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!
The Official 2020 Camp Song List
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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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Should the banjo players work on the melodic version of Red Haired Boy or wait on the Scruggs version to be posted. No problem either way…we’ve got PLENTY to work on! 
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Definitely won’t hurt to learn both if you have time. Then you can take more breaks when it’s time to jam. 
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I hate it when I’m asked to take more than one break one the same instrument, then I feel obligated to change it up and usually fail miserably in doing so. 
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You’re not alone my friend. Camp is a zero pressure place when it’s time to jam. I’ll be leading the way with screwing up in the beginner’s circle. I’m playing mandolin, which I know almost nothing about playing. Hoping to put in many hours of lesson time over the next 2.5 months.
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Don’t worry about me messing up at camp, I’m not going. Best wishes in your mandolin playing, I thought it sounded pretty good in your cover of “jazzy joy to the world”.
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Oh, I just assumed you were going since you were posting on this thread. Well that’s a shame. I was looking forward to meeting you.
Thanks for the compliment. That video is proof that monkeys CAN be trained. I learned Ben’s song note for note, not really having any idea why I was playing them. I’m just now learning how to make chords and do basic fills with the pentatonic scale. I should be the source of many laughs come jam time.
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