What's On The Schedule????
Hello Dulcimer Playing Friends,
I want to invite you to my "Kicking Off The Summer" workshops and concert on June 5, 2010. "Kicking Off The Summer" will be held in my parent's home at 169 Azalea Circle, Madison, Mississippi.
The morning workshop will be from 9:30 to 11:00 and will be directed to the advanced beginner to intermediate level player. The after noon workshop will be from 3:00 to 4:30 and will be directed to the advanced intermediate to advanced level player. The concert will be that evening starting at 7:00. This is an outdoor event so please dress comfortably. If it rains we will reschedule. Please bring your lawn chairs and music stands. I will have CDs, mountain dulcimers and strings for sale as well as loaner mountain dulcimers if someone needs one.
Please send me an email to get a copy of the registration form or if you have any questions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Western Carolina University - Dulcimer Week
I want to let everyone know that I will be teaching at the 11th Annual Mountain Dulcimer Week that is held at Western Carolina University. The dates are July 18-23, 2010. This is going to be a very exciting week for participants. Dulcimer Week is packed with some amazing instructors and wonderful workshops for all levels of players. I'm really excited to be included in the instructor line up for the week. I will be teaching Advanced Players during the morning along with three different electives classes in the afternoon.
My advanced skills class is called Playing What Your Hear. This is a new workshop for me and I am looking forward to teaching it to you. If you would like more information about this workshop please feel free to contact me at dulcimermusic@yahoo.com or check out Mountain Dulcimer Week's web site at http://dulcimer.wcu.edu .
To let you know a little about my electives, I will be teaching two old favorites: Finger Picking and Flat Picking on Wednesday, this is a beginner level workshop; Adding to Your Repertoire and Learning the Fret Board on Thursday, this is a beginner level workshop. My third elective is focused toward the intermediate level player and is called Q & A with Jeff Hames. Bring your instruments! We will discuss things like using hot licks, the proper way to do string bends so you get the sound you want. Why do you use string bends? Harmonics? What are they and how and when to use them? These are just some basic skills that every intermediate level player should be incorporating into their playing. What about the 1 1/2 and 8 1/2 frets? What can you do with these extra frets? We will also talk about different strings, different capos, turners, etc. Have you ever thought about competing in Mountain Dulcimer Contest? Let's talk about what you need to do about preparing for competitions? So start writing your questions down and bring them to class and we will have an open discussion along with working on some of our skills.
I also wanted to let everyone know about the scholarships that are available this year at Mountain Dulcimer Week. Western Carolina University is offering four adult scholarships and four youth scholarships. The deadline for applications to be received is April 1, 2010 and the winners will be announced by April 16th.
CEU Credits are also available when you attend WCU Mountain Dulcimer Week. Contact Bobby Hensley at WCU for details.
Again if you have any questions please feel free to contact me or check out the web site at http://dulcimer.wcu.edu .
Hope to see you all in July at Mountain Dulcimer Week!
Keep Playing The Music!
Jeff Hames
_________________________________________________________________
Dulcimer Journeys
As my journey continues in the dulcimer world I find myself meeting some amazing individuals that enjoy the dulcimer as much as I do. It is also comforting to me to see the number of young people that are getting involved with the dulcimer because I know the dulcimer will not be forgotten. When I get a chance to meet these young people and get to hear their music I understand my place in the dulcimer community a little better and I set my goals a little higher for myself.
Let me introduce you to one of these amazing young dulcimer players that I've had the privilege to work and jam with.
Picture taken by Jeff Samsel
This is Nathaniel Samsel age 10. He's been playing the mountain dulcimer now for about two years and his musical talent is growing by leaps and bounds. Nathaniel will be competing for the first time in the Southern Regional Mountain Dulcimer Competition this year. This competition is held during the Dulcimer Jamboree in Mt View, AR at the Ozark Folk Center. I first met Nathaniel a couple of year ago at the NGFDA Fall Festival at Unicoi State Park. Nathaniel and his Dad were in my workshops and I caught my ears tuning in to Nathaniel's playing. I got a chance to work with Nathaniel again at the Southern Strings Dulcimer Festival that is held in Hattiesburg, MS and I have to say I was amazed.
Picture taken by Jeff Samsel
If you haven't made plans to attend the Dulcimer Jamboree and the Southern Regional Dulcimer Competition this April you should.
As I continue my journey and I find more young people who are setting their goals to become future National Champions I will let you know about these amazing young players so you can be looking for them. Nathaniel Samsel is one to watch!
_________________________________________________________________
Update on Morrison Elementary
5th & 6th Grade Dulcimer Students
These students are working hard preparing for their Spring Concert. Along with their practice time the students are still involved in the New / Young Dulcimer Players Forum. Our first forum was held in February and I was honored to have Susan Trump sit in as a Host for the 6th graders forum. Susan was impressed with these students and their questions about arranging and composing. The students seem to be equally impressed with the ability to feel connected to the dulcimer community and be able to discuss their topics with other dulcimer instructors.
I am thankful to have a great list of other hosts that have agreed to be a part of the school forums and their willingness to share their knowledge with these young people.
This is a book that the Morrison Elementary School Dulcimer Students put together for me showing their appreciation and thanking Dan Landrum and I for including them in an article in the Dulcimer Players News titled "Tradition Rocks" (Volume 35 No. 1 Winter 2009). This issue of Dulcimer Players News spot lights some of the young people that are active in the dulcimer community today. You can subscribe to Dulcimer Players New by clicking on this link: Dulcimer Players News . This is a great magazine and a valuable tool for any dulcimer player.
_______________________________________________________________
Morrison Elementary School
On September 26, 2008, I was privileged to be asked to teach two workshops at Morrison Elementary School in California. The two classes I taught were 5th and 6th grade mountain dulcimer students. It was very exciting to me to be able to meet these students that are also a part of the New / Young Dulcimer Players Forum. With help from their teacher, Lori Knight, and the schools administration we have set up a forum just for these student. The Forum works very much the same way as the monthly forum does except that it takes place during their actual class time and the student are all in the schools media center using the computers. We have also arranged for other hosts to join in so these students get to discuss topics with other mountain dulcimer instructors that they may have never gotten to meet.
These are Thank You Notes sent to me by the dulcimer students at Morrison Elementary
I am amazed at the forum topic suggestions that the students have submitted to me. As with many schools, the budget for art related programs is tight so the forum gives these students the ability to learn from other instructors without leaving their school. The students enjoy the ability to interact with others in the dulcimer community through the forum. If you would like to read an article from the Whittier Daily News in California about my visit to Morrison Elementary here is a link: Morrison Elementary School .
If you know of a school in your area that might be interested in becoming a part of the New / Young Dulcimer Players Forum by having their own forum please feel free to email me for more information.
