Banjo Workshops 2012...
Next Workshop - Sun 9th September - Last one before the Banjo Jamboree

Usual time of 3:00pm - 4:30

Hosted by
MARK WARDLE 3:00 PM TO 4:30 PM Sunday afternoons - Cost $15, Family $20


What's New?

26 August WORKSHOP
A good hard working sesion. Nice to have John F and Howard back. We worked on tunes for the BJ. Sounding terrific!

12 Aug 2012 WORKSHOP
Another great session - we played Buffalo gals, 8 More Miles, Doug's Tune, Pike County and a host more with a view to performing them at the upcoming Guildford Banjo Jamboree. Had a good picking session afterwards too at the Fyansford Hotel.

July 2012 WORKSHOP

Great to see everyone again after five weeks away. Nice to have Sarah along. We played a lot of the old standards and did some work on Doug's Tune and Pike County Breakdown. I am going to try to run more frequent workshops - see if I can get up to two a month. We shall see - next workshop is only three weeks after the last - check the date - Sun 12th Aug.

MAY 2012 WORKSHOP

A huge turnout with ten banjo's present! Thanks to everyone who came along. Again welcome to the new faces, Howard, Di and Tony. We ran through quite a lot. Including some old and some new tunes. New tunes included Doug's Tune and I Don't Love Nobody.

APRIL 2012 WORKSHOP

Great to see four new faces, Marc, Lou, John and Peter. We ran through a fair bit of stuff, Buffalo Gals, Battle of New Orleans, South Wind, Pike County Breakdown.

NOVEMBER 2011 WORKSHOP

Another small and enthusiastic group got together. We ran through Blue Moon of Kentucky(getting the timing change down), Battle of New Orleans and South Wind - a little bit of Irish!

OCTOBER 2011 WORKSHOP

A small but enthusiastic bunch got together to run through some of the old favourites. Nice to have Katherine along for the first time. We also tried out Pike County Breakdown and The Battle of New Orleans.

SEPTEMBER 2011 WORKSHOP

Sept workshop served as a great practice for the performance at the Guildford Banjo Jamboree. The performance there was a great success and it was absolutely fantastic to hear the band behind five loud banjos - music to my ears!

AUGUST WORKSHOP

August workshop was held early in the month so that I could go to the Beechworth Music camp and Kelly Pick Festival. A few of the regulars attended that camp and you can see what a great time we had by looking at Ian Fisk's marvellous photos. Here is a pic of the double bass class which I taught.

JULY WORKSHOP

A large and enthusiastic group - nice to see. We played through a lot of the old numbers including - Mountain Girls, Blue Moon,8 More Miles. Also had a look at a couple of new ones, Pike County Breakdown and Don't That Road Look Rough and Rocky? (with a key change from G to A). Tab for Pike County BD is available and a youTube Video of the banjo part and a chord chart.

JUNE WORKSHOP

We had a look at a couple of new songs - How Mountain Girls Can Love and the Tennesee watlz. Also ran through a couple of older ones. Wildwood Flower and Gold Watch and Chain. Tab and chord charts for Mountain Girls is on the Tabs page.

MAY WORKSHOP

Goodness me - I forgot to write up the may workshop. Here's what I remember... new tune - Gold Watch and Chain from the carter family ... that's about it. Chord chart for Gold Watch & Chain is avaiable on the TAB page.

MARCH WORKSHOP

Getting ready for our next performance - Tunes will be 8 More Miles to Louisville, Soldiers Joy and Worried Man Blues

FEBRUARY 2011 WORKSHOP

A very constructive get together. Good way to star the year. We played Soldiers Joy, Blue Moon of Kentucky, 8 More miles to Louisville and Worried Man. Also had a quick look at the Tenessee Waltz - more to come on that.

ALSO... mp3 of Soldiers Joy now on the mp3 page.

DECEMBER WORKSHOP

A good turn out for this final workshop for the year. Great to see Peter and his harp as well as Mick back and also Herc for the first time. We had a go at Bury Me to warm up on, continued with 8 More Miles (a work in progress) and also Soldiers Joy. Also worked a bit on Blue Moon of Kentucky. The chord charts are up for BMoK but no tab at this stage. Next workshop will be Feb 2011 - See you in the new year!

NOV WORKSHOP

A small but enthusiastic bunch got together Sunday 28th and worked on a couple of tunes. In particular we looked at 'Soldiers Joy', '8 More miles', and 'Blue Moon of Kentucky'. I have posted the simplified version of '8 more miles'. And also the tab and chord charts for 'Soldiers Joy' on the tabs page.

OPEN MIC PERFORMANCE

Well a very successful performance was completed at GFMC open Mic on Tue 9th. Thanks to all involved - the feedback has been terriffic, as was the applause after each song - a great effort from everyone - well done.

PERFORMANCE!

We have a performance coming up at the Geelong Folk Music Club open mic on Tuesday Nov 9th. Our spot will be around 8:30 pm, but it’s not a bad idea to get along a little before 8:00

Rehearsal will be on Tues  19th and 26th at 8:00 pm at my place – about ½ hr I rekon. We only have to do three numbers so at this stage it will be

Cripple Creek, Buffalo Gals and probably Bury Me Beneath the Willow.

You can see the GFMC web site at http://www.geelongfolkmusicclub.com/

I have put an mp3 on the mp3 page for the Bury Me instrumental. Also the tab for it is on the tabs page.

October Workshop

A small but enthusiastic group got together to play "You are my sunshine", "8 More miles", and some of the usual numbers. A very productive afternoon

September '10 Workshop

Well a good time was had by all - nice to have Peter Roberts along on the Harp and Adrea on Bass. We played 'Bury Me Beneath the Willow', 'I'll Fly Away', and '8 More Miles'. Also 'Wildwood Flower'. Chord charts are available on the 'Tabs' page for a lot of the songs we do now, so have a look - you can print them very easily.

I'm back! Looking to organise the next workshop on Sunday September 12th.

They didn't have a sign at the 8 mile spot, so the above photo is as close as I could get! Please send me an email if you are coming so I can make sure we all fit!

 

June '10 Workshop...

You will see I have added a guitar section. This has a few basic licks which the guitar players may want to look at.

Also the tab and tef files for the backup licks is on the tabs page

 

May '10 Workshop...

Again a great session - we worked on three tunes in particular - Skip to my Lou, Little Maggie and Cripple Creek. Also did a few back up licks and some 'double chunking'. Sieg is working on some guitar licks!

I have put a youTube video on the Tabs page of sam Bush doing 8 More Miles to Louisville. Check it out.

 

April '10 Workshop

This was another fun workshop. We covered a lot of ground, from how to practice through to a couple of new tunes. In particular we played 'Comin Round the Mountain', 'I'll fly away', and '8 more miles to Louisville'. I am looking into an alternate venue for next month. Keep your eye on the web site, and I'll keep you posted.

Next workshop will be Sunday May 23rd.

 

March '10 Workshop

March workshop was a lot of fun. We had a double bass and guitar added to the mix which made for a great sound. Along with six banjos the sound was quite awesome!

I have put the tab up for Peter's Waltzing Matilda. It is available on the tabs page. This tab also contains the melodic G scale that we looked at last workshop.

Next workshop will be April 18th.

 

Feb '10

I have fixed a few links on the site and added some extra tab and video - Peter's version of Buffalo Gals and the Aternating thumb Roll. Also the videos work slightly differently now - you need to click in the links on the right side of the page.

 

 

To book send an email to: markw@ncable.net.au