BCN2008 Proposed Class Descriptions

Bill Evans

Bluegrass: Surviving A Jam Session Getting in tune, using a capo, hearing chord progressions, jam etiquette, taking a solo, sharing the spotlight and much more in this open discussion session. We'll do a lot of hands-on playing too! (beginners to intermediates, with Casey Henry).

Scruggs Backup Basics. Bill and Janet return to teach their famous tag team accompaniment skills class. Vamping, up and down the neck patterns, signature Scruggs backup licks and much more. (all levels, with Janet Davis)

Using Forward Rolls in Down The Neck Backup (intermediate & advanced players). Give your backup playing more drive and a contemporary sound in this step-by-step approach that begins with one & two measure forward roll patterns and moves to longer forward roll phrases with connecting tones. We’ll also discuss playing in different keys. With tab examples.

Bluegrass Repertoire Class: Intro to Playing in D: Soldier’s Joy and Whiskey Before Breakfast (beginners to intermediate). Bluegrass banjo players often dread playing fiddle tunes in the key of D. In this session, we’ll look at two jam favorites and find ways to simplify melodies to create arrangements that are easy to play on the banjo at faster tempos. With tab examples.

Working Up Melody-Based Scruggs Style Solos (intermediate to advanced). First we’ll find the melody on the fingerboard of the banjo. Then we’ll discuss how to use rolls and licks to work up a great sounding bluegrass solo. With tab examples.

Single Stringing It (intermediate to advanced). Taking single-string to the next level with scales, Reno licks, playing in 6/8 time and alternate right hand approaches. With tab examples.

Warm Up Exercises (high beginners to advanced). Stretch your fingers and your brain with roll pattern & left hand exercises and fingerboard drills that will help you learn the fingerboard as well as get you ready to play. With tab examples.

Alan Munde

Fretboard Geography - how to find your way around the neck - beginner, intermediate

Alan Munde Favorites - Peaches and Cream, Molly Bloom, Uncle Clooney Played the Banjo - advanced

Back up up the neck - intermediate

Back up the neck down the neck - intermediate

Roll Logic - how rolls work - beginner, intermediate

Creating Solos to Songs - intermediate

Playing in keys other than G without a capo - intermediate, advanced

Bill Keith

The Bill Keith Melodic Banjo Grimoire Bill Keith, widely known as the originator and master of melodic three-finger banjo style, will present his trademark approach to creating and playing melodic-style banjo. Bill will discuss theory, right- and left-hand techniques and the scale architecture used to create melodic solos. (Advanced)

When There Are More Than Three Chords Texas Swing-style chord back-up for banjo. Understanding and developing chord voicing as a gateway to creating more complex and exciting accompaniment techniques. Bill will lead us on a tour of chordal language and apply it to the banjo. He will teach some unfamiliar chord progressions and formations as well as discuss the theory for usage. (Intermediate-Advanced)

Tips on Keith Tuner Technique Get the inside story on the use of this important piece of banjoistic technology straight from its inventor! Bill will demonstrate licks and tunes using Keith tuners on four strings, as well as more conventional two-string uses. (Intermediate-advanced, but all levels are welcome)

The Great Divide: Melodic Bluegrass and Melodic Clawhammer Banjo It's bluegrass! It's old-timey! It's banjo! Go figure! Using fiddle tunes as a common ground, two expert practitioners of these styles demonstrate their similarities and differences. w/ Howie Bursen(Presentation; all levels welcome)

Mathematics of Music: From Pythagoras to Bluegrass Bill's exposition on the mathematics of music theory, via Bach and the well-tempered scale, as applied to the banjo. (Presentation: all levels welcome)

Henry Sapoznik

The Legacy of Charlie Poole (Advanced Beginner-Intermediate)

Classic Basics: Introduction to the original banjo finger style. (Beginner-Intermediate)

Banjo Eyes: The History of the banjo in the movies (VHS/DVD)

Klezmer Music Banjo & Fiddle – w/ Alan Kaufman (Presentation)

Banjo and Fiddle Duets. w/ Alan Kaufman (Presentation)

Howie Bursen

Dance band banjo Learn how to use the banjo to make the dance band hotter.

Different tunings for different sounds. We'll look at some different tunings to broaden your range of sounds - high and lonesome to sweet and winsome.

Singing with the banjo Here are a bunch of ways to provide effective accompaniment to different sorts of songs.

Banjo and fiddle duets Howie and Alan Kaufman play some of their favorites

Blueclaw: Bluegrass meets clawhammer banjo duets with Howie and bluegrass picker Dave Kiphuth.

Beginning guitar. Flatpicking and fingerpicking

Eric Weissberg

Bluegrass Gang Twang: Improvising in Bluegrass style w/ Weissburg, Stockwell, Henry, and Nelson (I-A)

Eric Weissberg's New Dimensions in Bluegrass Banjo Eric's contributions to the current popularity of the five-string banjo are enormous. His New Dimensions in Bluegrass Banjo album (later to become the Deliverance soundtrack) introduced many budding players to new realms of playing. In this class, Eric will explain several of his signature tunes, including Pony Express, No Title Yet Blues, and Eighth of January. Join in a discussion about some of his landmark contributions, from his tenure with The Tarriers to Duelin' Banjos and beyond. w/ Stockwell, Henry (All)

Banjo Techniques for Accompanying Vocals Eric Weissberg has long been the banjo accompanist of choice for many leading recording artists including Leon Bibb, Judy Collins, Billy Joel, Art Garfunkel, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Eric will describe the role of the banjo as an integral part of an arrangement and demonstrate how to support the vocals without dominating. /w Dave Kiphuth, Linda Schrade(All levels)

Bluegrass Gang-Twang: Improvising in Bluegrass Style Eric Weissberg and the gang team up to play a bunch of tunes and demonstrate their personal styles of improvisation. The players will elaborate on the fingerboard techniques and knowledge that allow them to stretch out beyond the norm. Instructors will demonstrate various techniques for improvising, incorporating melodics, single string work, chord and jazz styles, and beyond. Learn new ways to think about the instrument and get some great tips on how to improvise in the bluegrass style. w/ Nelson, Stockwell, Henry (Intermediate-Advanced)

Bluegrass Band Encounter: Hey, Let's Make a Band! Part I and II In this two-session class we'll join with other campers and experienced instructors to form off-the-cuff combos and receive coaching on playing in an ensemble. In the second session our new bands will demonstrate what they've learned and receive a constructive critique from their instructors and peers. Phil Zimmerman, John Rossbach, Alan Kaufman(Intermediate-Advanced)

Lauck Benson

Rolls I (all levels) Introduction to rolls as right-hand patterns of 4 notes. Chord scales using these rolls take you all over the neck of the Banjo, using the 3 basic chord positions.

Rolls II (I-A) Combining roll patterns to make larger units. Syncopation and lick generation.

Early finger-style banjo I (all levels) Jim Crow Jig, Land of Canaan, Silver Lake Waltz, Rattlesnake jig

Renaissance music for the banjo I (I-A) 2-voice Spanish counterpoint by Valderrabano (1547) Right and left-hand techniques to keep the voices separate for the listener., The Oulde Almaine by Holborne (1597)

English Cittern music on the banjo. The Banjo makes Cittern music sound better than the Cittern!

Intro to Bluegrass for Old Time Players.

Rich Stillman

A new approach to arranging banjo breaks. This is my practical approach to music theory for bluegrass banjo. The left hand covers finding melodies by learning how to play scales using closed chord shapes. The right hand covers breaking rolls own to the smallest possible building blocks and using those blocks to build the melody of a break.

Exercises for improving banjo playing. It covers right and left hand techniques that can be practiced outside of specific songs and make playing in general easier and better-sounding.

What makes a break unique? Developing breaks for multiple songs with the same chord progressions, using Jesse James, Cabin in Caroline, and Greenville Trestle High. Figuring out how to incorporate the important parts of a melody into a break so the break sounds like that song and not just like a chord progression.

Earl Scruggs Off The Record w/ Janet Davis and other staff TBA.

Backup in the F and D positions and up the neck.

Ray Alden

Tell Me Your Old Time Banjo Requests In most of the classes at Banjo Camp North you are guided toward a lesson that is quite focused on some particular tune or style. This class will be a somewhat free-spirited class of give and take. My specialties are in the clawhammer style on both fretless and fretted banjo, much of it in the Round Peak style. However, I also employ a two-finger style in different tunings that can be used in many situations. An advance request already for this class given through the internet is for Dock Boggs's Down South Blues. Do you have other requests?(All)

Clawhammer Banjo – Fingerpicking Banjo – Working Together(w/Dave Kiphuth) We will examine some tunes in order to explore how clawhammer banjo style and finger picked banjo style can work together. What seems to work if two banjos find themselves in the same session? The aim here is to try to find ways two normally diverse banjo styles can enjoy playing together in order to make good music. We will explore clawhammer, two-finger and three-finger styles ranging from old time to bluegrass genres. (Intermediate-Advanced)

Fiddle and Old Time Banjo Duets (w/Alan Kaufman) What are some of the ways that a fiddle and old time banjo can work together effectively? Together, we will explore rhythmic techniques so as to make duets function more as a unit rather than just two individual instruments that happen to be in the same space-time playing an old time melody. (Intermediate-Advanced )

Old Time Groove Tunes Many of the current old time string bands change the style in which they play from a strict copy of an older original recording to reflect modern influences they have heard growing up. Some of the current bands work in styles that change the tempo, rhythm or tune slightly to reveal and mirror these new influences. In this class we will explore a few of these tunes, first through first listening and then learning to play in the “groove.” (Intermediate-Advanced)

Casey Henry

Introduction to backup (beginner)

Foggy Mountain Breakdown up the neck (advanced beginner/intermediate)

Playing in 3/4 time (intermediate)

Playing with the capo (intermediate)

What to do in a jam (beginner)

Improvising: The first steps (advanced)

Up the neck Scruggs-style backup (advanced)

Playing in C position (advanced intermediate)

Mac Benford

Power In The Right Hand –Develop good mechanical technique in the right hand which forms a firm foundation for rhythmic playing in all circumstances (Beginner)

Dock Boggs Banjo Style - Learn the unique tunings and picking patterns of this one-of-a-kind Appalachian master (Intermediate)

Old Time Music 3-Finger Style - Some 3-finger rolls which can give any bluegrass or old time picker that old time sound (Intermediate)

West Virginia Fiddle Tunes For Clawhammer Banjo – Advanced.

Kentucky Fiddle Tune For Clawhammer Banjo - Learn techniques to match more closely the phrasing of the great fiddle players who were the sources of these tunes. (Advanced)

Dave Kiphuth

Backing up singers -w/Linda Schrade. (Intermediate and up)

Two banjos in one band?! w/Jane Rothfield This would address the spin on playing three-finger style to fit with a clawhammer player (Intermediate and up)

Chasing the melody, w/Alan Kaufman & Mike Rivers. (Intermediate and up)

Playing Backup w/Davis & Stockwell -what to do when you're not soloing or playing rhythm, using passing chords, escapes, scale fragments, target tones and fill licks(AB-I)

See also Ray Alden

Bruce Stockwell

Music Fundamentals for the Advancing Beginner-a little theoretical background can help you to decipher what you hear, organize what you're learning and communicate clearly with other musicians.

Into to Backup- some basic ideas on what to do when you're not soloing or playing rhythm, using passing chords, escapes, scale fragments, target tones and fill licks(AB)

Rolls and Melodies)-examine the special characteristics of a half dozen roll patterns and how they can be used to capture a melody (AB-I)

The Great Bluegrass Lick Lexicon Returns w/ Davis, Munde, and Stillman (I-A)

New Compositions for Bluegrass Banjo w/ Nelson (All levels)

Beyond G: w/ Rich Stillman. Alternate tunings for bluegrass - strategies for other keys. Popular options for playing in the other bluegrass keys with some example solos. Playing in double C, dropping high G, breaks down to D, Reuben tuning?

Janet Davis

Soloing up the Neck w/ Bruce Stockwell -relocate melodies an octave higher, utilizing Earl's favorite rolls and partial chord shapes and/or melodic techniques (I-A)

Bluegrass Banjo Back-Up: F and D Positions Combine F and D chord formation to create licks and fills up the neck. Janet Davis, Rich Stillman(Intermediate)

Style Playing in C and D or any Key! Once you have Scruggs style covered for playing in G, its time to learn how to play in other keys. This class will give you the tools to start navigating through the keys of C and D. As a bonus, Janet will also show you how to play in any key! Explore the important tonalities of these great keys. Janet Davis, Dave Kiphuth(Advancing beginner-Intermediate)

Splitting the Licks: Improvise and Arrange Tunes in Bluegrass Style Janet Davis' popular class returns! After all, she wrote the book (literally).This year, she's joined by Eric Weissberg, urban pioneer of Scruggs style in NYC in the 1950's. Learn how to improvise and arrange songs for the five-string banjo in Scruggs, melodic and chromatic styles. Selected songs are demonstrated step-by-step, from basic tune to complete arrangements. Janet Davis, Eric Weissberg(Advancing beginner-Intermediate)

Bluegrass up the Neck Playing the 5th through the 22nd frets. Roll patterns, licks for common chords, right hand positions, chord progressions, up-the-neck licks, back-up, and more. Janet Davis, Rich Stillman(Intermediate-Advanced)

Scruggs Classics Learn a selection of Earl Scruggs' most famous tunes. Special attention will be given to the actual fingerings and right hand patterns that set Earl's playing apart from that of the rest of us mortals. Janet Davis, Eric Weissberg,(Intermediate)

Dobro Guitar Add Dobro to your musical repertoire. Janet will teach a beginning and an advanced class for those who requested them.

Bob Altschuler

Bluegrass Banjo from scratch Part 1: for the novice player: looking for a fresh start or for the person who has just bought a banjo and needs to learn the basics. Start with banjo anatomy, using picks, holding the banjo, tuning, hand positions and reading tablature. You will then learn to form basic chords, understand slides and the hammer-on, and play basic rolls with a two-chord song. (Novice-Beginner)

Bluegrass Banjo from Scratch, Part 2: Review of Part 1, plus new material that includes additional basic rolls, another two-chord song and left-hand techniques featuring the use of slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs.(Novice-Beginner)

Bluegrass Banjo from Scratch, Part 3: The Review. This class will review Parts 1 and 2 in order to deepen students' understanding of the basics of bluegrass banjo playing. Bob will invite class members to ask questions to be sure that all students are comfortable with the material and handouts. (Novice-Beginner)

Moveable Chord Shapes, Positions and Licks - the Fingerboard Roadmap. They can be played and linked in many places on the neck. (Beginner-Advancing Beginner)

Basic Bluegrass Rolls and Left-Hand Techniques for Beginners: explores the most useful basic bluegrass banjo rolls and left-hand techniques - slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs to rolls to create licks and patterns that form the basis of Scruggs-style playing. (Beginner)

Basic Bluegrass Backup: A solid foundation in understanding and playing backup is as important as playing solos. (Beginner-Advancing Beginner)

Lorraine Hammond

Beginners' track - 2 on Friday and one each on Saturday and Sunday.

Singing with the Banjo (w/ Ray Alden & Howie Bursen) The banjo exists not just as a slave to the fiddle, but can be very enjoyable as an accompaniment to the human voice. It is important to learn how to use one's voice and to accompany it appropriately. How is this done? We will explore some particular songs in this session to learn both singing techniques and how to use the banjo to accompany one's voice appropriately. (ALL)

Banjo and ballads – w/ guests. By the early 1900s the banjo was the instrument of choice for ballad and traditional song accompaniment in the Southern Appalachians. It fell out of favor with 'proper folk' because of its rough and rowdy reputation, but people in the hills and hollers have kept the great sound alive. Demo.

See also Ray Alden.

Jane Rothfield

Early Intermediate Clawhammer track – Learn Old Time playing; 2 classes on Friday and one each on Saturday and Sunday.

Banjo/Fiddle Duets: How to play with the Old Time fiddler: we will really delve into the mysteries of fiddle /banjo duets.

How to play fiddle tunes on the banjo Old Time style (like a fiddler!).

How does that tune go? A variety of banjo players (OT and BG) to play familiar tunes and show how they interpret the tunes differently with melody, chords, phrasing, tuning, frailing or picking patterns. with Bill Evans, Lauck Benson, and Mac Benford.

Dave Reiner

Beginning-Intermediate fiddlers: Chords for fiddlers (backup, double stops, harmony, breaks - demystifying theory)

Beginning-Intermediate fiddlers: Fiddle bowing workshop (patterns & accents to make tunes come alive)

Beginning-Intermediate: Banjo players: try out your fiddle tunes with a live fiddler

Intermediate fiddlers: bluegrass fiddle repertoire (tunes selected based on class level and preferences)

Alan Kaufman

Flatpicking Fiddle Tunes in the style of Doc Watson and Norman Blake w/Mike Rivers & John Rossbach (Demo)

Introduction to Yodeling: no experience required, learn the basics of yodeling(All levels)

Rhythm tricks to improve your fiddling. Learn to approach a fiddle tune from the perspective of rhythm . How to play tunes in a 'driving' style. (all levels of fiddlers)

Oldtime groove tunes for fiddle and banjo: w/ Dave Kiphuth & Ray Alden

Mike Rivers

Getting The Best From Your Handy Little Pocket Recorder" - We'll discuss microphone characteristics, placement, level setting, monitoring, recording options, and any other mysteries that you never thought to ask about.

Glenn Nelson

Banjo Set-up: Getting the Best Tone from Your Banjo Glenn Nelson, master luthier and proprietor of Mockingbird Music, will discuss and demonstrate the best ways to set up your banjo for killer tone. We are talking all styles of banjos here-openback and resonator style. Topics covered will include truss rod adjustment, proper seating of the tone ring, optimum neck angle and dowel placement, tailpiece height and tension, tuning the head, optimum fret height, and action. Glenn Nelson(Presentation; all levels)

Phil Zimmerman

Intro to Clawhammer Banjo for Bluegrass Players Learn the basics of this fundamental old-time style, taught from a perspective accessible to bluegrass banjo players.(All levels)