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Workshop Descriptions

Abnormal Sines

Celtic Chord and Sing -- This version of our chording workshop series helps the player enter the world of Celtic music. It is a fun way to learn to chord and sing for anyone who likes the music of the British Isles. (whole trio) 2 - 2:50 Room 1

Connie Allen

In the Mode for Love - Introduction to Old Standards in 1-3-5 tuning. -- We will dissect one piece in depth and look at how this tuning allows us to play a chromatic scale on instruments with standard fretting plus the 6+ fret. I will hand out my 32 page F-A-C chord workbook so people can take home the tools for arranging in this interesting tuning. We'll play favorites like "It Had to Be You", "Ain't Misbehavin'", Sweet Sue". 10 - 10:50 Room 3

Connie Allen & Bill Dempsey

Easy Rounds and Instant Harmony -- a very beginning level class. If you can tune your instrument, you are ready for this class. We will sing and play a number of rounds that require only melody and drones. More experienced players can challenge themselves by playing one part and singing another. Yes I'll have tab for the visual learners though I recommend relying on ears and fingers. 11 - 11:50 Room 1

Hank Arbaugh

Blues "Licks" on the Guitar. Appropriate for Any Standard Blues (and Related Genres) in E and/or A. -- Hank will show partial chords, decorative "runs", moving bass lines, and "edgey licks" to brighten and color students' blues. The class will play along with Hank on some classic country blues. 10 - 10:50 Room 4

Beginning Mandolin -- Hank teaches scales for D and G and then teaches two pieces whose melodies can be easily learned from knowing those scales: "Wreck of the Old 97" in D and Jean Ritchie's "Put a Ring around My Susan Girl" in G. 1 - 1:50 Room 4

Andy Beyer

Exploring Aeolian and Dorian Modes. This is a 2 Hour Workshop. -- Will discuss retuning into DAC and DAG, use of the dulcimer capo, and playing across the strings in modes without using a capo. Must have a dulcimer capo and come to class tuned in DAd. 3 - 4:50 Room 2

Marge Diamond

Getting Started in D-A-D -- We will cover some of the most popular beginning dulcimer tunes, and make sure you get started with a solid foundation in all the basics. 9 - 9:50 Room 1

Vici Gombaski

A Little Fingerpicking Anyone? -- An introduction to the basics of fingerpicking. 3 - 3:50 Room 1

Joyce Harrison

Beginner Class (Two Sessions) We will embark on an exciting adventure with this marvelous, many-stringed instrument. We will learn how to tune, how to hold the hammers, how to strike the strings, and the location of "key" notes. We'll play the scales and learn to find the same note in alternate positions on the instrument. We will play some of the favorite jam tunes, then explore ways to feel comfortable in a jam session by learning simple chording patterns that will work for any tune. 10 - 11:50 Room 5

Christmas Bells Let's prepare for the Holiday Season by enjoying the many bells: Jingle Bells, Silver Bells, Carol of the Bells, and more! This will be a joyous time of making beautiful Christmas sounds. 1 - 1:50 Room 6

Hymns (Repertoire) I will share my arrangements of the of the wonderful old hymns such as In The Garden, The Old Rugged Cross, Nearer My God to Thee and others. 3 - 3:50 Room 6

Charlie and Celia Lewis

Beginning Hammered Dulcimer -- Get a good solid, fun start on the hammered dulcimer. 9 - 9:50 Room 5

Beginning Hammered Dulcimer: The Sequel -- Continued hammered dulcimer instruction and repertoire development. 1 - 1:50 Room 5

Jim Mullin

Audio Recording With Your PC -- Making a good recording is the foundation for all future uses of a sound recording, be it a master for pressing a CD or making a compressed audio file for a low bandwidth network. You can take stuff away from the sound in the recording, but if it isn't there in the first place you can't add it later.

The goal of this workshop is to present a BRIEF explanation of what digitized sound is, an explanation of what the sound parameter choices mean, things to consider as you set up your computer, and to discuss and demonstrate a few simple editing functions.

There will be a demonstration of recording, adjusting the volume, and removing noise from a recording. If time permits other editing functions will be demonstrated. The workshop participants will be given an opportunity to record and edit a sound file as time permits.

The computer program, Audacity, will be used. It is a free program readily available on the Internet which looks and works the same on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Unix based computers. 2 - 2:50 Meeting Room

Mike Oliver

Civil War Songs -- Songs from the American Civil War era. These will provide an opportunity to practice flatpicking. 1 - 1:50 Room 3

Jerry Rockwell

Mode Theory -- (mountain dulcimer AND other instruments) This workshop will cover the diatonic Church Modes, with an emphasis on learning to identify the unique qualities of each mode. Although we will cover how these modes lay out in the D-A-D tuning on the mountain dulcimer, we will also demonstrate them on the keyboard as well as the guitar. 11 - 11:50 Room 4

Intro to Improvisation -- (two hours) This will be a gentle introduction to improvising on ANY instrument. Most of the demo will be on the guitar and electronic keyboard, but dulcimer or mandolin players should have no problem playing most of the material covered. We will learn how to set up drones for the various pentatonics as well as the diatonic modes, and we will learn to improvise over some very simple chord progressions. The only pre-requisites for this class are an open mind and a sense of adventure. 2 - 3:50 Room 4

Gary Sager

River Songs: repertoire development -- In this workshop, we will learn some songs that have a river theme: Golden River, River, and other river songs. You will need your capo for this session. 3 - 3:50 Room 3

Gary Sager, Bill Todd, and Jerry Rockwell

Troubleshooting, Repair, and Maintenance for the Mountain Dulcimer -- This session will offer the dulcimer player/owner a chance to ask some of the most common questions concerning the health and maintenance of their dulcimers: How do I find out what is causing a buzz? When do my frets need to be replaced? How do you adjust the action? My dulcimer is very hard to get in tune. Is there a way I can improve the intonation? These questions and many more will be covered. 10 - 10:50 Room 1

Toni Sager

Beginner Autoharp -- We will learn how to chord, how to keep time and how to strum. The first part of the class we will have sheet music to look at. The second half we will listen for chord changes. 9 - 9:50 Room 4

Bill Schilling

Simple Melodies and with Enhancements -- The purpose of this workshop is to increase repertoire with a few simple tunes while discovering simple techniques to enhance melodies so that players can have variety in their playing from the start. 3 - 3:50 Room 5

Bill Schilling & Linda Sigismondi

Songs of Appalachia -- Bill and Linda will perform and teach traditional tunes of Appalachia including several ballads and old-time tunes. They will include the use of traditional instruments such as the mountain dulcimer and limberjack. 4 - 4:50 Room 4

Linda Sigismondi

Nature Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer - This is a repertoire building workshop for novice to intermediate dulcimer players. Participants will be taught several songs about the outdoors. 9 - 9:50 Room 2

Joni Sines

Easy Rounds -- Playing rounds is the easiest way to get a budding musician used to playing something different than his neighbor is playing. This workshop teaches several easy rounds so that students can not only learn the songs, but also play them as rounds in the workshop. (Advanced Beginner MD) 11 - 11:50 Room 2

Joni Sines and Kim Lee

Duets for the Mountain Dulcimer -- This workshop is for the intermediate player. Participants will divide into two groups and learn to play one part of 2 or 3 duets. Hopefully we will be able to put them together so that they can be played as duets before the workshop is over. 4 - 4:50 Room 3

Steven K. Smith

Embellishments -- Add interest and variety to your playing with various types of embellishments. In this work shop we'll go over how, when and why to add various types of embellishments to your playing. Topics covered will include hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides,runs, arpeggios, harmonics, and more. Practical examples will be given for how you might use these techniques in your own playing. This class is pitched to the "Advanced Beginner" level. Some limited knowledge of chords is helpful, but not required. 10 - 10:50 Room 2

English Country Dance Tunes -- From Elizabethan England to modern times, English Country Dance has been practiced in the British Isles and throughout the colonies. Here is some of the music that accompanies this venerable folk art. Several English Country Dance tunes will be presented in this repertoire building workshop, Depending on the time available, from historical periods ranging from the 16th through the 19th century. This workshop looks at the English Country Dance tune genre more as source of tunes for the instrumentalist, than as preparation for you to sit in with the dance band. But who knows? If the opportunity comes up, you'll be ready. Capo required. A limited number of extra capos will be available. 2 - 2:50 Room 3

Doug Smoot

Jam Tunes for Beginners -- Here's a chance to ease your way into the wonderful world of jamming! We will cover most of the "must know" tunes and discuss some basic etiquette. 1 - 1:50 Room 1

Randy Snepp

Songs of the Celts -- Beautiful, haunting, lilting, even eery, Celtic music reflected love, loyalty, glories of battle and other folk themes that were an important part of their lives. This music has been used for hundreds of years by many people for many purposes. They often changed or added words to promote their own current ideals. American missionaries especially liked to use the tunes, adding their own message to the songs that stirred the early Irish-Scots hearts. In this class we will pick up a few of the favorites of Celtic music. 4 - 4:50 Room 1

Shelley Stevens

D-G-D Tuning! -- Don't be afraid to retune!!! This easy tuning is a lot of fun! We'll play some familiar tunes as well as some not so well known. tune DGD Tab provided, 6 1/2 fret NOT needed! 1 - 1:50 Room 2

Tom & Missy Strothers

Learning a Tune DIRECTLY from the Recording -- We will use Bob Wills' "Faded Love" that moves from D to A and back. It's an easy melody with nice chord changes and lots of possibilities for counter harmony. We will not pass out any tablature but may provide some chord helpers. This workshop will provide an excellent opportunity to begin relying on your ear (rather than tablature) for learning new tunes. The more you do this, the more confidence and musicianship you will attain. 11 - 11:50 Room 3

Kendra Ward & Bob Bence

Playing Back-up and Rhythm -- (2-hour class) There is more to being a good player than just being able to play melody! The ability to play solid rhythm and accompaniment is one of the fundamental keys to good musicianship. On the hammered dulcimer, it is also a great way to understand and use the entire instrument! We will start with basic chord structures and then examine rhythm playing and back-up techniques.10 - 11:50 Room 6

New Ideas For Old Arrangements -- If you are looking for exciting ways to spruce up that tired old arrangement, this class is for you! We'll take a "hands-on" approach and explore lot's of new ideas, plus we'll reexamine a few ideas you may have forgotten. You'll be amazed at what you will do!2 - 2:50 Room 6

Sylvia White

Composition Challenge: The Ever-Growing Xmas Song -- In this workshop you will learn a new Christmas song and be offered the opportunity to add your own words and musical parts to it. The structure of the song will be discussed along with the rules for your own contributions. All contributions will be published on a web site dedicated to this song. Let's see how big this song can grow by Christmas. Suitable for Very Advanced Beginners and Intermediate players. 9 - 9:50 Room 2

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