A report from guitar camp
Posted: 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.
- 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.
) 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).