Class Registration for Summer 2009 Courses is now Open!!

Registration is Open for Summer Classes 2009!!!
Read below for course details (the whole brochure is right here!), or visit our website and register online (www.summit-school.org). There are many ways to register: make a payment through google online payment system on our website, or print out the registration form found at the bottom of this email and found on our website, and send it along with a check to: Summit School, PO Box 646, Montpelier, VT 05601.

There is a wonderful banjo workshop with Pete Sutherland coming up as well. Sat. May 30th, 10:30-noon at 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT. Cost $35. More details on the website, or Call 802-917-1186 to register. You may also email music@summit-school.org.

Summit School of Traditional Music & Culture

Summer 2009 Courses

Visit our website www.summit-school.org and listen to samples of our teachers’ music!

Advanced Clawhammer Banjo

Come explore the ever expanding world of the banjo. We will work on a variety of old- time styles, from frailing to clawhammer to round peak to blues. You should have a good grip on the basic strum and be aware of the standard tunings. We will work on solo playing as well as playing within a group.

Instructor: Tom MacKenzie

6-week session, begins Thursday, June 25rd, 2009
Location: Monteverdi/Summit School building 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT
Time: Thursdays, 7:30-8:30pm
Cost: $135
Tom Mackenzie is a full-time member of the Woods Tea Company, “Vermont’s hardest working folk group”. He has traveled all over the country with them playing everything from Irish to Old Time to originals. His banjo and hammered dulcimer playing are also in great demand at dances throughout New England. He has traveled to over 20 different countries while acting as the musical director for Folkids of Vermont. Visit: www.tmackenzie.com for more information on Tom.

Easy As A, B, C Part II

In Part I, students learned to build a major scale, using

it as means to solo over an entire simple chord

progression(i.e. Blues in G).

In Part II, we'll move ahead to using multiple scales

to accommodate chord schemes in more complex tunes like I

Got Rhythm, Honky Tonk Heroes, Miserlou or Girl From

Ipanema. Students will also learn different modes and

non-diatonic scales such as whole tone, diminished and

pentatonic. We'll also discuss polychords,chord

substitutions and conventional chord progressions like

ii-V-I.

Instructor: Dan Haley

6-week session, begins Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Location: Monteverdi/Summit School building 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT
Time: Thursdays, 6:30-8pm
Cost: $135
Dan Haley is a well-respected singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music teacher. He has played mandolin for 30 years and is a featured player in the bands of Mark Legrand, and Spencer Lewis. He has also played in the local contra dance band, Roustabout. Visit: www.myspace.com/danhaleymusic for more info on Dan.

Intermediate West African Drumming

If you have learned some basics of West African drumming, and are ready to move on to improve your percussive skills, this 6-week class is for you. This class will cover many styles of drumming, and will survey the music and dance traditions of West Africa. Intermediate drummers are welcome.

Instructor: Jordan Mensah

6-week session, begins Thursday, June 25th, 2009
Location: Monteverdi/Summit School building 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT
Time: Thursdays 7:00pm-8:30pm
Cost: $135

Jordan Mensah grew up in Accra, the capital of Ghana. As a child, Jordan learned his ancestors’ tribal drumming styles, dances, and songs from his uncles. At age 12, Jordan joined a dance troupe that performed in Accra. He has performed across the United States, and now teaches West African drumming and dance in Central Vermont. Jordan is the founder and director of the Shidaa African cultural Project in Montpelier (www.shidaafricult.com)

Beginning Old-Time Fiddle:

This class will be for beginner/advanced-beginner fiddlers or classically trained violinists who want to learn about old-time fiddling techniques. We will focus on different bowing techniques, listen to old recordings, and learn many standard tunes, including: Angelina Baker, Cindy, Cluck old Hen, and June Apple. West Virginia tunes will also be taught, with a focus on bowing and style. All ages are encouraged to take the class, but a little experience playing the fiddle/violin is necessary.

Instructor: Katie Trautz

· 6-week session, begins Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

· Location: Monteverdi/Summit School building 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT

· Time: Tuesdays, 6:30pm-8:00pm

· Cost: $135

American Harmony Singing with a special focus on Vermont Songs:

Learn to sing three and four-part New England shape-note hymns, close harmony Appalachian songs, and Carter Family tunes. Explore the history of the music, and trace popular songs to their Appalachian and European roots. We will learn a few Vermont folk songs from the Helen Hartness Flanders Collection, an archive housed at Middlebury College. This is a great place to start singing informally, with special instruction on style and harmonizing. Most tunes are taught by ear. Join the Folk Choir! (No experience necessary-welcome one and all.)

Instructor: Katie Trautz

6-week session, begins June 21st, 2009
Location: Monteverdi/Summit School building 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT
Time: Sundays, 4:00-6:00pm
Cost: $135

Katie Trautz has studied old-time fiddle, Appalachian folk music, and New England singing traditions with some of the best instructors in the nation, including Pete Sutherland, James Bryan, Bruce Molsky, Jimmy Triplett, and Alan Jabbour. She has also studied with Larry Gordon and Patty Cuyler and has toured with the Village Harmony Choir in the USA and Europe. Katie has studied harmony singing with both Ginny Hawker and Sheila Kay Adams of North Carolina. She presently teaches private fiddle lessons and performs in a number of ensembles, including Mayfly, Knotty Pine, and Wooden Dinosaur. She is also the director of the Summit School. Visit: www.myspace.com/katietrautz for more information on Katie.

