Chords- Shapes for basic bluegrass and everything else..Beginner to intermediate players.
Where is the off/on switch and how do I turn it on? - Indiviual Q&A about mandolins answered-everything from strings to purchasing a new mandolin. (Sat)
Band-How to play in a Bluegrass Band - Part 1 (Sat)
Band-How to play in a Bluegrass Band - Part 2 (Sun)
2 finger chords-beginning solo construction (Beginner & Intermediate.)
Begining and Medium jammers Pre-jam course.
Rich DelGrosso
Intro to Blues Mandolin
The Blues/Bluegrass Connection.
Chicago Mandolin: Postwar Mandolin Blues.
Rags, Drags and Stomps
Jugband music
Skip Gorman
Skip will join Lorraine Hammond on Friday afternoon in conducting the Beginners Track. He will teach the Beginners Track second session on Saturday AM. This is in addition to his classes listed below.
Left & Right Hand Work In this class we will work on right hand technique (the most important part of mandolin playing) and proper left hand fingering. We'll introduce you to simple chords and right hand tremolo by working, by ear, on some simple waltzes. We'll learn how to break tunes into sections to facilitate learning by ear and practice off beat chopping with singing. (Beg-Adv beg)
Mandolin Technique (Part 1) Work on both oldtimey and bluegrass styles of playing with a focus on fiddle tunes (hoedowns and waltzes) along with some practice in accompaniment, backup licks and singing. Emphasis will be on facilitating a loose right hand technique and proper left hand fingering. Several tunes of choice will be learned by ear by breaking them into sections and playing them over and over again slowly until they become part of us and we lovingly become part of them. If you must have "hot licks" , we can probably round up a few for you, but it won't be pop music . (Int-Adv)
Mandolin Technique (Part 2) - Continuation of Part 1.
Lorraine Hammond
Help Desk Friday afternoon, from 12:30 to 2:00 PM, Lorraine will help students determine their playing level, particularly Beginners, Advancing Beginners, and Intermediate players.
Lorraine and Skip Gorman will conduct the Beginners Track, Friday Afternoon.
Alan Kaufman
Advanced Beginner Mando Track
Mando Pro Musica
Cross-picking for old time mandolin
Old Time Rags for Mandolin
Klezmer Mandolin
Introduction to Yodeling
Oldtime fiddle tunes for Guitar
Ben Pearce
Dissecting Doublestops This workshop takes a two fold approach to doublestops on the mandolin. By understand doublestops in terms of scales as well as partial chords this work shop will teach you how to effectively use doublestops in both lead and back up playing. this approach helps underscore the harmonic underpinnings of commonly used doublestops and their place in the chords over which they are played. (int-adv).
Chord Crackin' What is a d minor 13 chord anyway? mandolin chords are often very convoluted and difficult to decipher due to the large interval between strings. This workshop examines common chord shapes and explains the role of each note to the larger chord. This knowledge can then be used to understand chord inversions as well as modify the chord to include 7th's 9th's and other less common intervals.(int-adv)
Learning the Numbers: 1-4-5 First, what do these numbers mean, and second, where can they be found one the mandolin? This class takes a look at the mandolin as a great medium for playing rhythm along with he most prevalent bluegrass and folk progressions; 1-4-5. It will show their relationship on the mando fingerboard and unlock a fundamental necessity to navigating the mandolin.
Major-Minor This beginner class takes a look at the differences (and some similarities) between major and minor keys, their scales, and the chords that live therein. We will look at a fiddle tune that contains both modes, and use it compare and contrast the emotive qualities of each.
Chord-Scale Why do some chords just sound better together than others? Why do some scales not sound good over chords? This class looks at chords in the context of scales from which they are derived. manjor, minor, and even dimnished chords occur naturally in all major and minor keys, learn where.
Dave Reiner
Easy Irish tunes for the mandolin (beginning - intermediate)
Second breaks - Cool variations and improvising on tunes (intermediate)
New England dance tunes (intermediate, advanced)
Twin mandolin workshop (playing harmonies) (intermediate, advanced)
Fiddle and mandolin duets (intermediate)
Fiddle for mandolin players What's different? Bowing, double stops, etc. (beginning - intermediate, bring your fiddle)
John Reischman
Intro to double stops Double stops and their applications for building solos for bluegrass songs and instrumentals. (Intermediate)
More double stops Continuation of intro to double stops. We will look at more advanced applications of double stops and learn a few tunes from Latin America. (Intermediate to advanced)
Cross tunings for mandolin Simple cross tunings to get that old time sound. We will also learn the Monroe classic Get Up John. (advanced)
Mandolin for the advanced beginner Right and left hand technique, tone production and pick direction. We will learn a few simple melodies, fiddle tunes, and have a look at tremolo. (advanced beginner)
Intro to Swing Mandolin Moveable chord forms, patterns for improvisation and learn a couple of Jazz standards. (advanced)
Embellishing Fiddle Tunes on Mandolin Learn techniques such as double stops, slides, hammer-ons, and arpeggios, to give your fiddle tunes more character.
Neil Rossi
Right Hand The Right Way Learning to use the right hand for more than a place to hold the pick. Downstrokes as punctuation. Alternating pick direction acros strings. Staccatto triplets as ornamentation.(adv beg-int)
Introduction To Improvisation Learning how to build variations on a melody. Building your "ear" skills. Finding the essence of the melody. Ascending and descending scale fragments. Arpeggios. Rhythmic variations. Harmony as variation. (beg-int)
Building Bluegrass Breaks First steps to constructing professional sounding bluegrass breaks and solos. Doublestops and inversions. Transitions between forms. Fills. Repeatable patterns across chords. (int-adv)
Ear Training For Mandolin Players Guided practice in breaking down melodies into sections and playing them back. Hearing and recognizing intervals. Transferring intervals to the fretboard. (beg-int)
Those "Awkward" Keys Playing breaks in those difficult keys: B, E, Bb and F. Licks and patterns. Simple chords. (beg-int)
Intro class on bluegrass fiddle. By request. Schedule will be set to suit those interested.
David Surette
Ornamentation for Irish tunes Techniques used to ornament traditional Irish dance tunes. Triplets, drones, and rhythmic and melodic variation will be addressed, using tunes both familiar and unusual. (Int/adv)
Fiddle tunes in harmony Developing harmonies to tunes. Several different approaches will be examined, and several different tunes will be taught. (Int/adv)
Music of Brittany for mandolin The traditional music of Brittany is a wonderful branch of the Celtic musical family tree. Come learn and play a few of these hypnotic tunes.
Uneven meter tunes Cool tunes that are hard to tap your foot to. Rhythms covered may include 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, and 11/8.
Jig picking basics Explore the down/up/down, down/up/down pick technique, the foundation of the jig. Simple tunes, basic chord strums, and lots of playing.
Open-string chording Nice-sounding and easy voicings for chords using open-string chord positions. We will also learn some cool chord progressions that can be applied to a number of different styles. (Beg/int)
American roots Music - with Rich Del Grosso. (Demo)
Radim Zenkl
Mandolin Technique Mandolin setup, flatpicking technique overview featuring four basic styles of right hand picking, two left hand positions, various strumming patterns, developing speed and accuracy. (All levels)
Swing Mandolin Strumming patterns featuring the 'bouncing' swing feel, several chord forms organized into 'good voicings', scales and arpeggios covering the whole fretboard, 'sweeping' technique. (intermediate, advanced)
Tremolo, Crosspicking and Strumming Different techniques for achieving various sounds and speeds .(intermediate, advanced)
Scales Overview Fingerboard friendly diagrams of basic and special scales, their modes and applications. (intermediate, advanced)
How to Practice Improvising Step by step system of approaching this 'hard to break down' topic. (intermediate, advanced)
Open Tunings and Odd Time Signatures Using unusual tunings and different time signatures such as 5/4, 7/8, 9/8, 11/8 and more. (intermediate, advanced)
Phil Zimmerman
Learning your first tune (Woody's Rag) Including right and left hand positions, holding the pick, plucking the strings. (Adv beg)
Backing up a singer or soloist Chord forms and rhythm playing. (All levels)
Constructing a Monroe-style solo (Int & Adv)
Band dynamics in a bluegrass band (Int & Adv)
Additional, classes offered in Rhythm and Backup Guitar, one-on-one time in the Help Desk, Bluegrass and Old Time Fiddle Beginner to Advanced, Evening Performances by the staff, Guided jams at all levels, and unstructured Jamming, Jamming and more Jamming every evening.