Mondays, 7:00-8:15 pm, starting September 9
$120.00 advance / $130.00 after September 2
Register online

In this class we will learn new tunes, along with the bowings and ornaments that each tune brings up. We will explore ways to vary it within various styles: Appalachian, Celtic, French-Canadian, perhaps even a bit Cajun. We'll explore bowings, and strive to develop what Alasdair Fraser calls "our inner drummer." Along the way, we'll work to expand our knowledge of chords, scales, fiddle technique, and music theory as it applies to playing the tunes.

Erik Hoffman spends his time calling Old-Time Country Dancing and playing music (fiddle, guitar, voice, mandolin, bodhran, and other odds and ends). Erik became interested in traditional music and dance when he returned to his home town of Santa Barbara in 1980. Friends dragged him to the contra dances, and he became addicted. In 1985 he called his first dance.

In 1987, Erik took up the fiddle. Three weeks later, on a dare, he competed in the Santa Barbara Old Time Fiddle Contest and won third place in beginning fiddle in a field of three. The following year he place first in intermediate fiddle. In 1990, Erik came in third in advanced traditional singing.

Traveling all over the state, Erik has become well known from Arcata to San Diego, and from Carson City, Nevada, to the Bay Area. He has also toured the United States extensively, on both coasts, and in between. He has been staff at a number of festivals, including the Bay Area Country Dance Society's American Week, Family Week, and Spring Weekend (Monte Toyon); CD*NY's Hudson Guild; Sacramento's Echo Summit; California Traditional Music Society's Solstice and New Year's festivals; San Luis Obispo radio KCBX's Live Oak Music Festival; New Mexico Folk Music & Dance's Memorial Day Weekend; and Seattle's Slugs at Sunrise Music and Dance Camp.

Erik loves the spirit and joy that is passed along with traditional music and dance, and loves to share his enthusiasm.

Visit Erik's website