BLUEGRASS BANJO (level 1-3)

Instructor:  Keith Little

Join Keith Little for an introduction and exploration of the musical language of Earl Scruggs (and his contemporaries), using your thumb and two fingers, four beats per measure (three beats too), and the five string banjo. Primarily intended for beginning players who have some familiarity with basic right hand roll patterns, this class would also be helpful for intermediate players interested in soloing. Using standard bluegrass song material, we’ll begin by tracing the basic melody line, and then weaving it into various roll patterns, al la Earl. Recorded examples and printed handouts will be provided, and individual performance and recording is encouraged.

BLUEGRASS & SWING UPRIGHT BASS (level: beginning to intermediate)

Instructor:  Rob Bonner

The class will be tailored to the students, but will include:
. Bass runs - connecting chords in various keys
. Walking bass - for swing and country tunes
. Keeping the band together - playing bass lines that drive the chord
progression and keep the rhythm together

BEGINNING DOBRO (level 0-2)

Instructor:  Kathy Barwick

Did you ever wish you played something else, especially when there’s 12 guitarists in a jam? Try the dobro. All you need to bring is an extension nut, fingerpicks and a thumb pick, and a steel if you have one (I’ll bring some extras to try out in class). You can find these things at Resophonic Outfitters, here: http://www.beardguitars.com/resophonic-cover.html (the extension nut is in the “accessories” tab).

We’ll put your guitar into open tuning, and you’ll be amazed at how much fun you’ll have sliding around. Of course if you have access to a dobro that’s even better!

FIDDLE

Instructor: Phil Salazar

Class description will be posted soon.

BEGINNING GUITAR (level 0-1)

Instructor:  Dorian Michael

Class description will be posted soon.

LEAD BLUES GUITAR     (level: beginner to advanced)

Instructor:  Hawkeye Herman

Yes, you CAN express yourself freely and creatively on the guitar.  Blues music is the watershed of American music, influencing many other genres.  In this class you will learn simple scales and techniques that will allow you to comfortably play blues musical introductions, leads, and endings with confidence, originality, and satisfaction.  The speed/rapidity of guitar picking and the number of notes played is not a criteria in blues music.

Playing/selecting the ‘right notes’ in order to express yourself is the basis for good blues guitar music, not how many notes you play and how fast you play them.  You will learn skills of playing that will expand your guitar playing and personal creativity for years to come.  The desires to have fun and to enjoy the process of learning/playing the blues are the only prerequisites.  Beginners welcome!

FOLK and COUNTRY GUITAR (level: beginning to advanced)

Instructor:  Hawkeye Herman

Learn how to build and create a variety of folk and country accompaniment styles and take logical guitar solos with confidence and satisfaction.  From the basics of solid rhythm playing to ‘tasty’ lead licks/scales/skills, this class will teach and encourage you to relax and enjoy the possibilities, alternatives, and diversity of folk and country guitar playing.  Beginners welcome!

FINGERPICK GUITAR - Repertoire Building (level 2-3)

Instructor:  Stevie Coyle

In this course we’ll bust those who require such busting out of “pattern picking” or “the Travis pick” into true thumb independence. This will free the fingers up to play melody, and that will be the first step into building the greater sense of intentionality that will be the overarching objective of both this class and the Level 4/5 course.  We’ll introduce the right hand to Mother Maybelle-style rhythmic elements as well as palm and finger muting techniques, and we’ll slay that dreaded dragon - The Thumbpick.  We’ll get the left hand working in more mindful, useful and satisfying ways as well, and start exploring that Terra Incognita above the third fret. Our tour guides will include Elizabeth Cotten, Marcel Dadi, Stefan Grossman and Doc Watson, and our maps will be in tablature - which will be demystified pronto. We may even get our feet wet in the shallow end of the alternate tunings pool. Bring reading glasses and recording devices.

