So excited. Would love to jam some other tunes with all of you in the eve or in free time. Pretty sure these are standards, but don’t really know as I haven’t been to a bluegrass jam. Ones I love…Old Dangerfield, Big Sciota, Clinch Mountain, Gold Rush, BlackBerry Blossom.
Other suggestions?
The Official 2020 Camp Song List
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Welcome to the forum Mike! I know all those except big sciota, and would love to jam them in the free time. The ten songs listed are just to make sure everyone has some overlapping repertoire, but there’s no rule that you can’t play other tunes
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List looks great to me. The basic tunes in Bgrass are always fun to play because so much of the melody comes right out of the chords or nearby notes. Gives great opportunity to improvise a bit (and mistakes don’t show so much) even picking the chords at mid-neck or up the neck. Looking forward to a great time!!!
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Yay! The long awaited list. Now I have a perfect excuse to learn songs I want to know but have not got around to learning.
I am very excited about joining the second cabin camp and meeting all of you and of course the man. Ben himself.
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Hello Ben,
This will be my first ever instrument camp of any kind and yes I’m a little nervous. I don’t want my lack of flat-picking skills to hamper the progress of the other pickers, however, I am looking forward to meeting everyone and making new friends.
What should I expect in this camp? What does a typical day look like?
God bless,
Chuck R.
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You don’t need to worry about that at all, trust me!
I would imagine that the schedule this year will look a bit differently than last year, but here’s the schedule from last year:
| Time | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rhythm Focus | Melody Focus | Soloing Focus | |
| Prep | Gather String Selection | ||
| 9:00 AM | Group exercise | Group exercise | |
| Nashville Number System | Nashville Number System | ||
| 9:30 | |||
| 10:00 AM | Morning Review | My 5 Favorite Licks | |
| Play 3/4 & 4/4- Use Song | Teach the Licks | ||
| 10:30 | Melody Before Solos! | Demonstrate the Licks | |
| Determining the Key | Alter the Licks | ||
| 11:00 AM | Reducing the Melody Down | Groove! | |
| How to Play Melody | Straight vs. Swing Feel | ||
| 11:30 | Students Arrive | Playing in the Pocket | |
| 12:00 PM | Lunch/Jam | Lunch/Jam | Lunch/Jam |
| 1:00 PM | Orientation | Band Jam/Rehearse | Band Jam/Rehearse |
| 1:30 | |||
| 2:00 PM | Basic Technique | Building Speed | Ear Training Exercise |
| Assessment | Economy of motion, picking hand | Simple Melody Transposing | |
| 2:30 | Rhythm Focus | Economy of motion, fretting hand | “Play what you hear” exercise |
| Talk Finger Positions, not Ornaments | |||
| 3:00 PM | Strum/Vamp Patterns | Unlocking the Neck | Improvising |
| Talking Positions | Sing what you Play, Play what you Sing | ||
| 3:30 | How to Count In | Find Same Notes in Various Positions | Tie In Reducing Melody to Improv |
| Use Words/Licks/Chops | Simple melodies in Various Positions | ||
| 4:00 PM | Changing Chords | Capo Theory | Plugging In Licks |
| Using Walks & Passing Chords | Use Licks You Have Taught | ||
| 4:30 | Rhythm Licks | Left Hand Licks | Use Nine Pound Hammer |
| G Run in 3/4 & 4/4 | Hammers/Pulls/Slides/Bends | ||
| 5:00 PM | Put it into Practice | Time For Triplets | How to Play in a Band |
| Break into groups | Quarter vs. Eighth Triplets | Listening | |
| 5:30 | Band Rehearsal | Demonstrate them in Rhythm/Licks | Dynamics |
| Filling in the Holes | |||
| 6:00 PM | Break for Supper | Break for Supper | Break for Supper |
| 6:30 | Supper | Supper | Supper |
| 7:00 PM | |||
| 8:00 PM | Night Topic: Jam Etiquette | Night Topic: Working a Microphone | Student Concert |
| 9:00 PM | Shut 'er Down | Shut 'er Down | Fire 'er Up |
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So excited and nervous at the same time! Pretty sure I won’t have all of these down pat but am looking forward to meeting the rest of the group and of course Ben and his team! The countdown has begun!
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Just be able to play the chords and, if possible, pick out simple melodies. It’s gonna be FUN, I promise you! No pressure at all!
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Guys, trust me. In no time at all you’ll feel like part of the family. Nothing to be nervous about. It’s a no pressure zone. We all screwed up plenty. I may have even heard Ben pick a clunker once. 
The atmosphere that Ben and his family provide puts everyone right at home. You’re going to have a blast!
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I attended in March with guitar. I was basically a beginner. As mentioned above, I learned the chords to the songs and could pick basic breaks on two or three. The camp is a learning environment. It is not an audition. You are going to have a good time.
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SO looking forward to this. And grateful to get early access as a 2019 alum! Evidently lots of other alum are coming, too; excited (but not surprised) to see all of the familiar faces!
Brought my guitar last time, but bringing my banjo this time! (I may bring my guitar, too, but will be in the banjo group.) Can. Not. Wait.
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Well, you can’t be any more nervous than me. If you’ve been around on the forum for the last year, you would have seen that mentioned by me and you would have seen a goodly amount of ribbing from others about it, so…
And no level of encouragement from others is going to make it any better, I get that, believe me. And you and I won’t be the only ones. Just do it anyway. I’m gonna.
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Mark and Ben,
Hope all is well. I have printed the list of all the tunes to work on. I have never really worked on any lessons beyond the basic banjo sections of the website since joining it. With that in mind, How would you recommend me to prepare or focus on certain tunes verses others. I want to get the most out of the camp while being my best for the camp. thanks . Tucker
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Hey James! Welcome to the board!
These songs were chosen so that everyone showing up will have a base line to work from. My recommendation is to save Ben’s MP3 files of him playing each of these lessons at full speed for the instrument you’ll be playing at camp, then listen to Ben playing them over and over so that you learn exactly what your playing is supposed to sound like. Once you feel you really KNOW the song in your mind, move on to learning the chords of each song. Once you’ve mastered that, start working on the lead parts.
At camp, each night after the lesson activities, we’ll split into 3 groups, beginners, intermediates, and experts. Each group gathers and just plays a free for all. If you know the chords, you can literally sit in with any of those groups. Nothing says you HAVE to take a lead. I actually grabbed an upright bass and went between all of the groups just admiring the talent that was all around me.
I will say this, though… Ben lead the beginners group, and he worked pretty hard on getting everyone to at least attempt a lead. The great thing about that, though, is that we were all making mistakes, so there really wasn’t any pressure to be perfect.
Looking forward to meeting you in person.
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Thanks Man,
I look forward to the camp and meeting every one. Thanks for getting back with me with all the pointers…appreciate you. J. Tucker
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“This year I will take a break…I will take a break…I will take a break…” (I say’s to myself) 
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Hi all. Very excited (and nervous) about camp. I am working on my travel arrangements. I am attending the 4/2-4/4 camp. It looks like we start around noon on 4/2. What time will we wrap up on 4/4?
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Hey Bill! Welcome to the board!
Trust me. There’s nothing to be nervous about. Ben and his whole family and crew do an amazing job of making everyone feel right at home. We’re all encouraged to make mistakes, and I made enough for me and several other people.
The last day, there’s no cut off time. We go until we’re done, which I think was around 10pm last year. It was the funnest night of the camp. Everyone eating good food, performing, laughing with each other, and just having a great time.
I don’t think anyone left without a smile on their face, ready to come back again. Looking forward to seeing you there!
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