Sun. March 29 at 10 am til noon, in Manhattan (near 21st St. & Fifth Ave.) -- BLUES FIDDLE WORKSHOP with Suzy Thompson (known here as "Cleoma"). As I do at Blues Week in Port Townsend, I'll concentrate on the pre-war blues fiddle style that spilled over into oldtime and Cajun music, and was a crucial element in the development of bluegrass fiddling. In this 2
hour workshop, I'll teach instrumentals from the repertoire
of the great pre-war blues fiddlers like Mississippi Sheiks, Eddie
Anthony, Arthur Smith, Clifford Hayes, Wade Fruge, etc. We'll
explore the elements of early blues fiddle style: tonality, slides,
phrasing, etc. Depending on level and interest of the students, we
might also explore "how to construct a blues fiddle solo"; backing up
vocals; how to play blues in any key; hillbilly (pre-bluegrass)
blues; Cajun blues. This workshop is geared to intermediate-advanced
players, but beginners can benefit from this workshop too. Everything will be taught by ear, no written music; we'll sing phrases and then play
them over and over to get them into your brain (and fingers!). Please
DO bring a recording device, but please, no video cameras. Tuition is
$60 and requires advance registration. For more information, or to register, please email Jon Vesey:
jon@secondfiddles.comMy husband Eric is a great bluegrass guitarist and also is a wonderful teacher. He will be giving a flatpicked guitar workshop in the afternoon from 2 to 4 -- Complete info is here:
http://www.ericandsuzy.com/workshops.htm Maybe some of you Weenies want to try something different from the ever-fascinating blues fingerpicking!!
We'll be doing a gig that night at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn, a triple bill: Del Rey, Eric & Suzy Thompson, and the Second Fiddles (Jon Vesey's group).
