TOPIC: Guitar camp in Ohio

Last weekend (10/22-5) I attended a guitar workshop at the Fur Peace Ranch. It is located outside Athens, Ohio. Thought I'd share my experience with you.

This was my third trip to FPR, my first two were in 2007 and 2008, both times to take a weekend bass guitar workshop with Jack Casady, probably my favorite bass player in the blues/rock area. And a great teacher and entertaining fellow. Quite different from his stage persona where he never speaks!!!

This time it was a guitar class with the owner/operator of FPR, Jorma Kaukonen. He is one half, with Jack Casady, of the duo known as Hot Tuna. Previously he was a founding member and lead guitar player for the Jefferson Airplane, back in the old days in SF, and he is even an inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... He started teaching in college before he was well known, and still teaches workshops at FPR all through spring/summer and fall. A blues fingerstyle player. Sessions are Friday afternoon and evening, Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon, and Monday morning.

This was the annual Tribute to The Reverend Gary Davis Weekend and also teaching were the Rev Robert Jones and Roy Book Binder, both really fine blues players. If you don't know who Gary Davis is, have a look on youtube. He influenced many modern fingerstyle players. Roy took lessons from Rev Davis in the early sixties and toured with him, as did other well known blues players like Woody Mann.

FPR is a wonderful place. You get to stay on site, get all your meals included and just play guitar (or bass) all weekend with few distractions. Workshops are interspersed with down times for practice or informal jams. Roy held court on the front porch most of the weekend pickin', singin' and telling stories. Very entertaining. Saturday and Sunday nights (Sunday afternoon is for student performances in the concert hall followed by some informal performances by one or more instructors)there is a big bonfire lit that has benches all around, for a big (or small) communal jam session. Sunday night's jam went on past midnight and was a lot of fun. Rev. Jones joined us for the fun. We went through Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, and even some Grateful Dead and other assorted tunes.

Saturday night is concert night at the FPR concert hall, open to the public. Usually all or some of the instructors are performing. Here are a couple of videos from my Saturday night at Fur Peace Station just up on FPR's youtube account.





My photo album from the weekend

s175.photobucket.com/albums/w156/elsdvm2...ch%20October%202010/

We learned four tunes over the weekend, and were given recordings of Jorma as well as tabs and notes to work on at home.Over the course of the weekend every student gets some one on one time with the instructor and his teaching assistant, a really fine player/performer/writer herself, Marjorie Thompson.

Somehow I ended up in the picture Jorma had taken of him and Roy for his blog....look at the 10/25/2010 entry chronicling the weekend workshop and concert.

jormakaukonen.com/cracksinthefinish/

A wonderful weekend, highly recommended to all. They have classes at most skill levels with some of the finest instructors and players around.

www.furpeaceranch.com

I also have to say that seeing how some of these well known instructors teach and the methods they use, I have an even greater appreciation for my lessons with FM and see even more clearly how good his approach to teaching really is.

I came home with lots of new stuff to learn, new licks and riffs and songs, and lots of motivation to keep practicing and learning. Also playing the bass makes the work even tougher to time budget, but it's all good!

Take some lessons from a pro!

Sounds Great! I think you may want to perform a little number for the class?

Ummm. let me get back to you on that. Need more practice. And to learn how to sing....;-(

Is it possible to "learn to sing"????

I,ve been trying for 45 years. I'm familure with FPR, Jack, Jorma, Hot Tuna and the Airplane. It has been some of my favorite music since I was old enough to put a disk on a phonograph and move the switch to 33 1/3.

Tigerpaws
That was my sarcastic sense of humor afoot here....

Screendude:I figured some of these "bluegrass" folks might not know about them...

When I said "few distractions" I left out one favorite distraction topic of the weekend- it's amazing how many people want to talk about guitars!!! And tonewoods and strings and all that sort of stuff.

On the upside, I did get to play several REALLY nice guitars over the weekend....for instance a Santa Cruz and a Collings and a couple of rather expensive Martins. And a folding VoyageAir travel guitar. I need to get one of those, they're pretty neat. And a lot of people wanted to play my Gibson....