A report from guitar camp

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neverfoundthetime
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 4:14 am

A few minutes later, Pierre raised his hand and asked where he can find these bunnies.
That's one you have to be in the room for!!!

Your tales of camp life have triggered memories Dennis. I spent my first summer in America at Camp Choconut, Friendsville PA. as the waterfront counsellor and we had the same rule but it never occurred to me to yell out "Bunny check!" every 15 mins due to safety protocol.... wish I'd thought of it first, it would have been a running gag all summer long... 1976 by the way, Bicentennial year. It was also at that camp that I first experienced a fiddle joining in with guitar and singing, I was sold on the spot!


dennisg
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 9:59 am

Thanks, everyone, for the very nice comments. I'll second what Marc said about a week at guitar camp being one of the best vacations I've ever had. There aren't many experiences in life where all you have to do for a week is to learn, play, and listen to music -- in the company of supportive and generous people. Really, unforgettable.

I should mention something about the student concert: it's terrifying. You're not only playing in front of all the campers; you're also playing for a group of professional musicians. That's some rarified air for a hacker like me. I will say this, though: I was far less nervous this time than I was two years ago at my first camp, and I probably have my recent experience at open-mics to thank for that.

I have nothing but respect and admiration for Pierre, Marc, David, and Jim who all showed tremendous courage by stepping out on that stage. Even Shelby was nervous, and she's been performing in public since she was about 10. And, in case you're wondering, Marc performed La Bamba, David and Pierre did a duet of John Barleycorn Must Die, and Jim performed Van Morrison's And it Stoned Me.

David, Jim, Pierre ... what were your impressions of your first guitar camp?


cosmicmechanic
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 10:20 am

Hi all,
I can't spare much time for the forum at the moment, just thought I'd give a heads up and share a few thoughts while the memory of camp is fresh.

All us TGers gave it our best shot, participating to the hilt ... I absolutely friggin' loved it.

Some highlights ?
It was fun meeting all these guys in person ... not like meeting strangers, since their posts and videos do give a glimpse of their personnalities.

David (Catman) and I shared a bit of an adventure by performing "John Barleycorn" at the student concert.
Lady luck smiled on us by conjuring up Emily to accompany us on flute, which she did splendidly.
There were a couple of hiccups in the guitar playing and singing, but for a first time on a stage, I think we did just fine. Learned a lot from it.

It was also great to see Marc so enthusiastic about his classes: Brazilian guitar and upright bass (not the fish).

Jim is a Dylan fan, as expected. I think he would do well to explore that, the style suits him well.
Thanks again, Jim, for advising us to get familiar with the stage setup before performing.

Dennis has already done a great job describing his own camp experience.
I will add, however, that in my mind he remains Mr "Country Honk" ... he does such a rousing version of that Stone's song :)

I had 3 classes: Rythm and Drive, Intro to Swing, and Cooking up Songs

All were interesting:
Rythm and drive: Gently technical, good body coordination practice.

Intro to Swing: This being Jazz chords, was very technically challenging and actually gave me a left-sided brain ache !
I had to reserve practice time for this one in order to save my skin for the next class.

Cooking up Songs: Right-brain exercise at it's rightest. We had some great discussions ... both joyful and wistful.
I rediscovered the joys of noodling around with putting words to music (and vice-versa).

I could go on and on, but gotta run, though ... back to "real" life ... see ya !

Pierre


BobR
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 11:16 am

Well all I can say is you all had way to much fun :laugh:. Seriously though it sounds like quite an unforgettable time.

Thanks all for sharing your experiences

bob


dennisg
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 11:59 am

I have a couple photos from the camp, but for some reason the upload process is no longer working for me.


jimcjimc
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:39 pm

First of all, a Big Thanks to Dennis for instigating this guitar camp adventure! It was great to meet you and your lovely niece, Shelby.

