INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED CLAWHAMMER BANJO with Ted Ingham
Mondays, 7:30 – 8:45 pm, 6 weeks starting April 1, $150
Wayward Songs and Crooked Tunes! In this 6-week class we’ll be working half-time on approaches to putting songs from other musical traditions (country blues and country and beyond) into clawhammer, and the other half on crooked fiddle tunes. It’ll be a mix and mash, mostly in Open tuning, and no one will be required to sing if that’s a thing! I’ll have a bunch of options in mind and will be open to suggestion as always. You should be an intermediate or advanced player, familiar with the fundamental clawhammer techniques and comfortable with the main tunings. I teach “on the fly,” in the old-time way, but also provide tablature for reference and encourage folks to record in class. “What do you call a gentleman? Someone who can play the banjo, but doesn’t.” No gentlemen allowed!
Ted took up the banjo in the mid-1990s after playing the guitar for 20 years. He has attended old-time music workshops and festivals since, and learned from master banjo players such as Tom Mackenzie, Pete Sutherland, and Dan Margolies. Ted has taught clawhammer classes for beginning, intermediate, and advanced students at the Summit School since 2008. He has also served on the Summit School Board since its inception, and is currently the Board Chair. In addition to teaching, Ted plays banjo with “Kick ‘Em Jenny,” a volcanic old-time stringband from Central Vermont: https://www.facebook.com/kickemjennyvt/
Youth Classes
BEGINNER FIDDLE with Jeanne Miller
Wednesdays 5:15 - 6:15 pm. 8 weeks, starting March 13, no class April 24, $75
In this course students will begin with the basics of how to hold the bow and the instrument. Students will be playing simple tunes in a very short time. By the end of class students will have a small repertoire of standard fiddle tunes. In this class students will learn: holding the fiddle, bowing with confidence, G scale, quarter note & eighth note rhythms as well as beginner fiddle tunes. Students are encouraged to record the class.
Born in New York, Jeanne comes from a long line of musicians. Jeanne started playing violin at age 7 and had a rich grade school experience playing with many orchestras and quartets all over Long Island. Wanting to move out of the New York area, Jeanne played her way into college attending the Crane School of Music at Potsdam. Once graduated, she moved to Vermont, and started a family in the Northeast Kingdom. Putting music aside to raise her family, Jeanne made the shift to folk music after playing in a string band. Currently Jeanne plays in the Bleeding Hearts Family Band with her two sons, plays solo performances and performs with the Vermont Folk Orchestra in Greensboro.
INTERMEDIATE YOUTH TRAD BAND with Joanne Garton
Sundays 4:15 - 5:30 pm. 5 weeks starting March 10, $75
No class March 24 (but we might have an evening jam)
Plan to play at the Mud Season Spectacular Youth Showcase April 13!
For intermediate level trad musicians of all varieties of any (youth) age who can learn tunes by ear from the Scottish, Irish, Cape Breton, and Old Time tradition. Join the group to learn a few new tunes, practice familiar tunes, create some harmonies, and meet other trad kids and teens in the area. All acoustic instruments welcome! Come as you are–no previous Trad Band experience needed. Contact Joanne Garton with questions via www.joannegarton.com.
ADVANCED YOUTH TRAD BAND with Joanne Garton
Sundays from 5:30 - 6:45 pm. 5 weeks starting March 10, $75
No class March 24 (but we might have an evening jam)
Plan to play at the Mud Season Spectacular Youth Showcase April 13!
For advanced traditional musicians ages 11 and up interested in creating tune sets, harmonies, and arrangements, and learning about each other’s instruments and musical backgrounds. Get your favorite tunes ready for the dance hall! All instruments welcome with a focus on New England contra, Celtic, and Old Time tunes. No need to have been in a previous Trad Band class. Contact Joanne with questions via www.joannegarton.com.
Fiddler and dancer Joanne Garton mixes her pervasive passion for Scottish culture with the drive and rhythms of the New England dance floor. She performs, teaches, and records traditional music and dance from Scotland and Cape Breton with big influences from Ireland, England, Quebec, Appalachia and New England. A resident of Montpelier, Vermont, for the last 12 years, Joanne teaches kids and adults, performs on stage, plays in sessions, and of course, steps out on the dance floor at contra, Scottish, and English dances. Visit www.joannegarton.com for videos, sound bites, gig listings, and more.