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Jam Sessions
for 2009
Come join our jams!
There will be a lot of spontaneous jamming during the
camp, and you’re certainly welcome to jump into them.
However, if you feel intimidated, unsure, inexperienced,
or just plain nervous, we have some jams just for you.
Keep in mind that playing at home is one thing; making
music with others really takes you to a new level. At
first it may be a little scary, but it’ll soon turn into
a lot of fun. Some reasons you might hesitate:
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“They’re going to hear me mess up.” No, they’re all
busy trying to do their own thing. Very rarely in
the average jam does anyone even hear the stuff
you’re doing, since they’re worried about their own.
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“I’ll make mistakes.” Yes, you probably will, as
everyone does, and if you’re not beating the
daylights out of your instrument, you’re the only
one who will hear them.
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“I’ll be put on the spot.” No, in a jam, you can
always choose to hang back. If anyone calls on you
to take a solo, a shake of your head is a perfectly
legitimate response.
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“I can’t keep up.” Maybe so, maybe not. If you
can’t, you can still play the chords or notes that
sound OK to you as the music passes by.
The fact is that just like that cold water, it’s
sometimes a bit scary to jump in the first time, but
once you’re used to it, you’re telling everyone that
they should jump in; what a bunch of weenies!
OK, so here are our jams. Try them out—trust us!
Jamming with Theory You Can Use
(Level
2–up), Carol McComb: You’ll have lots of fun playing
and singing many well-known songs in this class, and
you’ll also learn some of the theory behind your
playing. Carol will introduce you to the idea of
numbering the chords in each key, so that you’ll be able
to quickly figure out what chords you need in a given
key, transpose songs, and, for guitarists, use your capo
more effectively.
Beginning Folk Jam
(Level
2–up), Julie Davis: Julie will get you playing and
singing on some of the old folk favorites, and some
songs you’ve probably not heard before. This is a very
low-pressure, easygoing jam where you can either belt
out a song that’s struggling to burst free, or just sit
back and enjoy it. This one of our most popular jams!
Old-Time Jam (Level 2 and up), led by
David Coe.
An old-time jam is closer to an Irish session than a
bluegrass jam, because there's less singing, and
everyone on melody instruments plays the tune together.
Some have said “when you play an old-time tune, whether
you knew it before or not, you will know it when you're
finished.” The old time jam, led by fiddler David Coe,
offers everyone the opportunity to join in and be a part
of what makes old time music great, the music community
created during an old time jam session. Lots of
standard Appalachian tunes will be played at various
tempos and students at all levels and on all instruments
are invited to join in the fun of learning new tunes and
passing along the ones they know to others. Don’t miss
it, this is what it’s all about!
Bluegrass Songbook
(Level 2 and up), led by Charlie Hall. In this class
you’ll learn many of the songs of the standard bluegrass
repertoire. You’ll sing and play them along, sing some
harmony, take some breaks (solos) if you’d like, and
generally get a feel for the bluegrass jam. You’ll
learn such songs as Will the Circle Be Unbroken,
Nine Pound Hammer, Man of Constant Sorrow,
My Home’s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shady
Grove, Darling Corey, Roll in my Sweet Baby’s Arms, I'll
Fly Away, This Land is Your Land, Amazing Grace, Wabash
Cannonball and others.
Campfire Songbook - Building a Repertoire of Folk Songs
(All Levels), led by
Julie Davis:
Learn some of those favorite songs that come up at jams
and around the campfire, while at the same time learning
about how to use your playing to support singing in or
with a group. Repertoire will include not only some old
favorites but new songs that are fun to lead.
All Genre Fiddle Tune Jam (Level 3, Intermediate), led by
Dave Firestine:
There are great fiddle tunes from all over the world,
and we will be playing a lot of them here! Irish, Old
Time, New England, Quebecois, Carpaceous…The plan here
is to play tunes we know, at reasonable speeds…this is a
no stress hour…sit in the back and hide, or jump in
with tunes you need to play! If you love to play tunes,
this is your home.
Swing Jam (Level 3, Intermediate), led by
Raul Reynoso:
For all instruments, this class will introduce you to a
great mix of swing standards, and you’ll work on getting
the sound and feel of this most American of musical
styles. You’ll start with some well-known Western swing
numbers and see how you can begin with the chords you
know, then gradually add in the standard swing chord
shapes. You’ll learn about intros, solos and endings as
well as having a great, great time.
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