chords! This will give tremendous versatility for being able to create arrangements for solo guitar, & to make musical sounding rhythm guitar parts. We’ll explore adding 7ths & 9ths & other variations. We’ll discuss using these shapes as a guide to improve leads.
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Mark Sganga - Intermediate/Advance Finger Style Guitar
SUNDAY, Sept 13, 2020 4pm - 5:45pm CDT
Moving Bass Lines for Guitar Independent bass lines for solo Fingerstyle arrangements & accompaniment parts.
We’ll learn how to connect chords with moving bass lines. We’ll explore “walking bass” with chords & work on a Fingerstyle solo with a walking bass part. Knowledge of basic barre chords & some experience playing a solo guitar arrangement will be a great help here!
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Mark Stoffel -Intermediate/Advanced Mandolin
Saturday, September 12, 2020 - 10am to 11:45am CDT
The Right Hand Is Your Motor – Part 1 Just like with any other lead instrument in Bluegrass, adding drive and maintaining solid rhythm is one of Bluegrass music’s most important aspects. The Fiddle gets its drive from distinctive bowing patterns, the banjo uses syncopated rolls in three finger style. The mandolin has just one flatpick that strums down and up, down and up, and so on. But is it really that simple? I submit to you that it is not. Your right hand is the motor behind your playing, the driving force, while your left hand is in charge of the melodies. But no matter how catchy and beautiful your melodies are, if your right hand’s motor is weak and not tuned properly, your overall outcome suffers. When your right hand does not have that necessary discipline, it can throw you off, it will make you stumble.
In this workshop, I will demonstrate that there is much room for variation in your right hand approach. I will break down the various strumming techniques and styles for you. When and why will you only use down strokes? How do you add a “swing” flavor to your picking? Are there any exceptions to the rules, such as in cross picking? We will start slow and we will make ample use of the metronome, which will hopefully will become your best friend once we’re through!
Minimum of 4 and Maximum of 40 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Mark Stoffel - Advanced Mandolin
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - 1pm to 2:45pm CDT
The Right Hand Is Your Motor – Part 2 I will teach you how to make your right hand more solid, how to emphasize certain strums in order to add that special drive to a simple double stop. We’ll be using fairly easy left hand patterns, so we can focus mostly on your right-hand. I am looking forward to this and I hope to see you at the workshop!
Participation in The Right Hand Is Your Motor – Part 1 is a prerequisite.
Minimum of 4 and Maximum of 40 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Grace Van't Hof -Intro to Country Ukulele
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 -- 1pm -- 2:45pm CDT
Did you know that ukulele was common in the early country string bands of the 1920s and 30s? Did you know that the Hawaiian craze that swept the western world was responsible for many of the iconic country sounds we know and love today?
In this class we will review chords and chord shapes and work on varied pick-less strumming style. This will get us started on the track to accompanying ourselves as we sing country classics. We'll also hear a little history and listen to some early recorded examples of uke playing. W will also listen to some other instruments to inspire us in developing our own country uke style.
I have been involved in early country music as a professional instrumentalist for 15 years. I've played my ukes and banjos for audiences across the United States and internationally in the styles of bluegrass, Old Time, classic country, and ragtime music. I look forward to collaborating with you!
This is a beginner-level Class. We should be able to tune our instruments and name the strings. Knowledge of basic chords and the ability to switch between them will help you get the most out of this class. Any size/style of ukulele welcome (Baritone players should be prepared to play in gCEA tuning so that everyone is on the same page).
Maximum of 20 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Grace Van't Hof - Ukulele Backup for Old time/Country Fiddle Tunes
Sunday, Sept 13, 2020 -- 1:00pm to 2:45pm CDT
Ukuleles are back and more pervasive than ever, but that doesn’t mean that pulling out a uke at an Old time jam won’t elicit a few eye-rolls. Step into the legacy of Old time ukulele rhythm with me and we’ll learn how to enhance an Old time jam with our playing.
In this class will will discuss the role of an uke in an Old time string band and learn techniques for a driving uke rhythm. We’ll explore closed chord shapes that allow us to travel all over the neck and transpose tunes quickly. We’ll delve into strumming patterns for backup and ornamentation. We’ll entertain the company of an award-winning fiddler and jam tunes in a couple different styles, utilizing the new techniques we have learned.
I have been involved in early country music as a professional instrumentalist for 15 years. I’ve played my ukes and banjos for audiences across the United States and internationally in the styles of bluegrass, Old time, classic country, and ragatime music. I look forward to collaborating with you!
This is a class for all levels. Beginners may have difficulty playing at speed at first but will be given much material to work on. Any size /style of ukulele welcome.
Maximum of 20 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Mark Alan Wade -Intermediate/Advanced Hammer Dulcimer
Fun Mastering the Appalachian Dulcimer Style
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - 9:30am to 11am CDT
Fun Mastering the Appalachian Dulcimer Style This workshop teaches an easy way to learn how to play in a traditional Appalachian style using filler notes. This same kind of style is heard on banjo and guitar and uses the same ideas. On a dulcimer, it’s a little less intuitive. Mark will show you HOW and lead you through a fun and easy method to playing in this iconic style.
Maximum of 40 Participants
Registration for this workshop has closed.
Mark Alan Wade - Intermediate/Advanced Hammer Dulcimer
Old Songs New Chords
Saturday, Sept 12, 2020 - Noon - 1:30pm CDT
Old Songs New Chords In this hands-on class, we’ll take a familiar tune and give it a facelift by exploring chord options you haven’t thought of before. This class is focused on the process of selecting chords and a tried and true way to think outside the box. With a little practice and Mark’s tips, you’ll have a kaleidoscope of fun and easy chords to add to your favorite tunes!
Maximum of 40 Participants