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Instructor: Joy Adams
All Levels; Cello
The cello can take on the role of any other instrument in a string band, be it guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo, or fiddle. Learn multiple picking patterns (including clawhammer cello!) that will serve you especially well for accompanying a singer.
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Instructor: Joy Adams
All Levels; Cello
Improvising can feel like trying to get through a locked door. As cellists, we find ourselves taking advice from fiddle players on this topic, only to be disappointed by how few of their techniques actually work on the cello. In this workshop, we will study cello-friendly patterns that will unlock the door to a satisfying improvised solo or bass line.
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Instructor: Joy Adams
All Levels; Cello
There are some inherent differences between what falls comfortably on the fiddle and what works well for the cello. Thankfully, when we learn a new fiddle tune on the cello, there are adaptations that will make a nearly impossible tune quite playable.
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Instructor: Joy Adams
All Levels; Cello
Each genre in the world of fiddle music comes alive with a different set of groove rhythms underneath it. In this workshop, explore the differences between backing up a bluegrass tune, a Celtic tune, an Old-Time tune, and a blues. You will learn specific groove patterns that can be mixed up and applied differently to each genre.
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Instructor: Joy Adams
All Levels; Cello
Did you know that all arrangements start from the ground up? As one of the lowest voices in the band, a cellist has more power and responsibility than you might think. Learn how the voice of the cello can influence the tempo, dynamics, phrase shape, and arc of an arrangement, all from the humble bass line!
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Instructor: Joy Adams
All Levels; Cello
As an accompanimental instrument, cellists frequently get asked to back up fiddle players on tunes they don’t know. This workshop will present a set of strategies to help you learn the chords and form of a fiddle tune on the fly.
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Instructor: Rob Flax
All Levels; Bass players & All Instruments
Inspired by Tom Warrington’s fantastic method book, Rob outlines a simple strategy for creating powerful walking bass lines. Take the guess work out of the low end! While this course is primarily aimed at bassists, all instruments are encouraged to attend, both to practice bass lines of their own and also to better understand what their rhythm section is doing.
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Instructor: Bonnie Black
We all want it: the ability to play FAST! Not just speedy, but clean, beautiful, steady, dancey, and easy-sounding all at the same time. It’s the gold standard for instrumentalists wanting to jam, play for dancers, or simply make those fast tunes sound like they’re meant to — and, weirdly, you can’t get there just by practicing slowly! In this workshop, Bonnie will show you the techniques and practice strategies you need to start playing fast tunes with ease and excellence. Come demystify the “secrets” of achieving those top tempos!
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Instructor: Bonnie Black
All Levels; All Melody Instruments
“So many tunes, so little time” — and the faster you learn them, the more you can get to! Come learn some incredibly powerful techniques that can help you understand, digest, and master tunes in a fraction of the time you’re used to. No matter whether you are learning by ear or reading music, the skills are the same, and Bonnie will have you feeling like a tune- learning ninja by the end of the workshop! Open to any melody-playing instrument.
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Instructor: Bonnie Black
All Levels; Cello
Us cello players can sound great on melodies….but sometimes those tunes are just so high up! How do you navigate all those treble clef tunes without shifting up and down endlessly? Enter Thumb Position, a great tool that opens up the treble clef range for cellists, without the need for tiresome shifting. Come explore some common “high tunes” and extend your range to be able to join those violinists on the melody with ease!
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Instructor: Bonnie Black
Intermediate-Advanced Levels; All Instruments
This workshop will dive into the joy of helping new fiddlers get started from the very beginning — or more specifically, how to take folks who have never even held an instrument before and turn them into enthusiastic fiddlers for your local fiddle orchestra! Drawing on her decades of experience raising musicians of all ages, Bonnie will show you how to teach beginners of any age (yes, including “I’ve always wanted to play” adults!), starting from scratch and arriving as quickly as possible at a repertoire of classic fiddle tunes that any fiddle orchestra or band would be happy to play. Open to anyone with the desire to teach bowed string instruments (violin, viola, ‘cello, bass) — bring your instrument, your sense of playfulness, and your curiosity!
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Instructor: Bonnie Black
All Levels; All Instruments
Every good fiddle group has players of mixed levels …. but every GREAT fiddle group knows how to harness the skills of its less-experienced players and use them to help the whole group sound way better than it would without them! In this workshop, we’re going to throw out the idea of “easy” or “beginner” parts, and learn instead how to create simple, but clever and catchy parts designed for every level of player in your orchestra. We’ll work with classic tunes that any fiddle group would be proud to play, and explore how to create a multi-level arrangement that not only maximizes the skills of every player, but also uses them to build a rich, interesting, and fun arrangement that everyone will love! Open to all instruments — bring your “axe”, and be ready to play!
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Instructor: Andy Reiner
All Levels; Bowed Stringed Instruments
Using ornaments, tune skeletons and smaller phrases, we’ll learn strategies for on-the-spot rhythmic and melodic variations. Keeping tunes fresh, alive, and 3-Dimensional. (Can you find the mysterious fourth dimension of fiddle tunes?) Game-changing for contra dance tunes as well as taking solos in bluegrass jams.
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Instructor: Andy Reiner
All Levels; Bowed Stringed Instruments
This class combines both chopping techniques as well as the Strum Bowing Method. Both are described below:
Chopping – unpitched bow noises that turn the violin into a drumset. Learn the technique and feeling at an incremental pace. Take the oath and learn how to chop wisely, musically, and tastefully. You will emerge with the tools and strategies to practice your chopping into the future, and employ the technique wherever your creativity takes you.READ MORE
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Instructor: Steve Muise
All Levels; Bowed Stringed Instruments
How to employ notes, chords and grooves when accompanying other players, singers, etc. You will learn some basic music “string theory” that you can use to jam, play duos, use as a springboard for improvisation and more. We’ll play some basic chords, go over left-hand finger patterns, and bow grooves.
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Instructor: Steve Muise
All Levels; Bowed Stringed Instruments
Techniques will focus on: intonation, shifting, vibrato and tone production.
Learn ideas that you can take away to improve your overall playing, and apply to any style.
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Instructor: Rob Flax
All Instruments
The violin family of instruments has remained virtually unchanged for hundreds of years, a feat unmatched in any other realm of technology. But with the advent of instrument amplification the modern string player has access to a whole new world of sound possibilities.READ MORE
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Instructor: Robert Miller
Available throughout the weekend in a central location, this workshop will cover how to care for your instrument and what you should and should not do, as well as when to see a luthier. Subjects for discussion will include (but not be limited to): basic instrument set up, types of strings, changing strings, keeping your bridge straight, re-setting your fallen bridge, when to re-hair your bowREAD MORE