GUITAR: Advanced Fingerstyle Repertoire (level 4-5)

Instructor:  Stevie Coyle

Brave souls who select this course will be initiated (and/or drawn deeper into) the more esoteric realms of Fingerstyle guitar. Alternate tunings, voice leading, left-hand economy, “singing into the fret board,” left-hand thumb technique, the CAGED system, arranging for group as well as solo Fingerstyle guitar and learning much from the other advanced players in the group will be among the many stops on this particular CCMC adventure. Tour guides will include Leo Kottke, Pierre Bensusan, Bob Evans and Rick Ruskin. The tab will be flying thick and fast. Bring your favorite recording device.

FLATPICK GUITAR:  Crosspicking and The Secrets of The Fingerboard (level 2-4)

Instructor:  Kathy Barwick

Crosspicking is a style of flatpicking where you play a picking pattern across 3 strings…If you like Clarence White, Tony Rice, and David Grier—and most of the hot players on the bluegrass scene—you’ll want to learn this important skill. This class will present an easy and systematic way of organizing the guitar fretboard that helps you construct your own arrangements and improvise in a jam. Not only will you be able to more easily incorporate crosspicking into your leads, it will also help you find that melody note you’re looking for, whether crosspicking or not. Flatpicking Guitar Magazine publisher Dan Miller calls Kathy’s system “the CAGED method practically applied to bluegrass flatpicking.” The system combines fretboard (left-hand) patterns with crosspicking (right-hand) patterns that will surprise you and unlock the mysteries of the fretboard!

Prerequisites: Students should come to class with guitar in tune. Have a flatpick (recommend a heavy gauge) and a capo. Students should be comfortable changing basic chords (G, C, D, F, E, Em, Am, etc.) in time. Consider bringing a recording device, as we will cover a lot of ground. You should have at least two years of playing experience, including some experience playing with others in jam sessions or in informal bands. You should be familiar with basic bluegrass repertoire and be able to play a few songs or tunes from memory. We will use simple, familiar material on which to apply class concepts. Some very basic theory is helpful, though we will also cover that at the start of the class (e.g., basic major scale construction, chord progressions, I-IV-V terminology for naming chord progressions).

MANDOLIN

Instructor: Tom Corbett  (level: beginning and intermediate)

Day 1:   Fundamentals.  Assessing students skill and goals for the camp.
Covering scales, arpeggios and basic theory.  Repertoire of tunes.
Day 2:    Rhythm mandolin.  Covering a variety of styles and approaches to
playing rhythm mandolin.  Working together to learn how to play
well with others.
Day 3:     Creating your own solos and licks to make your own music.  How to
write harmony for tunes.

My classes can be very flexible for the each students skill and styles they would like to
learn. I will cover some of the common tunes that people play in jams but I’ll have a variety
of material available for each students needs.  Students are welcome to contact me before
hand if they have specific material they would like to work on.    lig2@earthlink.net

SONGWRITING for ALL (all levels)

Instructor: Tom Kimmel

This class will look at various styles of songwriting, and try to help strengthen the writers own unique voice and perspective. We will engage in some co-writing and explore creative exercises as well. Students will be encouraged to share their own works throughout. The goal of the class will be for each student to begin, further develop or complete a song of their own. This class is open to musicians and writers of all levels.

UKULELE 101: Beginning Ukulele for First Timers (level 0-1)

Instructor: Michelle Kiba

This course is designed for anyone new to the ukulele. You’ll learn all the good stuff you need to get up and going ASAP!! This course is also great for folks that have had some limited ‘ukulele experience and are looking to expand their knowledge base or just wish to play better! We’ll cover the basics, discuss using good ergonomics and develop fundamental techniques with plenty of hands on time. You’ll be playing real music before your first lesson is over! Just be ready to get down with your bad ukulele self.

UKULELE REPERTOIRE: Beyond The Basics (level 2-4)

Instructor: Michelle Kiba

We’ll be taking your ‘ukulele playing to the next level. Wonderful yet simple techniques will be introduced in this course that include; different strums, additional left and right hand techniques and ornamental chords, presented in repertoire from multiple genres! We’ll cover Hawaiian standards as well as contemporary, Island favorites, Tin Pan alley, pop, folk, rock and more. Get ready to rock that uke! Students should be able to play at least a dozen chords proficiently.

Students are highly encouraged to bring a recording device to classes.

