PLAYING LEVELS
WORKSHOPS
FRIDAY WORKSHOPS # 1 EASY TUNES IN DAA - George Haggerty will have songs that are fun and easy to play. You will learn how different strums, harmonies, and a few simple chords can enhance a tune. You will gain a better understanding of the simplicity of this instrument. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER # 2 SMOOTHING OUT YOUR PLAYING - This workshop of Robs is geared toward helping you make the dulcimer sound the way you always wanted it to sound. Practical advice on clearing up choppy playing. You'll take a chord-melody style piece and learn it using various tried and true techniques to make your playing clean and smooth. Tune D-A-d. GENERAL # 3 LEFT HAND EMBELLISHMENTS - Sina will show you how left hand embellishments will help you to "dress up" your music once you are familiar with the basics of playing the mountain dulcimer. Once you get some of these techniques under your belt (or should we say "under your left finger tips"?) you can even make a simple song like Bile Them Cabbage Down sound exciting. Techniques you will explore are: Hammering-On, Pulling-Off, Vibrato, Slides, Harmonics. GENERAL # 4 PLAYING IN A GROUP - Marsha will have a tune in three parts for beginners and above that will add dynamics in your dulcimer group. Come tuned to DAD and capo at the first fret. GENERAL
SATURDAY WORKSHOPS # 5 LET'S GET STARTED - New to the dulcimer? George Haggerty will show you the basics - tuning, fretting, strumming. You will learn a few simple tunes. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER # 6 LET'S GET STARTED - PART II - Bonnie Leigh will help you learn a few beginner songs with easy simple chords, and practice strumming techniques. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER # 7 SIMPLE & EASY CHORDS - So you don't know the melody? Play backup! - Jan will help you learn basic chords and when to play them. You'll learn the most important chords in D in easy positions and work on your ear training. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER # 8 STRUMMING THROUGH STRUMMING - Bonnie will have some fun songs and three strum patterns. Also little tips on how to keep your strumming smooth. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER # 9 THE ZEN OF THE MD, RHYTHM - In this workshop, Norm re-enforces strumming and rhythm techniques to increase your new skills and to provide a platform for all of your future playing. You'll learn the fundamentals of rhythm, strumming, angle and hand placement, speed, and tone. The goal of this session is to have the learner comfortable with strum-hand technique so s/he can concentrate on the music. Tunes for this workshop will be familiar so we and focus on the rhythm. - Any tuning NOVICE #10 ADAPTING WRITTEN MUSIC TO DULCIMER TAB - PART 1 - Lori will help you learn to write out tab numbers for a simple melody, how to add chords, and what to do when the song you want to play is not in the key of D. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #11 ADAPTING WRITTEN MUSIC TO DULCIMER TAB - PART 2 - Lori will continue previous workshop. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #12 STEPHEN FOSTER - With Beth, learn to play some of his beautiful melodies on the Dulcimer. Many of Stephen Fosters melodies were known by virtually every American a couple of generations ago. Come to this workshop and learn to play My Old Kentucky Home and a couple of his other simple yet beautiful melodies. We will make them sound rich with some lovely harmonies too! Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #13 MINOR SCALES AND SONGS - Sina will show you that songs in a minor tuning often have that "haunting" feeling. Some basic music theory will be presented. Learn how to tune and retune your dulcimer to minor modes from DAd. Come tuned to DAD and bring a capo. AFTER NOVICE #14 HOW TO PLAY WELL WITH OTHERS - Nina & Beth will have you play some beautiful duet arrangements in a variety of musical styles and discuss some techniques that are helpful for playing with another person. The goal is to create a sound that is better than either of you alone! You'll discuss the importance of communication including the use of nonverbal cues so that you start and end at the same and stay together in between. You'll talk about how duets might be structured: lead and backup or fully tabbed duets with equal parts. Finally, you'll touch on mixing and matching styles and arranging for your duet or small group. There will also be time to practice some of these techniques. Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #15 DEVELOPING YOUR SKILLS ON THE MD - Norm will use simple tunes and you will focus on strengthening rhythm, left hand technique and the use of the capo. You will also explore other tunings: DAA, DAC, and DGD. Please have a capo for this class. Come tuned to DAD AFTER NOVICE #16 NO NEED FOR PAPER? Fiddle tunes are traditionally learned by ear. Marsha will show you how to play without the use of tab. A tune will be taught in sections, which we will build to the completed tune. Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #17 CAPOS AND TUNINGS - Rob says " Let's take the mystery out of capos and tunings". Did you ever wonder what "reverse tuning" means? What's a mode? How does a capo work? How about a little practical advice on capos? Well, this is the workshop for you. Some of this will be a bit theoretical, but the practical advice can help just about all players. Tune in D-A-d. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #18 CELTIC DELIGHTS - Dallas will have you drift into a lovely set of unusual Irish tunes to add to your repertoire. You may use AN tSEANBHEAN BHOCT, My Singing Bird from the McPeake family in Belfast, The Bard of Armagh, and Sandy Paton's music to the Irish Blessing " May the Roads Rise With You." Come tuned to DGD. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #19 RENAISSANCE and EARLY MUSIC - In this workshop, Dallas will include a galliarde, a "gigge", and a gavotte as well as a maggot. Learn the beautiful technique for picking these melodies. Come tuned to DAD. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #20 SOME SWEET CELTIC AIRS - Nina will have you learn some gentle Celtic tunes that bring out the "softer side" of dulcimer. You will discuss ways of playing smoothly and expressively, and also how to use variations to enhance a tune. Come tuned to DAD. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #21 WHERE DID THIS INSTRUMENT COME FROM? - With Jan, explore the origins and meet the ancestors of the mountain dulcimer. GENERAL #22 STRINGS & THINGS FOR THE MOUNTAIN DULCIMER - George Haggerty will show you the proper way to replace & tune strings, touch up scratches & nicks, how to choose the best polish & wax, and how to replace or repair a tuning peg. Come tuned to DAD. GENERAL
SUNDAY WORKSHOPS NEW! Maddie MacNeil is going to do one workshop (as a special guest) on Sunday morning, 10:30 to 11:30 general. This should be a fun workshop and we all are looking forward to having her.
#23 MOVING FROM DAA TO DAD - This workshop is for those who have had an introduction to the dulcimer tuned in DAA. Beth will show you how to move into DAD and play a few easy tunes. Help will be given with tuning and you will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both tunings. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER #24 PLAYING IN DAD - Norm will have you work through several simple tunes - "Bile them Cabbage," "Aunt Rhody" & "Liza Jane." continue to work with melody adding basic DAD chords; exploring and understanding the keyboard. Using tunes like "Old Joe Clark," Holy Manna" and "Sadie out the Back Door." (All tunes subject to change at leader's discretion) Come tuned in DAD. BEGINNER #25 ADDING CHORDS TO MELODIES - Lori will show you that using 2 and 3 finger chords can enhance your playing, and will add to the fun you can have with your dulcimer. You will learn major and minor chords in the key of D, and how to add these chords to tunes you may already know. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #26 CHANGING TO EAA - Try a different tuning - Bonnie will have you change to EAA reverse mixolydian turning, learn some songs and chords. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #27 FINGERPICKING FOR THE FIRST TIME - Nina will teach you to fingerpick and how to make this style of playing sound pretty. You'll start with an overview of right-hand technique for fingerpicking, and then will work on reading tab for fingerpicking arrangements and on interpreting this tab with respect to chord structure. You'll explore the different patterns of fingerpicking and will learn some tunes to gain practice with these patterns. If time permits, you'll also talk about how to take tab arranged for strumming or flatpicking and turn it into a fingerpicked arrangement. Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #28 PLAYING TECHNIQUES - Marsha will show you how to use harmonics, hammer ons, and pull offs and playing across the fretboard and then use them in a tune. Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #29 PLAYING A FOUR STRING DULCIMER - In this workshop, Sina will introduced students to playing and chording a four stringed mountain dulcimer. Come tuned to DAdd and bring a capo. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #30 ALTERNATE CHORDS - Rob has a great class to jazz up some traditional tunes. If you're tired of playing the same old I, IV, and V chords, this is the class for you. You'll start by taking the tune "Simple Gifts" and play it using simple chords. Then you'll discover a way to figure out more interesting chords for the same piece. There will be some theory involved to understand the principles of chord substitution, but a lot of practical advice will be given too. Then you'll add a harmony part. All instruments are welcome. Tune D-A-d INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED |