2019 Winter Weekend Class Descriptions

 

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

New Mountain Dulcimer Players - Judy House (MD 1)

This class will meet as a continuous series of workshops throughout the weekend. Choose this class for every session in order to develop the skills needed to progress through the Beginner level. Topics covered in this class will be a brief history of the dulcimer, how to hold, strum, fret, tune, and care for your instrument. We will learn how to read tab in different keys and explore backup chords, time and rhythm, and how to play by ear! You will learn how to practice your dulcimer and you will receive a variety of tunes to perfect the skills taught over the weekend. You may even learn how to survive in a jam! Come and join us. We would love to include you in this enjoyable experience as a mountain dulcimer player! (Be sure to request one of our loaner dulcimers if you don't own one.)

Rounds. Fun. Together. Now. Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

The class title says it all!

Capos, Tunings, and the Diversified Dulcimer – Joe Collins (MD 3-4)

A workshop on how to use capos and tunings to play in a wide variety of keys. With a little bit of this knowledge, playing in jams with other instruments in other keys becomes much simpler, and one's dulcimer becomes a much more diversified instrument.

Hymns in Two Keys -- Larry Conger (MD 4-5)

This class will present several familiar hymn tunes that are played in two different keys, thereby adding interest to the arrangements. Somewhat challenging for the intermediate level player. A perfect addition to your worship service repertoire.

HAMMER DULCIMER

Hammer Dulcimer Road Map for New Players - Jim Miller (HD 1)

This class will meet as a continuous series of workshops throughout the weekend for beginners on the hammered dulcimer. The series of classes serve as a "road map" for navigating the hammer dulcimer. Part 1 for this first session covers the scales, both major and minor, that can be played on the instrument. (WCU has one loaner hammer dulcimer; request in advance; first come, first served.)

Find the Easy Way Around the Hammer Dulcimer – Guy George (HD 2)

Guy will steer you in the right direction and get you playing right away learning chords, arpeggios and some fun melodies!

Rhythm & Rudiments - Part 1 – Stephen Humphries (HD 3-4)

This workshop will take place over two sessions and will focus on exercises for developing your rhythmic ability, creativity, independence, and hammer control using time-tested methods from the Percussive Arts Society. Exercises, tunes, and handouts from Stephen's book on this topic will be provided.

UKULELE

Absolute Beginning Ukulele – Sharrie George

Have fun learning all the basics on ukulele - tuning, chords, and a few strums as we learn some fun tunes! All you need to know to get you started on your way to ukulele heaven! For Soprano, Concert, and Tenor ukuleles in standard tuning.

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

New Mountain Dulcimer Players (cont.) - Judy House (MD 1)

You rock! Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

This promises to be a class that really rocks...including "Rock the Cradle Joe," "Rock the Cradle Lucy," and more "rockin'" tunes.

It Takes Two to Waltz – Joe Collins (MD 3-4)

A repertoire of beautiful waltzes arranged for two parts.

The Moveable Capo -- Larry Conger (MD 4-5)

This workshop WILL NOT require a capo. Explore how you can play songs in keys other than D without retuning or using a capo. The idea of the "moveable capo" is to build a barre chord, use it like a capo, and reposition it throughout the song. The purpose is to allow access to those frets that would otherwise be unavailable if a capo was attached. Mildly challenging for the intermediate level player. DAD tuning.

HAMMER DULCIMER

Hammer Dulcimer Road Map: Part 2 - Jim Miller (HD 1)

This class is continued from session 1 and covers chords and arpeggios (major & minor) in all keys that can be played on the hammer dulcimer.

Easy Folk Tunes – Guy George (HD 2)

Learn some traditional folk tunes and the chords that go with them. We'll take each tune and learn simple back up to accompany the melody, and then practice doing both.

Rhythm & Rudiments - Part 2 – Stephen Humphries (HD 3-4)

We will delve further into the content presented in Part 1, exploring more techniques and exercises that will help you with playing any style of music you want to play.

