Help Desk

Friday afternoon, 12:30 to 2:00 PM, Lorraine Hammond & Alan Kaufman will help students determinen their own playing levels, particularly Beginners, Advancing Beginners, & Intermediate players. Held in the Adult Center, rooms 4 & 5.

Throughout the weekend, students are encouraged to visit the Help Desk for one-on-one attention as needed. Various staff members will be available for consultation. Students may also request a 15 minute session with whomever they prefer as time allows.

Beginner & Advancing Beginner Mando Tracks

Lorraine Hammond will conduct the Beginners Track covering all issues about getting started properly. More than just “where to put your fingers” this includes basic/beginning skills of flatpick use, posture, holding the mandolin properly, tone production, but especially avoiding those bad habits you may develop (or already developed) trying to learn on your own. Closely coordinated with the Advancing Beginner Track, students will learn to play with others, hear when the chord changes come in a tune, and an array of subjects that have made Lorraine one of our most popular teachers. Beg.

Phil Zimmerman - Your First Mandolin Tune , Woody's Rag – involves more than meets the ear. Beg/adv beg.

Advancing Beginner Mando Track – Alan Kaufman will teach the Advancing Beginners Track for those who own a mandolin, and have fooled-around with it a bunch, but are unsure if they ever learned to hold a flatpick properly, and/or need a refresher on basic left and right hand technique. Basic skills, basic rhythm and fun – that’s what you will find here! Note: If you just bought your mandolin and have not yet taken it out of its case, you probably want to attend the “Beginners Track” instead.

Please note that the Tracks mentioned above fill two of the class periods daily. The rest of the time students are welcome and encouraged to attend any other classes that seem interesting. Be sure to bring a recording device so you have something to refer to after the weekend is over.

Mike Compton

Right Hand Kentucky Style - A look at the traditional right hand posture of Bill Monroe.

Rhythm in Melody - Discussion on ways to add extra interest and intricacy to melody lines

with simple built-in rhythm patterns.

What Do I Do Besides Chop? - Some ideas on embellishing traditional chop chord rhythm as well as a look at oldtime backup and possibly other genres.

Fiddle Tunes Monroe Style - Examples of Monroe interpretations of traditional American fiddle tunes plus suggestions on how to achieve similar results.

The Slide - A look at Monroe’s use of the slide to connect and insinuate melodic ideas.

Monroe and the Early Bluegrass Repertoire - A selection of music from the pivotal bluegrass band.

Rich DelGrosso

The Blues/Bluegrass Connection: Monroe was surrounded by blues and old time fiddle music. He melded them together and created his own style, Bluegrass. In this session we look at the roots and basics that put the blue in bluegrass. With Mike Compton

Rags, Drags and Stomps The dance music of the African-American mandolinist, with high-stepping rhythms and great arrangements to add to your repertoire.

Jug Band Mandolin: This unique American art form blossomed in the 20s and thrives in folk circles today. The music is light and energetic, a must for any mandolin repertoire.

Texas Mandolin: The popular 20s-era band, the Dallas String Band, was powered by mandolinist Coley Jones. His unique style was a mix of doublestops and chromatic runs, fun music for the mandolin.

Intro to Doublestop Melody: For beginners, to de-mystify the doublestop and learn how you can use these two-note chords to harmonize melodies.

Richie Brown

Chord Shapes - The concept of movable chord positions is presented here with emphasis on making the actual chords so that you can play them! beg

Chord Shapes- bluegrass chop chords, movable first/second/third position chords. How to play these positions and incorporate these into your playing repertoire. Int

Broken chords- -many songs/tunes have pieces of chords that we play. Becoming aware of some of these chord fragments will help you better understand the neck of the mandolin and be able to transpose this information to different keys. int/adv

Which end do I blow in? - will cover every thing you wanted to know about mandolins. Questions like “ how can I make mine sound better?” or where to purchase a good inexpensive mandolin (or a real expensive one for that matter!), what kind of setup might work for you, where to find good repair work… and so on… bring your instruments and we will make assessments of your instruments and your present and future needs.

