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 I CAN PLAY! - This is a workshop Mike Anderson has kept under wraps for the last few years. In an hour, Mike can teach a bunch of kids how to play kazoo, shaker egg, noseflute, jawharp, and make a strong attempt at the bones. Really. This workshop is a lot of fun! GENERAL # 3 CHORD FORMATIONS - Chords have a basic vocabulary and grammar. Lorraine Hammond will help you find ways to use them so you can join in and play with others in a range of keys. Bring your dulcimers and your questions, and be ready to make music together. Come tuned to DAD. GENERAL # 4 JAM TUNES – Marsha Harris will have you learn a few fiddle tunes so you can join the jam. See the guitar chord positions, so you can play chords in a jam when you are unfamiliar with the fiddle tune and jam etiquette. Come tuned to DAD. 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 LET’S GET STARTED PART III - Sandy Lafleur will cover simple tunes in different time signatures and introduce the beginnings of chord-melody style of play. Come tuned DAA. BEGINNER # 8 BEGINNERS ROUND TABLE - If you’re on “information overload” and need more help with all the things you’ve been learning this weekend, bring your questions to Lori Keddell and she will help you get things sorted out. You will also leave with several easy new tunes to add to your repertoire. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER # 9 DULCIMER POTPOURRI - Lori Keddell will help you expand your repertoire with several new tunes in chord-melody style that are fun and easy to play. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #10 WHO’S THE BOSS HERE? Bennett Hammond says, the Right-hand has the rhythm - which is to say the music. That pick hand of ours cannot wait for the fret hand to be ready: the rhythm demands the music now, and the left hand eagerly and instantaneously obeys. Let your right hand rip and be astonished how well your left hand can follow its lead. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #11 EXTRA FRETS? WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING EXTRA FRETS! Bennett Hammond says, we begin the major scale at the third fret - as God and Nature and Common Sense intended- not the open string. You’ll get it in one minute. So quickly that maybe we’ll try a little key of G in DGD, too. The capo can be slow to set up and it may be fraught with tuning and intonation issues - so much easier and simpler to make a quick shift of one string one tone. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #12 ENGLISH DANCE TUNES - With Bonnie Leigh go back in time with 3 English Dance tunes from the 1600’s. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #13 SMOOTHING MELODIES - Our dulcimers do not have the sustain of a slow-bowed fiddle. Lorraine Hammond will show you how to make our melodies and lead lines flow with ease and grace? She will have songs and tunes to teach and will be asking you for examples in your own repertoire that could use smoothing out. Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #14 MOUNTAIN DULCIMER TUNE DECORATION - Mike Anderson will have tips on how to spice up a tune using hammer-ons, pull-offs, bass walks, chording, and general cheap tricks. Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #15 CIVIL WAR TUNES – Marsha Harris will have a few tunes played during the 1860’s. Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #16 BEYOND THE 7th FRET - Many dulcimer players seem somewhat intimidated when their tab moves past the number seven. Bill Collins says, avoiding the top half of your instrument means that you’re missing a lot of available notes and a unique part of your instrument’s timbre. This workshop offers various techniques to help make you comfortable and confident when playing in the upper octave. Come tuned to DAD and bring a capo. AFTER NOVICE #17 THE LAREDO VARIATIONS - There’s no limit to the number of ways a given tune can be played. Bill Collins takes a very simple melody (“The Streets of Laredo”) and offers 16 ways to give it a different sound and feel, such as changing the rhythm, chords, key, time signature, etc. The tools we’ll cover can be used with any tune to provide variety or to put your personal stamp on a performance. Come tuned to DAD INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #18 RENAISSANCE AYRES - Dallas Cline has permission to use four songs from this book and hopefully will have enough books for each student. It was written be a recluse who lived in a cabin in Vermont. Her story is a tragic one. She found the dulcimer and not knowing much about it, taught herself all the way and came up with some lovely tablature and arrangements. They are in interesting tunings, including her version of the reverse Aeolian. Come tuned to DGC (we will retune). INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #19 THOSE MYSTERIOUS MODES - Lorraine Hammond will havea quick explanation of the Ecclesiastical system (honest) and then you’ll evoke some ancient voices. Come tuned DAD and bring a capo. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #20 SONGS OF SCOTLAND - Dallas Cline will have some of Scotland’s most beautiful songs and melodies. You will work on four of the following and will have the sheets for all. Dumbarton’s Drums, Will Ye Gang Love, Jock O’Hazeldeen, Mairi’s Wedding, My Name is Jock Stewart, Tramps Hawker Lads, and Coulter’s Candy. Come tuned DAD. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #21 THE CAPO IS YOUR FRIEND -Sandy Lafleur will show you how to use the capo to play tunes in Em, G and A. Come tuned to DAA. 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 #23 SIMPLE ACCOMPANIMENT SKILLS - Pam Weeks will have you sing with your dulcimer from Day One! It doesn't have to be complicated or hard to do, and here's how. Come tuned to DAA. BEGINNER #24 SLOW JAM - Bonnie Leigh will have you using Simple Tunes to learn how to jam along with a group using songs with 2-3 chords. Come tuned to DAA BEGINNER #25 PUTTING THE “DULCET” INTO YOUR PLAYING - Bill Collins says, pretty, musical, and expressive aren’t the same as fast, complex, or ornate. You don’t have to be a technical virtuoso to give a moving, memorable performance. Expressive playing comes more from the head and heart than from the hands. Moreover, just “playing the notes” may not be the same as “making music.” This workshop offers 10 ideas that can help you in your pursuit of the dulcet sound. Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #26 MUSIC AND CHORD THEORY - Sandy Lafleur will explain Music and Chord theory as it pertains to the dulcimer - How to write a chord progression - there are options! Come tuned to DAD. NOVICE #27 DULCIMANIAC’S DELIGHT - Minor melodies can be not only melancholy, but joyful, pensive, lively – and definitely addictive. And while songs in DAC often sound beautiful with just the melody and drones, Lori Keddell will show you adding chords adds a new dimension that will be sure to delight you. You’ll learn several tunes with chords that will leave you begging for more. Come tuned to DAC. AFTER NOVICE #28 A JIG OR TWO - Tired of slow ballads and airs? Tired of wicked fast fiddle tunes? Pam Weeks will have you learn a happy jig or two that's not too slow and not too fast - just right! - Come tuned to DAD. AFTER NOVICE #29 CELTIC RHYTHMS - Marsha Harris will help you learn and feel the music of a jig, reel, and a hornpipe. Come tuned to DAD. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED #30 FRAILING THE MOUNTAIN DULCIMER - Mike Anderson will show you the exploration of “frailing” the dulcimer. Frailing is a style of strumming usually associated with banjo. On the dulcimer it is an alternative way of pickless strumming. A sense of humor and a good frustration level are encouraged. Come tuned to DAD. INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED |