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Little Folk, with Aaron Burnett

Fun music classes for kids with Aaron Burnett at the Folk Exchange, 211 Bannatyne Avenue. Suggested age 3–5.

Each Session $15, for 1 child and 1 parent or caregiver
All 4 sessions $50
Extra child $5 per session

2009 Little folk registration form (PDF)

Long-time educator Aaron Burnett uses bluegrass sounds to teach music to young people. His educational songs are sure to keep the little ones singing, dancing and having fun while they pick up great musical skills and knowledge. Each 45-minute Little Folk session will teach children through songs, dances and rhythmic play. “Little Folk” will keep kids up and moving, introducing new, educational themes through interactive songs each session. And, as a bonus, Aaron’s wife Kim Burnett will introduce some American Sign Language (ASL).

Sessions:

• Get Off the Couch on Saturday, September 26, 11:00 a.m.
• Call of the Wild on Saturday, October 24, 11:00 a.m.
• Pajama Party on Saturday, November 21, 11:00 a.m.
• Folk Band on Saturday, January 9, 11:00 a.m.

Mandolin & Song

Intermediate Mandolin with Jaxon Haldane, 6 Saturdays, October 3 – November 7, 2009, in the Folk Exchange, 211 Bannatyne Ave, Winnipeg. Early-bird registration $120 until September 12, $135 after.

2009 Mandolin and Song registration form (PDF)

Do you play mandolin and desire a more comprehensive understanding of the instrument and its applications?

This series of instructional workshops will delve into the fundamentals of the mandolin as a rhythm and lead instrument. Learn new songs, incorporate new techniques into your skill set and gain a better understanding of song structure to make you a better jammer. The full program runs six weeks and each session is one hour in length.

Topics to be covered:

• Basics of mandolin construction and composition
• The role of the mandolin in different styles of music
• Open chords
• Right-hand techniques (picking styles)
• Two-finger chords and inversions
• Tremolo picking
• The major and minor scales and their relationship
• Chord composition
• Basics of song structure – learn to infer/predict chord changes by ear
• Closed chords – 3 and 4-finger chords
• Monroe 101 – basic tricks from the inventor of bluegrass

Once simply a parlour instrument, the mandolin has become an integral component of string-band music over the past eighty years. Do you play mandolin and desire a more comprehensive understanding of the instrument and it’s applications? This series of instructional workshops will delve into the fundamentals of the mandolin as a rhythm and lead instrument. Learn new songs, incorporate new techniques into your skill set and gain a better understanding of song structure to make you a better jammer. The full program runs six weeks and each session is one hour in length.

Photo: Brian Goldschmied

As a songwriter, singer and multi-instrumentalist instructor Jaxon Haldane has become a mainstay of the Winnipeg roots music scene. As a member of the D. Rangers he has performed and collaborated with many great musicians across North America and Europe. And more recently, as a recording engineer and producer, he has assisted in the making of several albums for Romi Mayes, David Essig, Lindsay Jane, and the late Willie P. Bennett, to name a few.

With a strong reverence for all things born of the blues, his own songs reflect a long history of North American music with emphasis on bluegrass, rock and roll, western swing, honky-tonk and the Texas folk-song tradition.

Little Folk with Aaron Burnett, 2008

Each Session $15 (for one Parent/caregiver and child)
All 4 sessions $50
Extra Child $5 (per session)

Long-time educator Aaron Burnett uses bluegrass sounds to teach music to young people. His educational songs are sure to keep the little ones singing, dancing and having fun while they pick up great musical skills and knowledge.Each Little Folk session will teach children through songs, dances and rhythmic play. “Little Folk” will keep kids up and moving, introducing new, educational themes through interactive songs each session. And, as a bonus, Aaron’s wife Kim Burnett will introduce some American Sign Language (ASL).

Little Folk was featured on CBC TV show Living Winnipeg, Click HERE to see clip.

Blues Harmonica I

Instructor: Gerald LaRoche

Whether you’re just interested in learning the basics or aspire to play at the highest level, here’s where you start: with basic blues chords, licks and solos. Play along with 12-bar blues standards in just over two hours.

Blues Harmonica 2

Instructor: Gerald LaRoche

Develop bending, tone and other techniques, repertoire and styles.
Prerequisite:Harmonica for Beginners, Blues I and/or the ability to blowsingle, clear notes.

Gerald LaRoche: BioThe Juno Award winning master of the harmonica has been compared to the legends of the harmonica: Larry Adler, Sonny Terry and Sonny Boy Williamson. The sounds he creates with his myriad harmonicas is truly astonishing. In addition to over 60 various harmonicas, he also plays the penny whistle, Indian mouthbow, fiddle bow, jaw harp and other percussive toys to create his unique fusion of musical styles: French-Canadian, Zydeco, Cajun, boogie, African rhythms, Blues and Celtic. Gérald Laroche is a master of his instrument. The sounds he creates with a myriad of harmonicas is truly astonishing. www.geraldlaroche.com>

 

 

Banjo and Song

Do you pick a banjo and want to learn more than just how to play Cripple Creek? Maybe you would like to learn it in a different key or add some blues notes? This interactive seminar will leave you with a more comprehensive understanding of your instrument. Learn solid, foundational concepts that can be applied to your playing right away. This workshop takes place over six Saturdays in the fall. Each session is one hour in length.

