[Cortez The Killer]

I just got back from guitar camp. And while I was there...they had concerts every night. The last night they had a student concert I signed up for it and played in front of over 150 guitarists ranging from 15 to 40 years old. I was nervous. So I went out there and did My Back Pages by Bob Dylan and Heart Of Gold by Neil Young it went great I got a lot of compliments and it felt great. A lot of peo0ple loved the harmonica. And I can say ive over come stage fright cuz not only did i peroform in front of over 100 people they were all educated guitarists who knew something about music...damn. It was so much fun.

[ibanezdude70]

Guitar Camp?!?!?!? That's so cool. I wish there was a guitar camp where i live.... Congrats on the show by the way.

[dadfad]

Guitar camps (or guitar workshops) are great. I've attended or instructed at quite a few (usually just attended). They really can help a lot. You can learn while in class and also (sometimes even more) after class, sitting around playing and general BS-ing with like-minded guitarists, the better ones can help the ones not as skilled (and often even the other way around! A lesser-skilled guitarist can teach the more-skilled guitarist a few new things too!). You can learn new tunes and styles, make new friends (I have several very good friends I've met at work-shops years ago), and just generally have a great time being totally immersed in guitar for a few days (or a week, or two, or whatever its length). I recently went to a work-shop I found given by a woman fingerstyle player who was extremely good at ragtime guitar, and I learned some new techniques. There are good ones, bad ones, cheap ones, expensive ones (and the good/bad-cheap/expensive aren't always co-related either). I have a friend who has one in the UK that he's organized and another friend who has one in Colorado at the Teluride Blues Festival in early Fall. The three of us first met at a workshop about twenty years ago! Anyway, they can be great. Both in learning and pure fun. It sounds like you had a great time!

[mrbung1e]

i've got a similar thing to that in 3 weeks. i'm really looking forward to it.

[wannalearn01]

I didn't even know they had things like this...lol

I bet it would be a great place to network and meet all sorts of people.

What kind of price range are we talking about here?

T^roy

[dadfad]

Usually from around a couple of hundred to maybe five hundred dollars, for usually about a week. Some have or can get you accomadations (small college town settings are popular because the college is virtually unused in the summer (when most workshops happen) and so the class-rooms and even dorms can be used). So are campgrounds that have other facilities (like larger rooms used for classes, which are generally pretty informal). Many have actual camping areas nearby, for those who like to camp out or keep expenses down. Some are pretty urban, and you have to find a hotel (often expensive rooms). My favorites are the small college town. Usually you can find cheap motels to stay in (I'm not into the dorm-thing, I smelled enough smelly feet and heard enough snoring when I went to college! And I don't like lumpy sleeping bags. I at least want a bed and an air conditioner! ). Jorma Kaukonan has his own workshop at his own place (Central Ohio). It's relatively expensive (usually around $500+ for four days), but he does have top-notch artists (so do many others though). He has facilities to stay at there as well. One thing I don't like about his, Jorma is kind of a control-freak. He's like a Nazi on things about like drinking beer or smoking and stuff like that (pretty hypocritical from a guy with his past, not that you should be able to get staggering drunk or shoot dope or something, but I believe students should be treated like [and then act like] adults... a self-controlled good time). I know of quite a few programs (I get stuff from many of them...ones I've gone to, ones I've taught at, ones where friends teach and ones where friends are the co-ordinators and as a member of several blues associations I'm on a lot of mailing-lists (Mostly in traditional styles of course...blues, old-time, Appalachian, Celtic, Cajun, etc). Anyway, they are definately pretty cool if you can swing it time and money wise.

[evileye]

Glad you had fun, it's a pity there is nothing like that around here.

[mrbreeze]

Jorma Kaukonan has his own workshop at his own place (Central Ohio). It's relatively expensive (usually around $500+ for four days), but he does have top-notch artists (so do many others though). He has facilities to stay at there as well.

Is that the Fur Peace Ranch? If so it's right there by my college. There are always concerts out there on the weekends.

[wannalearn01]

Awesome...would you sy somthing like a camp would be better than just one on one lessons...it would seem to be more free spirited and a lot more open to learning whatever yo uwanted than a strict routine.

t^roy

[mrbung1e]

the one i'm going to is at The Acadamy Of Contemporary Music. so they're already set up for teaching guitar. and its in my home town so i dont need accomodation

[Cortez The Killer]

The price range was around 900 to 1000 bucks. It helpled me so much...my knowledge for modes is so much better now. It helped me so much with that and soloing in general was great. I felt like I imroved so much it was truly great.

[tapelator]

wow 1000$

is it different from 30$ studio jam that we do with friends?