I had a great time at camp and the highlight, of course, was meeting in person some fellow TGers, who I already felt like I knew pretty well from the forum and their videos. But it was fun to meet in person and spend some time at the camp with these guys! Dennis is a funny guy with great passion for music! Marc is one of the nicest people I met at camp. Pierre is a hoot (I think his opening line was actually, Where do they keep the inflatable bunnies? And I enjoyed a few slow jams with David - he is a great lead player!

I drove about 15 hours to reach the camp from where I live and I slept in a tent instead of a cabin, which I really enjoyed once I borrowed an air pump and got more air in my mattress pad. The setting of this camp is beautiful and I enjoyed it even more than the similar music camp I visited last summer in California, as this camp had a nicer layout, a more integrated community of students and teachers, better food, the TG friends attending, and the summer weather in the Pacific Northwest is a bit more pleasant!

One of the challenges at camp is selecting three classes from a menu of 30 classes and 16 instructors. I was satisfied with my selection of:

- the class on rhythm and drive that Pierre mentioned - the highlight for me in this class was learning the dylan song "It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry"

- the class on Brazilian guitar that Marc also took - we learned some new rhythms and the song Corcovado, which we performed as a class at the student concert (with a violin, bass, and about 6 guitars)

- a class on Chord Voicings from a Seattle singer-songwriter named Jim Page. Two highlights from that class - Jim mostly played and taught his own songs, but he took one of my first and favorite songs, dylan's You Ain't Goin Nowhere" and in about 15 minutes came up with a really cool arrangement in double drop D tuning, capo'ed at the 5th fret, with 5-6 chord voicings that captured the chords and the melody! At the beginning of one of our class sessions, I had mentioned totally guitars and Jim Page said that he was thrilled to see that TG had a lesson on a song he had written (Ivory Salamander) and that he had been trying to get in touch with Neil to thank him!

For the student concert, I chose a song I have done on TG Busking 3 chord songs: Van Morrison's And It Stoned Me. I picked this song as I figured the chords were pretty easy and I had memorized the lyrics pretty well. I even skipped my rhythm class one morning to attend a performance class and got to work on the song in the performance class on stage and with the mikes set up and got some good coaching on how to introduce the song, etc. And I chose to go up alone - just me and my guitar - for the performance - something I had never done before. It was pretty scary to be up there. The intro went fine, but once I started singing, I could hear my voice waver and crack and my strumming tighten up a bit. I made a few mistakes, but just kept going, and before you know it, the song is over! I listened to the audio recording later. One of the things I love about Van Morrison is his soulful singing. It is pretty painful to listen to my flat, off-key, lifeless vocals, so I won't be posting it. Perhaps, next camp, I will take a singing class :)

A couple of other "aha" experiences for me with the camp: Since I took up guitar, I have learned via group workshops and video lessons. I think it's time for me to take a real lesson with a live teacher to work on how to strum with a pick, loosen up my right hand, get a better groove/feel with the right hand. And two, I need to play with others more. The good news is there were 2 other students at camp who live within a few miles of my house and we agreed to get together and play!

JimcJimC - I hope that's not too long...


willem
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:10 pm

Jim,Marc,Pierre,,,great to read you adventure,,,Its gonna be time to do that too,,,Jim man,,15 hours drive thats a long,long road..but it was worth is'nt it??


michelew
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 4:48 pm

Dennis, Marc, Pierre, Jim,

Thanks for giveing us such fabulous and detailed descriptions for your camp experience. I've really enjoyed reading them. And..well now I'm DEFINITELY dead envious, you all sound like you had a FANTASTIC time. Good for you! If I ever board a plane to the States, I definitely consider the possibility of attending the camp too. You've definitely sold it well. :)

Thanks for the report. Too cool!

Shel


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neverfoundthetime
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:13 pm

Dennis, check the file size... I think we are able to upload 256k but not more... can't remember exactly...


dennisg
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Wed Aug 08, 2012 5:36 pm

Tried it again with file sizes around 200k -- still no love.


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