A report from guitar camp

dennisg
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:09 pm

I just got back from guitar camp a couple of days ago, and I finally have time to write a note about it. Here's what made this camp one of the best experiences I've ever had:

- Being there with my niece Shelby. She was the absolute darling of camp and everyone fell in love with her. The song we did together (The Difficult Kind) at the student concert absolutely blew people away and some people actually cried. Of the three classes I had, two were with Shelby. We did a voice class together as well as a jug band class. I had a sense beforehand that Shelby would enjoy going to guitar camp, but the whole experience was so much richer and more profound for her than I would ever have expected.

- It was really fun to be there with David (Catman), Marc, Pierre, and Jim. Of the group, I knew Jim the least well, but he turned out to be a very nice guy. On the very first day of camp, the people who were first-timers sat through a brief orientation. Since the camp is located only a few meters away from a lake, we were advised never to go swimming or boating without taking along a buddy. A few minutes later, Pierre raised his hand and asked where he can find these bunnies. This pretty much set the stage for what a week with Pierre was like.

- Part of what makes this camp so amazing is the close proximity the campers have to the teachers. The teachers sleep in rooms with students, brush their teeth next to them, eat with them, and have many conversations with them. The teachers, by the way, are some of the best musicians around. It's startling, really, to be sitting outside in a chair, playing guitar and looking at the beautiful lake, and have a world-class musician walk up to you to tell you that he (or she) is enjoying your playing. Or just to chat.

- There were three very moving musical experiences I had. The first was when a bunch of us were just sitting around chatting, and one person was playing the guitar. It was in the evening and we were mostly just goofing off and singing Motown songs. I asked the guy with the guitar if he'd mind if I played it, and he was happy to hand it over to me. I started playing the opening riff to The Temptations song called My Girl, a very recognizable riff. Immediately people started clustering around, and when I started singing it, about 30 people joined in. At some point, I looked up to see the faces of several prominent guitarists who were gathered around me because they were loving what they were hearing, and everyone just belted out the song. I was thinking to myself, Holy shit, I can't believe I'm sitting here playing the guitar for these people -- but I managed to stay relaxed and hold it together. That's a fairly common theme at camp -- the informality of it all and the completely supportive atmosphere. However you play (and there's the entire spectrum of abilities at camp) is totally fine. Great players sit and listen to beginners and vice versa, everyone appreciating what the others have to offer.

The second moving experience took place at what's called a slow jam. Every day after classes, there would be several jams around camp, all of them set up spontaneously. The only one that was structured was the slow jam whose modus operandi was to allow people to play easy songs (3 or 4 chords) so that inexperienced guitar players could experience what it's like to play with other people. More-experienced players would participate, too, in order to practice playing leads. The jams were usually lead by a different teacher each day, and some teachers would show up and participate just because the jams can be fun. The leader, one day, suggested we try to play the song Under the Boardwalk (a song I love). He asked if anyone wants to sing it, so I volunteered. I started singing it and one of the teachers (a blues musician by the name of Josh White) joined in on harmony. It was thrilling for me to be singing with this guy. When it was over, we gave each other a big hug because we both had such a good time.

And the final moving experience was performing The Difficult Kind. One of the amazing things about the camp is the student concert. Of the 130 or so campers, about 65 of us volunteered to perform at the concert. Amazingly, all of the teachers are available to be backup musicians and singers, should we need them. On the second day of camp, I recruited an incredible fiddle player and also a bass player to join me and Shelby. Because these guys were in such demand for the concert, they were really only available for one very brief rehearsal. The fiddle player asked me and Shelby to do the song for him, and about halfway through the song, he started crying because he was so moved by the beauty of Shelby's voice and the harmonies he was hearing. On the night of the performance, I ran through the chords quickly for the two musicians, since they hadn't heard them in a few days, and we went on stage about 10 minutes later. It's always been my dream to add violin to that song, and this guy made a dream come true for me. I couldn't be happier with the performance. You'll find a recording of it in a separate thread.

- Marc, David, Pierre, and Jim all had experiences that will stay with them for a long time. In addition to all we learned in the classes, the access we had to the teachers, the support we received from fellow campers, and just the extremely fun social nature of the camp were things we all want to experience again in the future. I expect to do another camp in two years.


willem
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 2:38 pm

Dennis ,Shelby,Marc,David,Jim and Pierre Bunny I love to hear it was such a great time,,still a dream for me do such here in Holland and I am very glad for you people it came thru..


