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Acoustic Instruments 101

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This workshop provides opportunities to meet and play with other musicians — and to adopt new, effective approaches for learning music!

   • Practice pointers
   • Important tips on posture & relaxation
   • Memorization techniques
   • Practical music theory (scales, keys, chords)
   • Accompaniment (chords & rhythms)
   • Improvisation (demystifying the unknown!)
   • How to "interpret" music notation
   • How to learn by ear
   • Basic pointers on arranging and rehearsing
   • How to teach each other
   • Jam etiquette / Rehearsal tips.

We devote a large portion of time to practicing and memorizing new material, including:

   • American old-time music
   • Celtic & International repertoire
   • Bluegrass, folk & country
   • Other styles (We'll definitely focus on
    instrumental music, but we'll play songs as well!)

At times we breakout into small rehearsal groups. We have an excellent setting for doing so, with five separate rooms, and a piano in the main room.

Occasionally we work in a "master class" format, where one member has a short private lesson while the class observes.

How does it work?

I focus on teaching melodies to fiddlers and mandolinists, while teaching accompaniment skills to guitarists -- often I encourage guitarists to learn melodies as well. We work together to memorize pieces, simultaneously exploring various study skills. You can read the treble clef or tablature notation provided, but I encourage people to learn by ear. We practice by ear in a number of ways, primarily breaking the piece into manageble chunks, but we also "chase tunes." When "chasing tunes" we play straight through, and you catch what you can on each pass. It's a challenging way to learn, but it's an important traditional skill that prepares you for joining the many old-time or Celtic sessions in the bay area ... and it can be really fun ... assuming that you're not tired! When trouble ensues we revert to working on chunks.

Prerequisites

Players of varying levels are welcome, however you should have a few months of experience, the ability to play a few pieces smoothly, and the ability to read treble clef, tablature notation ... or learn by ear -- a very important way to learn!

We welcome other instrumentalists, anyone who can read treble clef, or who can learn by ear — however I only provide tablature notation for fiddle, mandolin and guitar ... perhaps tablature for old-time banjo.

Guitarists should be comfortable strumming with a pick, switching smoothly between basic chords: A, C, D, E, G, Am, Dm, Em ... or be prepared to work pretty hard! Guitarists will need a Shubb capo, or similar type of capo.

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What to bring: One or more instruments. Guitarists and banjoists, bring a capo! Tape recorders, Minidsc recorders, and other recording devices are welcome and recommended!

Please bring a music stand to class, and have your instrument tuned and ready to play.

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Come and join us! Most people thinks they're not ready for this class ... that they're mere presense will spoil everything for everybody! This mild form of "we're not worthy" syndrome is exactly the type of erroneous thinking that keeps many people holed up home with a bad case of woodshed-itis. We have a consistantly wonderful group of friendly, inclusive, even tolerant members. Besides the simple love of music, the biggest motivators in music are, playing music with people, seeing people play music right there in front of you, performing, and meeting other musicians and being musically creative. In Acoustic Instruments 101, we do all these things!

Each series is open to adults and teens. I strive to balance class instrumentation, so enrollment is open on a semi "first-come-first-serve" basis.

These workshops continue through the year with an occasional break, including roughly a month break at the winter holidays.

Each series is unique in certain respects, so there's lots of variety, but one series is not a prerequisite for the next. New members can join at the beginning of any series ... and occasionally, for a prorated fee, we have room for new members while a series is in progress.

Please enroll as early as possible. Early enrollment saves me from expending needless enrollment efforts!

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Twice the Fun

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Several people have taken Acoustic Instruments 101 and the Horizon Workshop concurrently.
I welcome people to take both classes.

If you choose to do so, this means you'll come for a workshop every Monday -- one week for Acoustic Instrument 101 and the alternate week for the Horizon Workshop.

In brief, here's the difference 'twix the two. The Horizon Workshops focuses on rehearsing and performing with others. Acoustic Instruments 101 is intended to expand your repertoire, improve your skills, deepen your musical understanding, and introduce you to playing in groups or expand your ability to do so.

There is some overlap between classes. However, in the event that we cover material you already know, you can use the time to review, to use focus on better technique, apply good practice habits, explore accompaniment, etc. — I always have lots of suggestions on how to make good use of the time!

If you're a Horizon Workshop but you find yourself playing only accompaniment, come to AI-101 and learn melodies, scales, and improvisation in AI-101.

If you're in AI-101 and you want more opportunities to rehearse and perform in groups, join the Horizon workshop.

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Location & Directions

All classes are at: