COURSES
DESCRIPTIONS (listed by instructors in alphabetical order)
MEMPHIS MINNIE SONG BOOK (Intermediate) – Del Rey
Learn the guitar vocabulary you need to figure out most any Memphis Minnie song you might want to learn. This class is organized by keys-G, C, E, D. We’ll listen to a selection of Memphis Minnie originals in each key in class and learn how to figure them out. We’ll also learn ways to make duet guitar parts work on solo guitar (Minnie often worked with a partner).Be able to maintain an alternating bass with your thumb and be comfortable with first position chords. Recorders ok if unobstrusive.
BLUES UKELELE STYLES OF THE EARLY 20th CENTURY PART I - Del Rey
Be familiar with basic chords and be able to keep time.
Lemon Nash of Louisiana and Rabbit Muse of Virginia were African American ukulele players and showmen with distinctive styles on traditional and standard jazz material. The Pebbles were a 1920s Hokum duo featuring ukulele. And more! We’ll listen to some of their recordings, talk about their lives and explore a song (by ear-no tab) from each in class. Bring your uke, notebook and pencil, recorders ok. This should be interesting enough to audit if you’re a curious beginner.
THE C-A-G-E-D SYSTEM (Early Intermediate – Advanced) – Ernie Hawkins
Ever watch a blues or jazz guitarist running effortlessly all over the neck and wonder how it is done? The C-A-G-E-D System is the answer. It has been called the logic of the fretboard. This is an easily approachable, easy to use method that brings theory into your fingers and onto the guitar, and puts it all together. We will start by learning how to play blues in any position on the neck, in any key. This system connects all the chord inversions with the passing chords that connect them. It enables you to move any chord, any chord progression, any scale, any arpeggio, any riff around the neck. If you have wanted to go beyond just learning songs into learning the context that gives these songs their sense and beauty, but have been afraid of “music theory,” this course is for you. This is the kind of knowledge that sets you free!
ACOUSTIC BLUES REPERTOIRE (Intermediate Advanced) Ernie Hawkins
All of my workshops being with introductions. Every student get the opportunity to communicate her or his level and specific interest. I then try to shape my areas of expertise with what most people are interested in. I approach teaching from two points of view: first, style and repertoire, and second, theory. I always try to do some of both. The most accessible songs and styles I teach are, generally, Texas blues and East Coast ragtime-blues fingerpicking, particularly the style of Rev. Gary Davis. In previous workshops, my most popular courses by far have been the use of the C-A-G-E-D System for playing blues and rags. This gives the student what is usually much needed information on exactly how chords and runs happen along the whole fingerboard. This way the student can really begin to understand systematically how everything on the guitar fits together.
ARRANGING FOR FINGERSTYLE GUITAR (Intermediate) - Happy Traum
This course.will be deeply satisfying for any acoustic guitarist who wants to move beyond simple chords and easy strums to develop compelling arrangements of well-known, much-loved traditional songs. You’ll learn how to use picking patterns, bass lines, chord substitutions, improvisations and other potent devices to spruce up any song in your repertoire. While working on some beautiful songs, you’ll gain a better command of the fretboard, increase your repertoire and improve your guitar technique.
MUSIC THEORY FOR THE GUITARIST (All Levels) – Happy Traum
Do you know how the strings, frets, notes, scales and chords all work together to make music? Whether you’re a total beginner or have been at it for years, there’s a good chance you lack a basic understanding of the theory behind what you’re playing. Happy demystifies the guitar fretboard and brings it into focus for learning players. He starts at the very beginning, providing the essential knowledge you’ll need in your quest to become a better player. Along the way you’ll learn how to find intervals, movable chords, melody lines and other practical tools to enhance your guitar skills
COUNTRY BLUES REPERTOIRE & MUSICIANSHIP (Intermediate – Advanced) John Miller
We will be focusing on learning to recognize and be comfortable with commonly encountered blues archetypes: 8-bar, 12-bar, 16-bar and 18-bar blues. We’ll learn pieces of these types by players like Mississippi John Hurt, Gabriel Brown, Blind Boy Fuller and Lil‘ Son Jackson, among others. Along the way, we’ll learn how these different blues forms are phrased vocally, so that you’ll know how to accompany a singer, playing fills in the appropriate spaces without clashing with the vocal, and will also concentrate on learning how to move ideas around from one key or position to another. Note: Participants should be comfortable playing songs with melody and alternating bass played simultaneously.
CHORD VOICINGS (Intermediate – Advanced) – John Miller
Here will be working on learning how to voice triads, 6th and 7th chords of various types out of the E, A, D, C and F positions in standard tuning. You will learn both how the different chord types are structured and how they function, and pick up the definitional information that makes the language of music meaningful, so that when you see A flat7#5 on a chord chart, you’ll understand both what it is and how to play it in several places on the neck. We’ll use songs from a variety of styles to play the chord voicings we discover, and will focus a lot on economy of motion in the left hand, so that you will be able to maintain a smooth rhythmic flow while moving between chords. Note: This class should work for participants at early intermediate to intermediate level, and for advanced players who feel insufficiently grounded in their knowledge and understanding of music and chords.
DELTA BLUES REPERTOIRE & TECHNIQUE FOR THE EARLY INTERMEDIATE - Martin Grosswendt
Explore the songs and chops of legendary Mississippi Delta bluesmen such as Charlie Patton, Willie Brown, Son House, and Robert Johnson. As we learn some well-known and obscure selections from the Delta songbag, we’ll cover right-hand techniques including the Dead Thumb, damping, thumb slurs, frails, and finger drags; chord forms in standard and common alternate tunings; rhythm patterns; and necessarily, bottleneck playing. We’ll also look at variations on some common guitar settings as recorded by different artists. Some printed material will be provided. Bring a guitar and a bottleneck-style slide. The use of a recording device is strongly encouraged!
BLUES MANDOLIN: SOLO & ENSEMBLE - Martin Grosswendt
The mandolin can be a striking, effective instrument for playhhing the blues, as demonstrated by masters such as Yank Rachell, Howard Armstrong, Carl Martin and Johnny Young. In this class we’ll examine a number of topics suited to both solo and ensemble playing, including open-chord voicings, rhythmic phrasing, right-hand technique, developing lead lines, and transposing tried-and-true licks from the blues guitar canon. We’ll even look into some oddball stuff like cross tunings, finger-picking and even bottleneck playing. Some printed material will be provided. Bring a mandolin, a flatpick, and an open mind. The use of a recording device is strongly encouraged.
IMPROVISATION: TECHNIQUES FOR BLUES & SWING (Intermed- Adv) – M. Dowling
Starting with the blues and progressing to swing the focus will be on playing over the changes so the next time someone says “take it” you’ll be ready.
RIFFS, RAGS & BOOGIES (Intermediate – Advanced) – Mike Dowling
We’ll draw from a broad spectrum of musical styles as we explore different rhythms & different grooves, from the infectious boogies of the Delmore Bros to classic Luis Jordan jump blues. Lots of ensemble playing in class. evel: intermediate to advanced!
*Beginners on Mandolin will need transferable skills from guitar.
ACOUSTIC CONTEMPORARY: GETTING TO YOUR NEXT LEVEL (Early Intermediate-Intermediate) – Shawn Persinger
GETTING YOUR RIGHT HAND TOGETHER - Shawn Persinger Novice-Early Intermediate (and more advanced players seeking technique basics)
An intensive class designed to increase your strumming/picking hand’s flexibility, adaptability, and fluidity. Novice and early intermediate students will benefit greatly from focused attention on the subjects of: strumming (with an emphasis on versatility), additive rhythmic patterns (quarter notes into eighths into triplets into sixteenths, etc.), picking, skills and practical accompaniment. All styles: from Folk to Funk; Bluegrass to Jazz; Rock to Reggae.
KITCHEN SINK GUITAR: Intermediate – Advanced (and all levels for auditors) - Shawn Persinger
Offered as a hands-on class for Intermediate to Advanced players, this class also functions as a “lecture” series in which even novice players can benefit from the material discussed. While at times technically challenging on the instrument. the subject matter discussed is at all time intellectually enlightening, edifying and entertaining!.
Kitchen Sink will focus on a diversity of musical genres, revealing how, in fact, they are inter-connected. In this hands-on class, Shawn will take you on a journey through the history of sound, starting with 17th Century Baroque and on into 21st Century “New” Music, leaving few musical stones unturned: Classical, Jazz, Irish, Metal, Old Time, African, Free Improvisation, you name it.
This program has one essential goal, creative application. This class is not simply a survey of popular song. It is about revealing underlying concepts and expanding upon them. It is designed to open up possibilities of what can be done on guitar (or any musical instrument), if you keep your mind open to all musical styles no matter how dissimilar they appear.