Right hand technique- The right hand is often neglected in favor of spending most practice time on the left hand. Most of the timing rhythm and tone come from the right hand. We will spend time breaking down the right hand technique, making you sound better. int/adv

Skip Gorman

Simple Melodies Played Out West – Melodies are the heart and soul of music. We will work on some simple melodies of old cowboy songs, songs from Stephen Foster, old tunes from Appalachia and Celtic roots tunes that were played out in cow country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Bluegrass Back- up and Fills - Cliches, riffs, whatever you want to call them, the old players from Bill Monroe to John Duffy had their favorites. We'll learn some and then try and play them while singing.

Fiddle Tunes Monroe-style - As a class we'll choose some favorite Bill numbers and commit them to memory. Emphasis on right hand and rhythm.

Old Time Bluegrass Waltzes - Playing waltzes is a great way to learn tremolo and rhythm We'll choose and learn some pretty ones.

Old Time Cowboy Ballads and Fiddle Tunes (on fiddle) - Both Jimmie Rodgers and Bill Monroe really wanted to be cowboys. This desire and attitude is certainly reflected in the original styles of music they spawned

Fiddle/mandolin duets with Mike Compton – Skip plays fiddle tunes Mike plays backup and some lead on mandolin. Many of the tunes will be ones Mike played with John Hartford.

David Surette

Ornamentation for Irish tunes - focus on the techniques used to ornament traditional Irish dance tunes: triplets, drones, and rhythmic and melodic, using tunes both familiar and unusual. int/adv

Fiddle tunes in harmony - developing harmonies to tunes. Several approaches will be examined, and several different tunes will be taught with Dave Reiner. 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 - some 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. beg/int

Open-string chording - some nice-sounding and easy voicings for chords using open-string chord positions. We will also play some cool chord progressions that can be applied to a number of different

styles. beg/int

Song Accompaniment - different ways to accompany songs, both from the perspective of a solo mandolin/bouzouki rhythm part and that of a sideman's role.

Filling out Fiddle Tunes - with drones, rhythmic shuffles, double stops, syncopation, etc, especially old-timey tunes.

Joe Walsh

Simple Jazz Songs for non-jazz players (and how to play them)

How to approach several easy jazz tunes, and how to figure out what to do with the "hard" chords.

How to write harmony parts - Mandolin duets made easy.

Improvising on fiddle tunes - Creating melodic variations on fiddle tunes, or how to not exactly play the melody while still playing the tune.

Groton Municipal Mandolin Orchestra - Let's turn back the clock ninety years and form our own camp mandolin orchestra for an hour or so.

Closed position patterns (aka How to play bluegrass in B or Bb) - Bluegrassy patterns and sounds made easy.

How to find every chord you could need using G, C, and D - Take G, C, and D and turn them into Eb minor, F sharp 7, and Bb.

Lorraine Hammond

See Beginner Mando Track

Appalachian Dulcimer – a beautiful instrument for which Lorraine is one of the top performers. This in response to student requests and is an opportunity to study with one of the very best. All levels.

Singing for the Reluctant Singer - 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 accompany one's voice appropriately. All levels.

Alan Kaufman

See Beginner Mando Track

Mando Pro Musica - If you are the type that likes to get up bright and early, and needs your ‘mando fix’ before breakfast, and love the music of Bach and Vivaldi – this is for you. We will meet in the area in front of the dining room on Saturday and Sunday morning. Music will be provided (probably in both classical notation and tab).

Cross-picking for old time mandolin - Learn the basics of crosspicking on mando with some classic oldtime fiddle tunes. It’s easier than you think!

