Evening & Weekend Classes
Each online session consists of four weekly lessons. Local students are encouraged to participate in Caffe Lena’s jams and open mics in order to further develop skills and become part of a folk music community.
To ask a question about the Caffe Lena School of Music or learn more about scholarships please email musicschool@caffelena.org
Wednesdays Oct 20, 27, Nov 3, 10 2021 7:00pm – 8:30pm ET / $165
This is an online class via Zoom platform
SINGING WITH YOUR HEART, SOUL, AND BODY
In this workshop we will move our bodies, soften our hearts, open our mouths and let our voices out to play. We will be spending time together in the energy of learning all about how our instrument works and what it is that we can do with it!
With an emphasis on vocal health and self-care, we’ll use a combination of vocal warm-ups and work-outs – traditional and non-traditional – to help relax, release and strengthen the voice, making it more flexible and reliable.
This is a 4 part series – In Weeks #1 and #2 we will concentrating on the foundational elements of how to put together a simple, personal and compassionate vocal practice. Weeks #3 and #4 we turn our attention to vocal presentation/performance – applying the tips and tools offered in the warm-up sessions to the singing and interpretation of songs.
Each student will get a chance to bring in a song and work with Sloan individually.
Learn More about Sloan at SloanWainwright.com
Sundays Oct 31, Nov 7, 14, 2021 1:30-3:00pm ET/ 12:30pm CT/11:30AM MT/10:30 AM PT
Wear a costume to the first class and win a Caffe Lena T-shirt!
This is an Online Class via the ZOOM platform. All sessions are recorded and made available to registered students for review forever and a day!
Abstracting Fiddle Melodies for Clawhammer Banjo: Fiddlers sure can play a lot of notes! Playing note-for-note with them on the banjo is possible, but you run the risk of sounding more pedantic than artful in your accompaniment. In this workshop you’ll learn to interpret fiddle tunes banjoistically: which notes to leave out, how banjo ornaments differ from fiddle ornaments, and how to harness the power of old time heterophony!
Anticipated Notes and Ghost Strokes: Beginning a melody a half beat before it’s expected can add forward motion to your playing, and those anticipated notes need the space of a ghost stroke to make their full impact. In this workshop you’ll learn basic exercises to build muscle memory for these techniques and apply them to a well known tune. Let the syncopation begin!
Slides from Every Angle: The slide is one of the most powerful tools in a clawhammer player’s toolbox—it helps with switching positions, gesturing at melodic passages, and adding swagger to forgettable moments in a tune. In this workshop we’ll practice drop thumb slides, lazy slides, and melodic slides, then add slides to a well known tune.
Playing in 7th Fret Position: The fiddle has a much larger range than the banjo in its first position. This is why you’ve probably found yourself searching around on the 1st string past the 5th fret trying to keep up during the high part of a tune. That’s where the 7th fret position comes in! In this workshop, you’ll learn the surprisingly straightforward physicality and intuitiveness of the 7th fret position and how it can help you unlock those high-pitched, notey sections of your favorite fiddle tunes.
Check out Cameron’s podcast about all things old time and banjo: Get Up in the Cool!
Tuesdays November 2, 9, 16, 23 2021 at 7:00 ET / $165
This is an online class via Zoom platform
Designed as a follow up to “Introduction to Bodhran: The Irish Frame Drum,” this course provides a space for students to gather over zoom and practice their bodhran rhythms and techniques. Structured as a play-along, the group will play along with the instructor to various bodhran rhythms, exploring tone, emphasis, and rhythmic patterning. There will be ample time for discussion and question/answer, as well as space for going over particular techniques in more focused practice. This is a space for having fun with your bodhran in a group setting, and to keep learning together with the guidance of a 20-year self-taught bodhran player.
Class will meet for 60 minutes
The instructor maintains the right to cancel or postpone if minimum enrollment of four (4) students is not met. So bring your friends!
Ideas for the Curious and Adventurous Roots-music Musician
These are online classes via Zoom platform
Special Two Session Workshop Dec 11 & 12 Online
2pm ET/1pmCT/12nMT/11amPT / $80 / two 90 minute sessions
Class runs 90 minutes. Classes are recorded and made available registered students for review after the class. $80
Aimed at open-minded lovers of folk, old-time and bluegrass music, this workshop’s goal is to explore some ways to practice and apply some outside-the-box musical ideas often associated with jazz and classical music in a more Bluegrass, Old-time and Folk music context.
Topics will include
1) a system to changing chords to songs you know and loved
2) ways to approach improvisation and re-interpretation of melodies
3) musical modes (dorian, phrygian, aeolian, etc) and how to apply them
4) systematic approaches to arranging traditional music with your own unique twists and turns.
Some of this will be guitar-specific, but all instruments welcome as the concepts are universal.
More information here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/182901913547
The instructor maintains the right to cancel or postpone if minimum enrollment of four (4) students is not met. So bring your friends!
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