Zoom Bluegrass Jam Class w/Dix Bruce

I've taught an in-person group bluegrass jam class at The Freight and Salvage in Berkeley, CA, for the past few years. In January 2021 we decided to try the class online through The Freight and Salvage's Zoom setup. It worked out well and we're starting up a new session on 3/8/21.

The weekly class (Monday, 3/8/21 - Monday, 4/12/21 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM Pacific Time) 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 (for those who use a capo!), bluegrass harmony singing, playing along with waltz time songs, to fiddle tunes and much more while becoming familiar with the unspoken rules of bluegrass jam etiquette.

I'll get things rolling by leading/teaching a few songs and discussing bluegrass jamming. I’ll concentrate on what players and singers need to do to bring songs to a group for jamming. Students can work on playing and singing along and are invited to bring their own songs and tunes to the jam. Participants 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.

Sessions will be online through Zoom and due to the built-in transmission delay participants will be muted when we sing and play songs together.

Pre-requisites: This class is for singers and 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. We aim the class at players who have had little or no experience jamming with others.

We'd love to have jammers from outside the SF Bay Area join us. Our January 2021 class included pickers from the US midwest and Eastern Canada. The more the merrier! If you're interested, here's the link: https://secure.thefreight.org/221/bluegrassjamclass

Best, Dix Bruce