 PLEASE NOTE: You're viewing an archive of our OLD website through December 2017, please visit our new website at TheFreight.org The Box Office window is open 12:30pm-7pm and during all performances.
Bluegrass Jam Class Level 1 w/ Bill Evans
Tuesdays, 6:30-7:45 pm, beginning September 12 $130.00 advance / $140.00 after September 4 For all bluegrass instrumentalists.
This is the most popular bluegrass jam class in the Bay Area, now offered in two sections! Level I is for those new to playing with others and is open to all bluegrass instrumentalists and singers who are ready to leave the confines of their home practice space and start playing music with others in a comfortable slow jam context that will leave no one behind. Especially designed for those who have not taken this class before, this class is a great way to experience how a jam session works, using the skills you already know on your instrument to sound great in a ensemble setting.
Each six week class is a bit different, depending upon the background of the students but typically the class covers everything from understanding the structure and form of bluegrass songs, how to follow a chord progression, kicking off and ending tunes, setting a tempo, using the capo, bluegrass harmony singing, playing along with waltz time songs, fiddle tunes and much more while becoming familiar with the unspoken rules of bluegrass jam etiquette.
Bill will teach a couple of new songs in the first class session and discuss the ground rules for bluegrass jamming. In weeks two to four, each class member will present a song or tune of their choice to other class members, with Bill’s help and the help of other class members, just as you would in a real jam session. In weeks five and six, the class will choose the most popular or challenging tunes that you’ve learned throughout the session and work on them more extensively, coming up with solos and refining arrangements and vocal harmonies. Students come away from the class knowing their role in a bluegrass jam session and how to quickly begin playing along, even on tunes that they have never heard before!
Pre-requisites: This class is for singers and for those who play bluegrass instruments (guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, dobro and bass). Participants should know how to fret major and minor chords and be able to play basic bluegrass accompaniment patterns on their instrument. If you’re a banjo, fiddle, mandolin or dobro player, you should be able to successfully play one or more tunes (but not necessarily up to speed). Guitar and banjo players should also have some familiarity with using a capo.
|
|||||
|
|||||
Bill Evans is the author of "Banjo For Dummies," and “Bluegrass Banjo For Dummies,” two of the most popular banjo instructional books in the world, and is the co-author of "Parking Lot Pickers Songbook: Banjo Edition." He host nine instructional DVD projects for Homespun Tapes, the Murphy Method and AcuTab Publications. He has taught literally thousands of players all over the world in a teaching career that spans over forty years. Bill’s instruction is hands-on and practical – he wants you to get out there playing as soon as possible and have fun doing it! A very well known Freight performer, Bill has performed with David Bromberg, Bangers & Grass, Dry Branch Fire Squad, David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Jody Stecher, Laurie Lewis and Kathy Kallick, among many others. He has also taught ensemble classes at most every major bluegrass camp in the world, including the CBA Music Camps, the Walker Creek Music Camp, Sore Fingers Bluegrass week in England, Nimblefingers Bluegrass Camp in Canada, Camp Bluegrass in Texas and NashCamp Bluegrass Week in Tennessee. You can learn more about Bill by visiting www.billevansbanjo.com. For more info about the class or to see if you're a good fit, feel free to email Bill directly at bill@billevansbanjo.com or phone 510-528-1924.
