Picknbow 2019 Class Schedule
Saturday 10:00-11:20 am
Auditorium - Singing with Confidence (Laurelyn, vocals, all levels) Tips and practices to help you sing and perform for others, whether it is a small singing circle or a concert hall.
Kitchen - Guitar as Duet Partner (Joe, guitar, intermediate) Tips and techniques on how to accompany yourself singing, and then lead out on simple fingerstyle breaks, too. Class will also look at how to arrange a song to showcase and underscore the lyric.
Rear Room - Scruggs-style Banjo (Julie, banjo, all levels) Work on your bluegrass chops with the master.
Yoga Studio - Country and Rockabilly Bass (FJ, bass, all levels) We’ll discuss other parts of the country bass vocabulary, and how to make judicious note choices to create fills and move between chords. We’ll also explore basic rockabilly slap technique. [note: starts at 10:15 am]
Weaving Room 1 - Four Good Songs (Danny and Jim, any instrument and vocals, all levels) Danny and Jim continue this popular repertoire class.
Weaving Room 2 - Intro to Fingerstyle Guitar (Jon, guitar, beginners and up) Call it Piedmont-style or Travis-picking, these are the basics of alternate-thumb style fingerpicking technique.
Bridge 2 Sports - Fiddle and Banjo Duets (Kenny and Bobb, fiddle and banjo, all levels) Making a tune sound fantastic with a fiddle and banjo.
Saturday 11:30 am-12:50 pm
Auditorium - Old Time Band Lab (Joe, Kenny, and Bobb, all instruments, adv beg/interm, How to play old-time string band music together as a band rather than just a jam session.
Kitchen - Harmony Singing (Julie and Jim, vocals, all levels) Learn to create two-part harmony vocals.
Rear Room - Songwriting for Theater (Laurelyn with special guest playwright Mike Wiley, songwriting workshop, all levels) See what's involved with writing music for the theater.
Yoga Studio - Blues and Communication (Jon and FJ, guitar and bass, adv beginner/intermediate) Using some common blues progressions, we’ll discuss how to communicate important info about key, tempo, style and feel; and, most importantly, how to listen.
Weaving Room 1 - Mandolin Workshop (Danny, mandolin, all levels) Danny will lay some technical and spiritual Mandolin wisdom on you.
Saturday 2:30-3:50 pm
Auditorium - Performance and the PA (FJ and Laurelyn, any instrument and vocals, all levels) Navigating common performance pitfalls and communicating with the sound person and your band mates on stage; basic microphone technique.
Kitchen - Beginnings and Endings (Joe, any instrument and vocals, intermediate) This performance class will help folks find memorable starts and stops in song arrangements, and even the middle if variations are needed. A good pre-student concert class.
Rear Room - Fiddle Tunes on the Mandolin (Jim, mandolin, any level) We’ll work on a particular tune (instructor’s choice). Not only the tune, but also the chords that go with it.
Yoga Studio - Constructing a Solo (Jon and Danny, any instrument, intermediate) Taking a quality lead break on the fly.
Weaving Room 1 - Easy Fiddle Tunes (Kenny, fiddle, any level) A few easy tunes that sound great and are jam session favorites.
Weaving Room 2 - Scruggs-style Banjo (Julie, banjo, all levels) Work on your bluegrass chops with the master.
Bridge 2 Sports - Lomax Songs (Bobb, any instrument,vocals, all levels) - Add some songs from the Alan Lomax collections to your repertoire.
Saturday 4:00-5:00 pm
Auditorium - Running Your Own PA (FJ, soundsystem workshop, any level) Choosing the right PA rig for your needs; transport and setup; EQ basics, gain-staging; and monitors.
Kitchen - Art of the Duet (Joe and Jim, any instrument, vocals, intermediate) This class will look at how to build a duo that supports each other, and offer tips to hone in on the heart of the song. You don't have to bring a duet partner.
Rear Room - Beyond the Waltz and Two-Step (Laurelyn, songwriting workshop, intermediate) Let's look at beat outside the box! We will look at examples of dropped or added beats, songs written in 5/4, 7/8, and other unusual time signatures.
Yoga Studio - Songs of the Grateful Dead (Jon, any instrument and vocals, all levels). Get your Jerry on and add some Dead tunes to your repertoire.
Weaving Room 1 - Beginning Flat-Picking Guitar (Kenny, guitar, adv. begs and up) Here's how to handle that flat piece of plastic to play bass runs & simple leads in old-time country music.
Weaving Room 2 -Skaggs and Rice (Danny and Julie, any instrument and vocals, intermediate) Explore the material of Ricky Scaggs and Tony Rice.
Bridge 2 Sports - Clawhammer Banjo (Bobb, banjo, all levels) Back by popular demand, work on the clawhammer technique.
Sunday 10:40-11:40 am
Auditorium - Singing with Confidence (Laurelyn, vocals, all levels) Tips and practices to help you sing and perform for others, whether it is a small singing circle or a concert hall.
Kitchen - Bluegrass Fiddle Backup (Jan and Julie, fiddle, all levels) We’ll be looking at some important aspects involved in accompanying or playing behind and not over the singer.
Rear Room - Carter Family Guitar (Jim, guitar, all levels) Learn the technique employed by Mother Maybelle Carter.
Yoga Studio - Stringbean and Grandpa's Banjo (Joe, banjo, intermediate) These two wonderful comics were fine banjo players; technique and repertoire join to give a glimpse of the greats.
Weaving Room 1 - Guitar Chord Inversions (Danny, guitar, intermediate) Learn to find and use all those interesting chord voicings up the neck.
Weaving Room 2 - Home Recording Basics (FJ, recording workshop, all levels) Gain-staging, how to select the right microphone, some of the various hardware and software platforms that are available, and putting together the minimum setup for getting to work.
Bridge 2 Sports - Non-Clawhammer Banjo (Kenny and Bobb, banjo, all levels) The old mountain players had diverse and often idiosyncratic ways of picking; we’ll explore various up-picking and combination styles of the banjo to accompany singing and fiddle tunes.
Sunday 11:45 am-12:45 pm
Auditorium - Building a Ukulele Orchestra (Danny, ukelele, any level) Putting together a ukulele orchestra to play at the Sunday afternoon performance.
Kitchen - Twin Fiddles (Jan, fiddle, intermediate) Explore some fundamental components in harmony playing.
Rear Room - Songs of Jimmie Rodgers (Jim, any instrument and vocals) Add some songs of the yodeling brakeman to your repertoire.
Yoga Studio - Songwriting Jumpstart (Joe and Laurelyn, songwriting workshop, all levels) This class will help folks put pen to paper if they just have an idea or two, or have already written a song or ten.
Weaving Room 1 - More Banjo! (Julie and Bobb, banjo, any level) Make a joyful noise and learn some more banjo techniques and songs.
Weaving Room 2 - Music Theory for Bass (FJ, bass and other intersted instruments, any level) Topics include the circle of 5ths; connecting intervals and triads to their corresponding shapes on the fingerboard, thinking through basic progressions in different keys.
Bridge 2 Sports - Boom-chuck Guitar (Kenny, guitar, all levels) Playing effective backup guitar in Old-time and Bluegrass music, and it boils down to two syllables: boom and chuck, variously inflected and sometimes fancified.