Willem


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daryl
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 3:23 pm

Wow.


RicksPick
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:32 pm

WOW 2


tovo
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 4:38 pm

A great description of the event Dennis. Not hard to imagine Shelby making a major impact, I'm looking forward to going to the performance thread and watching your video post once I have finished here. The concept of spending several days totally immersed in music has me very excited and I think I will make an effort to get to one. I'm so glad you had chance to meet some more TGers and I'm sure all of you got a lot from the experience. Thanks so much for the very interesting post.


Lavallee
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:20 pm

Had a lot of fun meeting with Dennis (really enjoyed the discussions and he made the camp so much easier by having an extra year of experience, an excellent guitar player and singer, Shelby (very mature young lady with so much talent who felt at home in the camp even though the majority of people were 40 and up) , David (great sense of humor and an excellent guitar player who will need to post something on TG soon :woohoo: ) and Jim (had many discussions , always ready to help and fun guy to be with) . I already knew Pierre with who I have made a number of traveling on TG meetings and is always enjoyable to be with.

It is one thing meeting someone for an evening but spending a full week with 5 new people could have been a little challenging. Not at all !!! It was a perfect week with no glitch what so ever. I am certain that someone coming on his own for the first time would have a great time. But the fact that our group knew each other through Tg made it an even greater experience.

This camp (first experience for me) was one of the best vacation I ever had. As Dennis mentioned, the availability of the teachers was amazing. Half the people in the camp were newbies, the other half was a mixture of multiple years of attending the camp. Many of them had been attending for 10 years and many for 20 years and some even 30 years. What was really fun was that there were no division between the newbies and the experienced campers. During the meals, per example, anybody was always welcome to sit anywhere among people not knowing you. Everybody would go out of his way to make the newbies feel comfortable and welcome. It was fairly common that our group would arrive separately at different time so we were sitting individually with other people and it was as enjoyable as sitting together.

Everybody at the camp was there to enjoy learning and playing music, so most of the discussions were based on that. Fun people to be with.

We all signed the banner as being TGers part of the Puget camp. Thanks Chas for sending it to Dennis.

Regarding the classes Dennis mentioned, I took Brazilian guitar which was an introduction class to Bossa Nova. We learned a piece called Corcovado, which our class presented during the student night. The teacher , Enson, was not just showing the chords but the mood for the rhythm. I also had an introduction on the vertical acoustic bass (not the fish :) ) My son has an electric bass at home and I will continue to explore this instrument. The teacher, Mick, is someone that everybody would like to have as a neighbor. On the first period of the day I took 2 days of rhythm and then 3 days of fingerpicking in blues (but it was also for blue grass).

The teachers night was quite impressive as each of them presented a song or 2 with their friends. It was amazing to see all those professionals playing great music, one song after another. On the student night, Denis and Shelby presented (incredible performance), then Dennis on his own (with other musicians), then Pierre and Dave (with Emily playing the flute), Jim on his own and myself with 2 musicians. Dennis was a master of ceremony for a group of people (each MC (master of ceremony) would present about 10-12 people). The MC would introduce himself, then present the upcoming musicians and while they were getting ready would entertain the crowd. Some MC were brief, other were making a joke every now and then. Dennis was by far the best one. He was well prepared with very funny comments and trivias. it was like like he had done this professionally for a long time.

I am targeting to get back to the camp in 2 years

Marc


millponddave
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 6:55 pm

That sounds like it was a great experience. What camp was it and where could I find more information on it ?

Dave


Lavallee
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 8:21 pm

millponddave wrote:
That sounds like it was a great experience. What camp was it and where could I find more information on it ?

Dave
HI Dave it is called Puget Sound Guitar Workshop. It is about an hour from Seattle, WA, USA. Just google the name and you will find the site.

Marc


suziko
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 10:39 pm

Dennis and Marc,

I really enjoyed reading both of your descriptions of your time at camp!! It sounds like so much fun, whether you're with a group of friends or not. Maybe I can join you all in 2 years, too!

Suzi


millponddave
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Tue Aug 07, 2012 11:20 pm

Thanks, I'll probably check it out for next year. I live in Utah so it's not too far away.

Dave


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