Intermediate Banjo

Instructor: Tim Osmond
Prerequisites: Applicants should have a basic understanding of bluegrass banjo rolls and a basic knowledge of how string instruments work. The focus here is on acquiring the skills you’ll need to grow as a player. Students who have between one to four years experience or equivalent over a longer period of time will feel most comfortable.

Tim Osmond is Manitoba’s bluegrass folklorist and multi-instrumentalist. Tim started playing guitar when he was 16, playing the music he heard on pop radio and songs he learned from friends. Tim didn’t pick up the banjo until he was 23 after a friend of his bought the Deliverance soundtrack. It was then that he was instantly inspired by Eric Weissberg’s playing on these traditional songs. Tim takes his inspiration from the very roots of these styles all the way to the variations on those themes he hears from his contemporaries, and brings them to the table each time he plays with the Winnipeg bluegrass quartet The Doug & Jess Band www.dougandjess.com , The Kitcheneers www.myspace.com/kitcheneers  or as a solo artist. Tim has played at festivals and events from coast to coast in Canada alongside such artists as Fred Eaglesmith, Willie P. Bennett, Romi Mayes, D. Rangers, House of Doc, Old Man Luedecke, The Foggy Hogtown Boys, Dirk Powell and many more.For the past three years, Tim has hosted a successful acoustic jam Monday nights in his home drawing anywhere from 8-28 people a week. Through this process he has not only influenced a number of people to play, become better players and sing more frequently but he has also been influenced by the great number of musicians that have crossed his path through these jams.Tim has many years experience teaching bluegrass banjo and tends to shy away from the reliance of sheet music. He likes to steer his students toward a more practical application of the banjo when playing with others and using ones imagination to come up with their own ways to express themselves on their instrument.

Songwriting 101

Instructor: Keri Latimer
Hone your songwriting skills and learn ways to make your songs come alive with guidance from Nathan frontwoman and main songwriter Keri Latimer.Explore new arrangements, play with language and find new ways of saying and seeing. In these sessions, you’ll learn how to generate ideas, find the right words to express those ideas, and organize rhythms and rhymes into verses, choruses and bridges. Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned writer, this course will help you brainstorm ideas and structure your lyrics.Songwriting is a rewarding form of expression.

Keri Latimer is the primary singer songwriter for the Winnipeg based band “Nathan”. She writes about lives on the prairies or the Titanic or Noah’s Arc. She compares the wind to vampires and politicians to scarecrows that secretly dream of being crows and sets them to melodies that twist and turn and take you where you weren’t expecting to go.The group Nathan has garnered critical acclaim, winning a Juno Award, multiple Prairie Music and Canadian Folk Music Awards, and has been nominated for the Socan Echo Songwriting Prize.

Guitar & Song II

Instructor: James Keelaghan

Prerequisite: Basic chords and strumming, and/or Guitar & Song

Be your own Juke Box - Learn a new song or two each session with James Keelaghan. This 6-week class provides an opportunity for intermediate guitarists to learn tunes and styles by popular artists.

James Keelaghan

James Keelaghan is a Juno award–winning songwriter and a two-time first place winner in the folk category of the U.S.A. Songwriting Competition. He has honed his finely crafted performances over a career spanning twenty years.

Intro to Harmonica (for beginners)

Catriona Sturton

Instructor: Catriona Sturton
What harmonica key wards off alligators? Why can you bend the notes on a harmonica? Catriona Sturton answers all your harmonica questions with practical and entertaining tips. While introducing the basics of harmonica technique (how to hold the harmonica, play notes, chords, trills, bends, riffs and improvised melodies), she also demonstrates some advanced skills and songs for everyone to enjoy. “It’s surprising how many people dream of being able to play the harmonica,” says Sturton, “but are not sure how to get started.” After attending Sturton’s harmonica workshop, not only will you be able to play a simple song, but you will also have a better appreciation of harmonica virtuosos.To participate, bring a diatonic (10-hole) harmonica in the key of C.

Catriona Sturton has been playing the harmonica for 14 years and got her start as a teenager in Ottawa, studying from Larry “The Bird” Mootham. She has taught harmonica in Toronto and Guelph, and her harmonica playing has backed up Neko Case, Guy Terriffico, Dutchy Mason, Al Tuck and others. Catriona currently studies with Carlos del Junco – one of Canada’s best harmonica players.

Hear more about Catriona’s harmonica workshops at http://www.ladyfestottawa.com/press.php

BLUEGRASS BANJO FOR BEGINNERS

Award-winning banjo player Alvin Elias

Instructor: Alvin Elias

For bluegrass lovers who want to learn to pick out a tune! In these group banjo lessons, learn banjo terminology, how to tune your banjo and how to use finger picks and a capo. Instructor Alvin Elias will teach you chords for both lead and back-up banjo, solo and ensemble playing. You’ll learn how to play some basic banjo tunes like “Cripple Creek” and “Old Joe Clark,” plus build up a repertoire of licks and embellishments.Instructor Alvin Elias has played in bluegrass bands throughout his life, including The Keystone Bluegrass Quartet and, most recently, with The Dry River Boys. With different bands, he’s played several times at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, plus other festivals across the country. Alvin has twice been the Western Canadian Banjo Champion, and played on Aaron Burnett’s Juno-nominated children’s bluegrass album.