UKULELE

Ukulele Strum Magic! Sharrie George (Advancing Beginner)

If you know the basic chords and strums, you're ready to move on to a few more chords, strums, and more fun tunes! Our focus will be on strums and rhythm, how to keep a steady beat and vary the basic rhythm to add interest to our back-up technique.

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

New Mountain Dulcimer Players (cont.) - Judy House (MD 1)

Open Season – Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

It's always hunting season for tunes like these: "Possum Up a Gum Stump," "Ground Hog," "Hunting Buffalo," and "Squirrel Heads and Gravy." Yum, yum!

Sweet and Gentle Tunes -- Joe Collins (MD 3-4)

Pretty and slow-paced tunes for your repertoire, including "Bring Me Lil' Water, Sylvie," "The Shepherd's Wife," "Mary Hamilton," and others.

Baritone & Standard Dulcimers – Larry Conger (MD 4-5)

In this class, we solve the age old mystery of how to play both a baritone and standard dulcimer together as a duet while in different tunings. Baritones come prepared to tune GDG. Standard dulcimers should plan to tune DAD and must have a 1.5 fret.

HAMMER DULCIMER

Hammer Dulcimer Road Map: Patterns - Jim Miller (HD 1)

The road map continues with right/left alternation and dominant hand lead.

Gospel Tunes Made Simple – Guy George (HD 2)

Let's get ready to play in Church with a few easy gospel tunes! We'll have you sounding good and show you practice techniques to take home and get performance ready!

Two Hands, One Mind: Hand Interdependence – Stephen Humphries (HD 3-4)

This class will explore various ways to play a melody with one hand and an accompaniment pattern with the other while using familiar songs. Exercises and handouts from Stephen's book on this topic will be provided.

UKULELE

Island Ukulele – Sharrie George (Advancing Beginner)

Learn some of my favorite island tunes, and how to get that syncopated island feel for back-up. We'll be learning and practicing chords in different keys with lots of practice strumming. Then learn what you can do to go home and create your own "island feel!"

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

Slow Jam ("Snail" speed!) for Beginners - Judy House (MD 1)

 

If you are new to playing the dulcimer or new to jamming, come join in the fun! We will be learning what it means to "jam", jam etiquette, basic songs you should know in order to join others in a jam, and have loads and loads of fun and laughs too! I hope to see you there!

 

Medium Jam ("Turtle" speed!) for Advancing Beginners – Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

 

Caught in a jam?? Consider this session your guide to jam survival...plus it will be fun! This jam time will be a little faster than the beginning jam class, but slow enough to be able to keep up. Perfect time to get questions answered about jamming as well as learn some new tunes.

 

Multi-Part Hymns – Joe Collins (MD 3-4)

 

This workshop will be teaching 4 different parts for a couple of hymns. In addition, we'll be talking about creative ways to use those parts to put together an arrangement for your group.

 

Baritone & Standard Dulcimers – Larry Conger (MD 4-5)

 

(This is not a repeat of the previous session.) In this class, we solve the age old mystery of how to play both a baritone and standard dulcimer together as a duet while in different tunings. Baritones come prepared to tune GDG. Standard dulcimers should plan to tune DAD and must have a 1.5 fret.

 

HAMMER DULCIMER

 

Hammer Dulcimer Road Map: Melodies - Jim Miller (HD 1)

 

The road map continues with simple melodies using techniques learned in previous sessions.

 

Get Ready to Jam! Guy George (HD 2)

 

Learn a few jam tunes, as well as some simple techniques to use when you don't "KNOW" the tune in a jam. Be ready to "jump in and jam!"

 

Learn "St. Basil's Hymn" – Stephen Humphries (HD 3-4)

 

Learn this timeless melody that incorporates hand separation and some beautiful harmonies. We will also learn more about the concept of transposing a melody into different keys. Handouts with music & practice exercises will be provided.

 

UKULELE

 

Jamming on the Uke – Sharrie George (Advancing Beginner)

 

Learn all the chords you need to be ready for a jam. We'll practice some of the favorite jam tunes by starting out slow and then progressing to breakneck (or almost!) speed! A fun way to build up your chord changing chops!

 

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

New Mountain Dulcimer Players (cont.) - Judy House (MD 1)

May I have this Dance? Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

In this session, I'll be channeling Lawrence Welk, "a-vuhn and a-two...." We'll explore some of my favorite waltzes.

Flatpicking Skills & Techniques -- Larry Conger (MD 3-4)

This workshop will use several familiar tunes to teach the concept of picking individual strings instead of the traditional "strum & drone" that is so often associated with the mountain dulcimer. Take your playing to another level with a minimal amount of effort. DAD tuning.

Turlough O'Carolan: Harping on the Dulcimer – Joe Collins (MD 4-5)

A repertoire workshop of songs from the great, blind bard of Ireland arranged for the mountain dulcimer.

HAMMER DULCIMER

Hammer Dulcimer Road Map: Harmonies - Jim Miller (HD 1)

The beginner class forges on with learning to harmonize a major scale and using those harmonies to play several simple tunes.

Beginning Rhythm & Rudiments -- Stephen Humphries (HD 2)

Find the path of least resistance on your instrument by using some fundamental rhythms, scales, and chords to develop effective hammer motion and practice good technique. We will explore basic rhythmic patterns that will make playing your instrument easier, no matter what style of music you want to play. Handouts from Stephen's book on this topic will be provided.

Embellishing Techniques – Guy George (HD 3-4)

Learn some fundamentals of embellishing that you can use on any tune. Pick up tricks and exercises while we learn some new tunes, adding embellishments and learning how to come up with our own.

UKULELE

Ukulele Strum-a-thon! Sharrie George (Intermediate & Up)

The most important aspect of being a ukulele player is being able to keep a steady rhythm; we'll focus on this as we learn & practice some new rhythms on the ukulele, from more syncopated rhythms to slap rhythms and more! We'll apply our rhythms to some old and some newer tunes as we have fun exploring the world of rhythm!

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

New Mountain Dulcimer Players (cont.) - Judy House (MD 1)

All Girl Revue! Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

Now that I have your attention, join me for a few "girlie" tunes, such as, "Julianne Johnson," "Down by the Sally Gardens," and "Waiting for Nancy."

The Irish Jig – Larry Conger (MD 3-4)

A study in 6/8 time and the art of "strummed-flatpicking." Jigs are extremely well suited for the mountain dulcimer, as you will learn when attending this class. The basic challenge comes when the tunes are played up to speed. A fun time is guaranteed! DAD tuning.

Accidental Instrumentals – Joe Collins (MD 4-5)

Are you a pretty good player and need some challenging tunes to stretch your skill level. This is a class of tunes not normally heard on the mountain dulcimer because of accidentals, those pesky notes for which there are no frets on the mountain dulcimer tuned in DAd or for which transitions to those notes are somewhat challenging. We'll learn and practice some techniques that make these types of songs accessible on your dulcimer.

HAMMER DULCIMER

Fiddle Tunes for Beginning Hammer Dulcimer - Jim Miller (HD 1)

Several simple tunes commonly played in jams will be taught.

All About Chords -- Stephen Humphries (HD 2)

Learning a few basic chord shapes can help you find useful patterns all over your instrument! We will identify different chord patterns and ways to use them in songs that will help you play better, whether in a jam or on your own. Handouts with exercises will be provided.

Expand your Celtic repertoire – Guy George (HD 3-4)

Add tunes to your Celtic repertoire while learning several techniques that can be used with other styles of music as well. We'll learn a few slow, pretty tunes, and step it up as we work on great Celtic sounds and rhythms on some fast-paced music.

UKULELE

Intro to finger-style playing on Ukulele – Sharrie George (Intermediate & up)

Learn a few finger-picking patterns to change up your back-up technique on those pretty slower tunes. Everything will be tabbed out so you can take home the patterns to get them into muscle memory. It's not just about the strum!

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

New Mountain Dulcimer Players (cont.) - Judy House (MD 1)

Rollin' on a River – Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

Life preservers not necessary for this session. We'll drift along as we float tunes like "River of Dreams," "Down the River I go," and "Old Folks at Home" (after all, I AM from Florida).