[dadfad]

Yeah, Jorma's is at Fur Peace. The work-shop thing is pretty different than individual lessons. In some ways better because you're totally immersed in music for an extended period of time. You also have the input from a number of different artists (usually) as well as the other attendees (students isn't exactly the correct word maybe, because at many you have very accompolished pro guitarists, but just wanna learn a new style or the material of another artist). For example, a "beginner" at a country blues or Appalachian workshop might have actually been playing and gigging for a long time but now wants to expand from say classic acoustic rock into one of those genres. Many workshops have several "beginner" levels...."beginner to the guitar" (although should at least be very familiar with chording and good basics) and "beginner to the genre" (a good guitarist, but knows little of the nuances of the genre). I've taught beginners who could play....oh....James Taylor or Cat Stevens or Simon and Garfunkle much better than I could but hadn't a clue about thumb-styles, slide, etc. And the Informal part, the after class stuff that goes on, can sometimes be even more of a learning experience than the class. You meet people who all have something different to bring to the table. A smorgasboard of guitar to sample (or pig-out on!). A thousand is a pretty expensive workshop! Did it include accomodations, meals, etc?

[wannalearn01]

For a grand I would demand to know everything...twice

Why is it that everything costs money, and I am always a dollar short?

Someday I will be able to do everything that I want, but by that time I won't get the enjoyment I would have if it happened now.

T^roy

[dadfad]

Troy, I've gone to workshops (usually in country small-town settings) where the work-shop gathering itself becomes the "happening"....more than the actual classes, but just the fact that so many musicians themselves have gathered into one small place at the same time make it a setting for interaction, jamming, learning and good-times....with many taking no "formal" classes at all. I've seen a few where some people (usually youger guys) just hitch-hike or drive into the town and get a cheap room or camp in a camp-ground or something and just "hang-out" and learn a lot. Some workshops (usually in the old-time traditional styles) will attract not only the students and instructors, but old (and sometimes young) unknown masters who very literally "come down from the hills" to play and jam and interact.

[digiti]

Man, I'd love to do that.. But there would be no way I could afford $1000 to go to it.

[Cortez The Killer]

Yea the 900 to 1000 bucks is usually for the dorm room expense. At that case you may only have to pay $500 if you dont stay in a dorm for some reasons. But it really is so fun, you learn so much. Its just an incredible atmosphere.

[wannalearn01]

Troy, I've gone to workshops (usually in country small-town settings) where the work-shop gathering itself becomes the "happening"....more than the actual classes, but just the fact that so many musicians themselves have gathered into one small place at the same time make it a setting for interaction, jamming, learning and good-times....with many taking no "formal" classes at all. I've seen a few where some people (usually youger guys) just hitch-hike or drive into the town and get a cheap room or camp in a camp-ground or something and just "hang-out" and learn a lot. Some workshops (usually in the old-time traditional styles) will attract not only the students and instructors, but old (and sometimes young) unknown masters who very literally "come down from the hills" to play and jam and interact.

That would be crazy...see some bum looking guy, pull out a guitar and then blam bust into something I could o0nly dream of playing...

I can't wait to get a new job and start making money...I'm not getting a new car like most college grads...I'm buying a new guitar and lessons...once I take some lessons...then shops like this wil be on my agenda...I couldn't imagine getting to see so many talented people in one area at one time...I want I want I want...but I need to need to need to get a job...lol

T^roy

This post has been edited by wannalearn01: 03 August 2004 - 10:09 AM

[dadfad]

I met a little nine-year old girl. She was standing around near me and a couple of fiddlers who were jamming. She was barefoot and wore a long cotton dress and had a homemade banjo. We were doing a tune, doing rounds to take the lead. After we'd all done a turn, one of the fiddlers looked at her and gave her a nod and she immediately began to kick tremendous mountain-banjo ass. Almost like a "Deliverance" type thing! Later on I talked to her father. He said "Yeah, I know she's good. Picked it up on her own listenin' to her grand-mammy play. That was her old banjo she's got. I bring her down to town once in a while so's she can get used ta playin' with other people." There are really lots of people like that in certain more remote areas (not as many or as remote as there used to be anymore though) where music becomes a large part of their life, and so they get really good at it. Relatively (or truly) poor, there aren't video games and malls to hang out in. Making music with your family or friends is what you do with your free time. Whatever. There are lots of really good un-known musicians you can come across near places like that. And that West Virginia/ Virginia/North Carolina Appalachian Mountains triangle area has more than its share.

[goldrush]

I met a little nine-year old girl. She was standing around near me and a couple of fiddlers who were jamming. She was barefoot and wore a long cotton dress and had a homemade banjo. We were doing a tune, doing rounds to take the lead. After we'd all done a turn, one of the fiddlers looked at her and gave her a nod and she immediately began to kick tremendous mountain-banjo ass. Almost like a "Deliverance" type thing! Later on I talked to her father. He said "Yeah, I know she's good. Picked it up on her own listenin' to her grand-mammy play. That was her old banjo she's got. I bring her down to town once in a while so's she can get used ta playin' with other people." There are really lots of people like that in certain more remote areas (not as many or as remote as there used to be anymore though) where music becomes a large part of their life, and so they get really good at it. Relatively (or truly) poor, there aren't video games and malls to hang out in. Making music with your family or friends is what you do with your free time. Whatever. There are lots of really good un-known musicians you can come across near places like that. And that West Virginia/ Virginia/North Carolina Appalachian Mountains triangle area has more than its share.

People who just seem to play from instinct like that amaze me. I've never been able to just listen or watch and learn that way. For me to learn anything requires having it written down (in tab) followed by painful hours of hashing it out. I guess I'm just a "mechanical" learner. Oh, to be gifted....