Do you know approximately what dates?
Banjo Ben's Inaugural Cabin Camp, March 28-30, 2019!
Approximately last weekend in August.
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Thanks! Working through the schedule for this year. I “possibly” have a festival I’m playing at that weekend but it has not been confirmed yet.
Boise is less than 500 miles! That’s next door to us out here! Yippee!!
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Hi all,
I’m really looking forward to the Camp! I do have a question, though; (I’m easily the person with the least “jamming” experience on this thread, though, so please factor that in :-))
I recently took an intermediate group bluegrass jam class from a local (and wonderful) instructor, but found it very difficult because of the size of the group. It was about a dozen people in a smallish room, plus the teacher. We of course had to be careful of how we moved around (even though we were seated) lest we bang into someone else’s instrument, but more problematic was the sound. There were about 4 guitar players, 5 banjo players, and a couple of mandolins, and even though we’d all had the same music to practice from, the sound was mush. It was difficult to hear even one’s own playing, let alone try to make the tune sound good.
Is this a common problem with group sessions? @BanjoBen, are there ways to mitigate this? Do you have an idea yet of how the groups will be structured?
This is probably all still in-progress, just wanted to share my (relatively inexperienced) thoughts.
Thanks all.
-Michael
I should have said, the fiddle player can’t keep time. That’s why it messes me up.
For the most part, the groups will be spilt up by instrument. So, 3 groups of instruments, where each group is a single instrument.
As the days proceed, we may even split up into smaller groups to tackle specific parts of lessons. There probably won’t be a lot of jamming during the lesson time.
There may be some jam time at the end of the day, but Ben is definitely setting aside Saturday evening for a whole lot of jamming. I think he even plans on having a stage. It’s going to be a blast!
Thanks much, @lonewolf223. I understand how that can and does happen. Really appreciate your response.
Looking forward to meeting you and everybody soon!
Yes, it can be a problem. Like Mark says, we’re gonna be split into instrument-specific groups for the instruction. There’s no way to learn anything about your instrument in a big mixed group. We will be jamming, and we should have mixed groups at times to work on band-specific stuff.
We’re gonna have fun and I’m doing everything I can to make it worth your time and investment (it is an investment, by the way, in your playing).
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Thanks, @Mark_Rocka, that’s what I’m expecting, too.
Will everyone be working on the same tunes? One thing that might be interesting would be to split the three groups of 10 into ten groups of 3 at some point late in the day so we could simulate a “band” environment.
A “stage” would be awesome.
Can not WAIT for Saturday Night. Maybe the ten groups of 3 each get up and play a tune? We could live-stream it!
Thanks so much for the response.
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Yes, you have already received a call/email from Andrea, and I’ll follow up with a survey this week and a list of tunes to be familiar with. Keep your eyes on your email.
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Hi all,
I think I’m gonna ship my guitar to the Camp, rather than try to take it on my flight. @BanjoBen, I’m happy to ship either to my hotel or to your house, whichever you recommend. (I suppose I COULD just stop by the General Store on my way in, but I think I want to start off on a familiar box :-))
In case anyone else is thinking along those lines, here’s a great description of how to pack your instrument for shipment from the owner of my favorite local “toy store”, Gryphon Stringed Instruments.
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Ben tells me if you fly Southwest, they’ll let you take your instrument as a carry on. I plan on calling to make sure that’s the case here in Houston, but I’d think that’s a company wide policy.
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Hey Ben, I haven’t received a call or email…just FYI…I’m very much looking forward to this!
We’ve got you on the list! You’ll be hearing from us Monday.
Hey, @BanjoBen, my wife and daughter will be coming with me to Nashville. They’ll sight-see during the day while I’m at Camp, but did I understand you to say that others are invited to the evening BBQs during the Camp? If so, I’ll of course pay separately for their meals.
Thanks, can’t wait!
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Yes. Ben will be sending out a survey that will include questions like “how many will join you for the evening meal?” this week. Keep your eyes open for that email and make sure to get the survey filled out quickly.
Looks like a great opportunity, maybe I can catch next years!
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For those flying to camp, I thought y’all might benefit from this article about flying with your instrument.
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Last weekend in August would be great. I’ll be in the western part of the US cruising around in my old VW bus.