Standard and Bass Dulcimer Duets – Elaine & Larry Conger (MD 3-4)

Duet arrangements featuring parts for standard and bass dulcimer in DAd tuning. Don't have a bass dulcimer? All bass parts can be played by a standard dulcimer.

Can You Sing with that Thing? Joe Collins (MD 3-5)

A workshop on using the mountain dulcimer as an accompaniment instrument. We'll play some R&B, Rock, Folk and maybe even Country rhythms while we sing some popular songs.

HAMMER DULCIMER

Care and Feeding of the Hammer Dulcimer - Jim Miller (HD 1-2)

Covers tuning, changing strings, cleaning, and care of a hammered dulcimer.

Two Hands, One Mind: Simple Hand Interdependence -- Stephen Humphries (HD 2)

This class will explore simple ways to play a melody with one hand and an accompaniment pattern with the other while using familiar songs. Exercises and handouts from Stephen's book on this topic will be provided.

Get that Island Feel - "Summer in January!" Guy George (HD 3-4)

Travel with us to the islands as we learn a few melodies from the Caribbean. Get that island feel with some calypso rhythms and melodic hooks.

UKULELE

Play Ukulele Standards! – Sharrie George (Intermediate & Up)

Ready for a challenge? Learn chords and strums for some of the great all time "Ukulele Classics!" Tackle a few more difficult chords, faster chord changes, and even learn a few chords 'up the neck'! No stress, just fun trying some of the great Uke tunes!

MOUNTAIN DULCIMER

Slow Jam ("Snail" speed!) for Beginners - Judy House (MD 1)

If you are new to playing the dulcimer or new to jamming, come join in the fun! We will be learning what it means to "jam", jam etiquette, basic songs you should know in order to join others in a jam, and have loads and loads of fun and laughs too! Format is same as Friday, but there are bound to be different songs performed.

Medium Jam ("Turtle" speed!) for Advancing Beginners – Laurie Alsobrook (MD 2)

Caught in a jam?? Consider this session your guide to jam survival...plus it will be fun! This jam time will be a little faster than the beginning jam class, but slow enough to be able to keep up. Perfect time to get questions answered about jamming as well as learn some new tunes. Format is same as Friday, but there are bound to be different songs performed.

Ensemble Repertoire – Elaine & Larry Conger (MD 3-4)

Multi-part arrangements will be presented that utilize standards, baritones & bass dulcimers. If you have them, bring them!

Waltzing in Cowboy Boots – Joe Collins (MD 4-5)

Expand your repertoire of waltzes popular in, or at least well suited for, Cowboy country! Includes an original tune by Joe named, "Aldia's Waltz," and two well-known waltzes, "Oklahoma Waltz," and "The Cowboy Waltz."

HAMMER DULCIMER

Jamming on the Hammer Dulcimer – Jim Miller (HD 1-2)

Come learn some jamming techniques on the hammer dulcimer. Tunes will be led in a slow, instructional way until everyone is ready to "give it some gas!" Great for beginning to advancing beginner hammer dulcimer players.

Learn "Le Petit-Rien" – Stephen Humphries (HD 2-4)

We will take a Baroque harpsichord melody and adapt it to hammered dulcimer. Along the way, we'll learn how to add some embellishments and other exciting things to make the arrangement more fun! Handouts with music & practice exercises will be provided.

UKULELE

Play the Melody on Ukulele – Sharrie George (Intermediate & up)

No need to read music; we will learn to read tablature for ukulele and learn how to play some fun melodies, harmonies, and even a few "licks" to take your playing to the next level! We'll create a ukulele orchestra sound! Each part will be tabbed out to take home with you. Create your own ukulele orchestra!

PENNYWHISTLE

Pennywhistle for Beginners – Guy George

Have fun learning to play this very portable instrument in one session! All you need is a "D" whistle and we'll get you started with all the basics. You'll even learn a few easy tunes in 2 keys! Guy will have some great sounding D whistles available for purchase before the class.