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Hammered Dulcimer | Mountain Dulcimer | Bowed Dulcimer | All Instruments
Playing the
Dulcimer
to its Fullest (9:00 AM, Advanced Beginner/Intermediate) -
Learn how to make your instrument ring out and sound like
several musicians with a few simple techniques!
Galician
&
Asturian Tunes
(2:30 PM, Intermediate/Advanced) - Music from the Spanish Celts. These
sunny tunes with rhythmic twists and hemiolas are a great addition to
any Celtic repertoire!
Accenting! (3:45 PM Advanced) - Using The Gold Stud by Maurice Lennon, this workshop teaches even novice players how to play with a back beat and accent the offbeat as well as use of hand damping.
String
Side Up – Part 1 (9:00 AM, Beginner)
Creating
Interesting
Arrangements
(9:00 AM, Intermediate/Advanced) - Exploring ideas and techniques that
expand and create freshness and variety in your playing and
performance.
Musicality
–
Embellishments
String Side
Up –
Part 2 (10:15 AM, Beginner)
Hand
Separation Techniques and Repertoire (2:30 PM, Advanced
Beginner/Intermediate)
Stick Tricks (9:00 AM, Advanced) - drumming techniques, cross-hand patterns, buzz rolls, other fun stuff.
Filling in the Holes (10:15 AM, Intermediate/Advanced) - how to add embellishments to your playing.
Map of the dulcimer (2:30 PM, Beginner/Advanced Beginner) - how to find every note and every major and minor chord on your dulcimer.
Chord Smorgasbord (3:45 PM, Intermediate/Advanced) - 14-note chords, giant fills, and a wee bit of theory.
From
Heart to
Hands (10:15 AM,
Intermediate) - Learning
basic tools used in playing expressively.
Simple Arranging (3:45 PM, Beginner) - Start developing your bag of tricks for arranging a tune.
School of the Right Hand (3:45 PM, All Levels) - Emphasizes non-injurious ways of using the right hand and how to get more expression out of the instrument in general.
Writing tabs
with
harmonies (10:15 AM, Intermediate/Advanced) -
There are easy
ways to find harmonies for solo
playing and also
for ensemble playing. We will do both in this class forming a mini
orchestra or
sorts. This will be done with familiar tunes you probably already know,
but tab
will be given.
How to use
your strum
tabs for fingerpicking (2:30 PM, Intermediate) -
There really
isn’t any
difference in fingerpicking
and strumming except timing and how we count it. We will get tunes in
both
forms and compare. Counting and learning all the tabs you already have
will be
the lesson for this class.
How to transpose songs of any key to the dulcimer (3:45 PM, All Levels) - You can play almost all the tunes in your hymn book or favorite folk book on your dulcimer without retuning if you just know the formula of how to do it. There will be no retuning. All of the songs we will look at can be played in DAD. We will also talk about playing with other instruments and what we have to do. I spent years wondering how to do this so I know some of you must wonder too.
Crossing
Over to the Fun
Side! (9:00m AM, Novice +) –
This workshop gently guides players to leave the security of
playing the melody on one string to exploring the world of
cross-picking. In
addition to some work with scales and familiar songs, it also gives
students
the tools needed to begin their own cross-picked arrangements.
Hot
Licks and Cool Sounds
(10:15 PM, Novice +) – a workshop on how to do
those cool things that make people say, “Wow! How did he/she
do that?” Covers
ornamentation techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, grace
notes,
trills, bends, harmonics, and muting. Gives simple songs in which these
techniques can be applied and practiced.
Making
Arrangements
(2:30 PM, Novice +) – This workshop takes a simple
tune and progressively takes students through several different ways to
play
that tune – in different octaves and keys, all in the same
tuning. It also
shares some basic ways to make transitions between keys. The purpose is
to help
students learn skills that will enable them to make their own
arrangements of
tunes they love to play.
Playing
with Grace, Humor,
and Smiles (3:45 PM, Advanced
Beginner/Intermediate) - a
workshop on
performing in front of others. Covers basic principles that will help
players,
at whatever level, feel more comfortable playing for others. No intense
work
with the dulcimer.
Lullabies
(9:00 AM, All Levels) - learn
several beautiful lullabies to add to your repertoire. These beautiful
tunes
are always a crowd favorite and are also pleasing to play, either for
others,
for children, or just for yourself.
Smoothing
out your
playing (10:15 AM, Advanced Beginner/Intermediate)
- this
workshop will cover some techniques that can
help your
playing be more fluid and steady. This will include right and left hand
techniques.
Playing up
the fretboard
#1 (2:30 PM, Intermediate/Advanced) - Fiddle tunes
in G (DAd
capo 3). This workshop will
present some new and
interesting fiddle tunes with the added benefit of getting more
practice and
familiarity playing up the fretboard. Capo required.
Playing up
the
fretboard #2 (3:45 PM, Intermediate/Advanced) -
Fiddle tunes
in A (DAd capo4). This workshop
will present
some new and interesting fiddle tunes with the added benefit of getting
more
practice and familiarity playing up the fretboard. Capo required.
Traditional
Flemish
and Walloon dance tunes in D A A tuning (10:15 AM,
Intermediate/Advanced) - The most common
tuning in Belgium
is GDD, which corresponds to the standard American dulcimer capo at 3
tuned
DAA. On the traditional instruments there are only frets underneath the
melody
strings, the rest are drones. Traditionally people played with a noter.
Beginning fingerpicking (9:00 AM, Beginner) - Introduces the beginner to basic fingerpicking patterns and how to gain basic facilty in fingerpicking.
Strum Workout
(10:15 AM, Beginner) -
This is not a tune workshop, but will focus on the use of the RIGHT
hand to
produce TONE, TIMING, and TECHNIQUE. Issues covered will include
gaining speed,
holding the pick effectively, emphasizing the melody, and controlling
the TONE
of your instrument.
Two finger chords in DAD (2:30 PM, Beginner) - Learn how to back up tunes by only fretting 2 strings at a time. There will be examples of songs that can be accompanied this way.
A three-part DGD tune called Josie-O (3:45 PM, Advanced) - We will work through at three sections slowly, then up to speed. Then we'll enjoy rockin' out on the whole tune.
Bowed
dulcimer class
(2-part) (9:00 AM & 10:15 AM, All Levels) - all bowed
dulcimer
players welcome. Covering good bowing,
fingering,
and repertoire. Emphasis on being relaxed when you play for better
tone, speed,
and accuracy. Class will continue for an additional session.
Intro to the Bowed Dulcimer (2:30 PM, Beginner) – For those who know nothing about bowing the dulcimer but want to or for those who have one and not the slightest idea of what to do with it. Some history, basic techniques and playing habits. How to get off to a good start.
Music Theory
for
Dulcimer Players
Teaching 101 (10:15 AM, All Levels) - For anyone who would like to start TEACHING dulcimer students, it would be a session on how to approach that endeavor (obviously, this would NOT be aimed at music majors!).
Playing with Others (2-part) (2:30 PM & 3:45 PM, All Levels) - teaches fitting into an ensemble with whatever you play.
Video presentation of the "hommel" or "vlier" (the Belgian lapdulcimer) (3:45 PM, All Levels)
Weddings (2:30 PM, All Levels)
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