Old Time Rags for Mandolin - A nostalgic trip thru the 1920’s and 30’s, visiting a few choice ragtime tunes on the mandolin, with Rich DelGrosso and dave Reiner

Klezmer Mandolin - When you leave camp this year, you will be taking back with you a few Semitic surprises. Learn how those ‘Yiddish’ modes work on the mandolin

Introduction to Yodeling - No prior yodeling experience necessary. Learn the basics of yodeling from Eastern Massachusetts’ own yodeling phenom, Alan Kaufman. If you behave yourself, and get through the hour plus of humor-filled training, you will be presented with a yodeling diploma suitable for framing.

Oldtime fiddle tunes for Guitar - some oldtime fiddle tunes ‘Norman Blake’ style

Ben Pearce

Learning the Numbers: I, IV, V - a look the most common bluegrass and folk progressions and the mandolin as a great medium for playing rhythm along with them, and we’ll unlock a fundamental secret to navigating the mandolin fingerboard beg/int

Major and Minor Chords and Scales - a look at the differences (and some similarities) between major and minor keys, their scales, and the chords that derive from them. Why do some chords just sound better together than others? Why do some scales not sound good over chords? We will look at a fiddle tune that contains both modes, and use it compare and contrast the emotive qualities of each. int/adv

Know Thy Mandolin – the construction and constituent parts of the mandolin, how each contributes to the functionality of the mandolin as a whole, as well as setup tweaks that you can do yourself to improve playability. This class looks at how to take care of your instrument as well as how to identify when things are amiss. All levels

Dissecting Doublestops - understanding doublestops in terms of scales as well as partial chords, how to effectively use doublestops in both lead and backup playing. This approach helps underscore the harmonic underpinnings of commonly used doublestops and their place in the chords over which they are played. int

Chord Crackin' - 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

Dave Reiner

Easy Irish tunes for the mandolin - beg/int

Second breaks on mandolin - Cool variations and improvising on tunes (intermediate)

Twin mandolin workshop playing harmonies with David Surette int/adv

New England dance tunes for mandolin – int/adv

Fiddle and mandolin duets – with Joe Walsh int

Fiddle for mandolin players - What's different about the fiddle? Bowing, double stops, etc. bring your fiddle beg/int

Rags and blues on mandolin (demonstration) - with Rich DelGrosso

Neil Rossi

Simple Chords - Simple 2- and 3-note movable chords. Guided practice in switching from one to another.

Constructing Simple Solos - Building simple but interesting solos using 2-note chords and fills.

Beginning Improvisation - Playing solos on those tunes you DON'T know that well or you've never heard before. Using scales, arpeggios and rhythm to make your solos interesting.

The Right Hand, The Right Way - Getting comfortable with holding and using the pick. Exercises in switching strings, up and down strokes, and tremolo.

Playing In Those "Awkward" Keys - E, F, B, Bb and beyond. Using closed positions to play breaks,

Introduction To Bluegrass Fiddle - You should know some scales, simple tunes and be comfortable with the bow. We'll go over some of the basics of bluegrass fiddle. (prerequsite: Dave Reiner’s Fiddle for Mandolin Players class or some fiddle experience)

Mike Rivers

Topics in Backup Guitar - Everyone who can play guitar and keep time can play backup, but when you're not the regular backup guitarist (or if you want to become one), there are some useful things to know, some technical and some philosophical, that come in handy. In this workshop, we'll address such topics as What to do when you don't know the tune, Sounding out some right chords and avoid playing too many wrong chords, Chords and when to change them can be subject to interpretation, but sometimes they're not, When to play runs and why, rhythm and accents, Is the fiddler always right?

Getting The Best From Your Itty Bitty Recorder - You probably brought one to camp. We'll share some tips on Placement for best sound pickup - what works best and why, Common setup mistakes, Setting the record level correctly, Recording yourself for practice, Managing your recordings (what to do with the countless hours of jamming that you recorded), Recording from a PA system. And anything else that comes up that we have time to cover if it's of interest to the group.

Staff

How to play in a bluegrass Band part 1

How to play in a Bluegrass Band part 2

A Handbook for Professional Musicians - includes topics like "What It Takes To Be An Effective Sideman", "Playing For A Living", and "Playing And Composing For Commercials".