“Beyond Beginner” Clawhammer Banjo Class:

Have you learned the basic strum for clawhammer banjo, and how to play some chords or simple tunes? Want to move forward, learn new techniques, and build your repertoire of songs? In this six-week class, you will strengthen your command of the fundamental right-hand skills of clawhammer, as well as work on three essential left-hand techniques (the hammer-on, the pull-off, and the slide). You will master these “beyond-beginner” elements by learning new tunes in Open G tuning, and you will learn a new tuning—Mountain Minor—as well as some of the great tunes played in it, such as “Shady Grove,” “Cluck Old Hen,” and “House Carpenter.” In addition, we will discuss the etiquette of old-time jam sessions and how to use a capo effectively to play in keys common to old-time music. You will need a five-string, preferably “open-back,” banjo. [One or two banjos are available for loan if you’re currently without one.] Please contact the
school for more information about banjos or any other questions.

Instructor: Ted Ingham

6-week session, begins June 24st, 2009
Location: Monteverdi/Summit School building 46 Barre St., Montpelier, VT
Time: Wednesdays, 7:00-8:30pm
Cost: $135
Ted Ingham took up the banjo over a decade ago, after playing guitar for twenty years. He has attended old-time music workshops and festivals, and learned from master players. Ted has offered individual clawhammer lessons to beginning and intermediate students for the past three years. He taught a 10-week beginner's course at the Summit School in spring 2008, and also led a clawhammer "from scratch" class as part of an old-time workshop program presented by Woodbury Strings in Montpelier. Ted has played clawhammer banjo at the Montpelier Farmer's Market and Langdon Street Café with Summit School compadres Katie Trautz, Dan Haley, and Mark Greenberg. Underground cassettes of his guitar work with legendary DIY bands Flashback, the Plùmbers and Stone Pony are being stealthily insinuated into the appropriate analog archives. To hear his more recent music, visit http://www.myspace.com/tedingham

Appalachian Tunes for Scottish Pipers:

Learn traditional Appalachian music adapted for Scottish-style pipes: hoedowns, marches, and ballad melodies, as well as shape-note hymns (with traditional harmonies). A few traditional Shaker melodies will also be offered. Most tunes will be taught by ear; sheet music also provided. Open to all Scottish-style pipers from lower-intermediate to advanced.

Instructor: Tim Cummings

6-week session, begins June 23st, 2009
Location: Richmond Public Library, Richmond, VT
Time: Tuesdays, 6:30-8pm
Cost: $135
Tim Cummings has studied composition with Jack Gallagher and Jack Body; Appalachian repertoire with Pete Sutherland; piping with Sandy Keith, Scott MacAulay, and briefly with the faculty at the National Piping Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. He has performed and competed with the Manawatu Scottish Pipe Band, and his music is featured on both of their recent albums. In 2002-03 he undertook a year’s internship as the Artist in Residence at the College of Piping (PEI, Canada). Tim is currently based in Monkton, Vermont, where he composes, teaches, records, and performs Celtic- and piping-related music. He also runs Beithe Publishing, a small cottage industry devoted to new piping music.

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Summit School Summer 2009 Registration Form

Please send registration form with check made out to Summit School, PO Box 646, Montpelier, VT 05601 or Register online at our website: www.summit-school.org

American Harmony Singing (Vermont Songs!) $135 ____________

Old-time Fiddle $135 ____________

Advanced Old-Time Banjo $135 ____________

Beyond Beginner Banjo $135 ____________

Improvisation Part II $135 ____________

Intermediate West African Drumming $135 ____________

Appalachian Tunes for Scottish Pipes $135_____________

Name:

Address:

Phone(s):

E-mail:

For more information, please contact the Summit School Director:

Katie Trautz at 802-917-1186

Or visit our website: www.summit-school.org

***Summit School is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting cross-cultural understanding and connecting with our American Heritage through music and dance.

This is a special request for donations to the Summit School Start-Up Fund. Please help us sustain and grow our projects. Your tax-deductible contribution is greatly appreciated!

For more information, please phone Katie Trautz at 802-917-1186 or visit our website: www.summit-school.org

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Please send donations to:

Summit School of Traditional Music and Culture

P.O. Box 646 Montpelier, VT 05601

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Watch for up-coming events:

Saturday, May 30th, 2009 Banjo Workshop with Pete Sutherland.
Thursday, Aug. 6th, 2009 Workshop and Concert with Luminescent Orchestrii (gypsy, Balkan, folk music)
Scholarship Fund!

The Summit School has established a scholarship fund for students who need financial aid. If you would like more information on this please feel free to call: 802-917-1186. We will send you an application and review your scholarship request. We have work-trade options as well.