VOCALS 101  - (level 1-2)

Instructor:  Keith Little

This interactive class will explore the basics of fine singing.  Beginning with the melody, we’ll cover how to get good tone, and stay relaxed.  Basic vocal technique will be covered, and individual performance will be encouraged.  Standard material will be used, and a love of singing is the only prerequisite.

GET RHYTHM!  The Engine Room (all levels)

Instructor:  Joe Craven

Do you wonder why sometimes someone gives you “the stink eye” at a jam? Are you not understanding where certain beats go and why folks put them there? Could you be suffering the heartbreak of the “Rush’n Drag”? Downbeat, backbeat, jig, reel, swing, funky, rock, Latin, the poly-rhythms of Afro-beats and Bulgarian goat herding music…argh!!! Are ya just not “feel’in it” bunky?

This supportive, fun class is open to anyone wishing to learn to groove better. Even if you’ve never picked up an instrument of any kind, Joe shows how anybody can play right away by feeling – not thinking – about rhythm…organically! The key is connecting the dots of what you already have inside you to your music making. Then, through rhythmic phrasing, you can even express powerful music with just one pitch (note) or chord. No matter what level you’re at, there are always new ways of deepening your connection to your music through its most fundamental element. As Joe puts it, “You’ve already got time, so why not learn organize it into great music?”

IMPROVISATION: “In The Moment and Without a Net”    (all levels)

Instructor:  Joe Craven

Everyone already has very developed and impressive improvisation skills! So why can’t you brilliantly improvise in music making? This class is about learning to change the way you think about music and sound in general so that - in the moment – you can say something different every time you musically speak! Craaazy! Joe also has some new tricks and fun ideas to connect to spontaneity and flow that deepens the self-expression we all seek.  We’ll focus on ways to be more comfortable with sound and to eventually become fearless in speaking music. Feel the power of the connection between spoken-word language and music.  Movement, rhythm, imitation, disassociation, playfulness, using metaphors and the value of “screwing up”. Yes folks, it’s all there. You table is waiting but remember, you can’t win if you don’t enter and you must be present to win!

PERFORMANCE SKILLS (Level 1)

Instructor:  Stevie Coyle

A lot of folks either don’t perform because they are unwittingly operating under a set of incorrect assumptions. They feel that learning to perform some sort of hugely additive process … they think that there’s lots and lots of non-native stuff to learn. I encourage folks to reexamine and strip away frequently-incorrect assumptions about performance. In this session I will help folks demystify the performance process by examining their own expectations as audience members. For absolute beginners, that’s the biggest hurdle and the one - if cleared away a bit - can bring the more advanced techniques within range. And for those other folks who have some performance experience but want to buff their skills I think I’d spend a good chunk of time delivering a virtual toolkit of skills that can be used to put the audience and performer at ease and to establish and maintain a sense of flow throughout a performance

First Things First: Sabotaging Stage Fright
- nothing is a mistake
- examine your own responses and expectations as an audient
- physical preparation
- realistic staging of goals
- re-calibrating expectations for faster growth
- knowing what your presentation will look like - preparation of between-song material as well as songs and tunes

PERFORMANCE  SKILLS (level 2)

Instructor:  Stevie Coyle

This workshop is for those other folks who have some performance experience but want to buff their skills. Included is a virtual toolkit of skills that can be used to put the audience and performer at ease and to establish and maintain a sense of flow throughout a performance.

- Advanced Techniques
- “Establishing” well - those first 30 seconds onstage
- Humor is not optional
- Surprising ways to get and maintain audience focus
- Developing between-song raps

HULA WORKSHOP: Party Hulas! (all levels)

Instructor:  Michelle Kiba

Everyone is welcome!  Learn the beautiful art of hula in this “loads of fun” workshop. Get off your okole and get your circulation going with a simple workout learning hula basics. You’ll learn hula terminology, halau (hula school) protocol, a little about the history of hula and of course easy hula choreography. This workshop is open to men, children as well as women are all welcome to participate.

Wear something lose and comfortable to dance in (a sarong, aloha shirt and shorts). It would be lovely, but not mandatory, to present our hula at the student concert. So bring a lei or any other hula performance wear you think may be appropriate!