Best musical experience ever. I met Dan and Valerie and saw several other mando cases with Cafe stickers on them.
The people were extremely welcoming and considerate of novice musicians. I felt encouraged and supported to stretch and take risks the whole time. The very first breakout session, I lead a song (Amazing Grace). There were a group of people that took me under their wing, and I made some new musical friendships that I think are going to be lasting.
My SOL received admiration and I listened to someone much better play it, and it sure sounded good.
The camp was Wernick method on Friday, and Wernick combined with Fiddleheads Acoustic Jam Camp (25th year) the rest of the weekend. So D,C,G,A were not enough chords after the first day
. This caused me consternation at the first slow jam, that plus the fact that I am not there at recognizing what chords the guitar players are making was my big challenge. But I just focused on doing what I could, and getting out of my comfort zone whenever I could, and it was fine.
The workshops on Saturday and Sunday were a mixture of Wernick method and other topics. I ended up picking and choosing. One experienced musician encouraged me to take a workshop on moveable chords that was labeled "intermediate". Ignore the label, said he, that's information you need to have. He was right, it was a great introduction! I also went to a session on soloing on pentatonic scales, and I did it! Super simple and basic, but I didn't pass. Saturday afternoon everyone grouped into bands and Dan and I were together playing the blues (Howling Wolf - "Built for Comfort"). The coach was awesome about arranging something us novices could do, and I had my first experience standing up on stage. (When you mess up, just don't make the face
)
Today I went to a class on harmony singing and it was so fun. Toward the end they asked for volunteers to stand up and do the three parts, and I went up and sang the lead part. Now I want to learn more about this.
I sort of wish I signed up for the open mic and played one of the tunes from last winter's Matt Flinner Old Time 101. It would have been cool.
I stayed in a cabin and slept (if you can call it that) on a bed shaped object. That was not so awesome. Everything else was great!
Dan, I saw at least one other Tone-Gard.
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