Workshops

We have superb new venues for the workshops this year   three yurts  in the woods adjacent to the main festival site. They will also provide venues for some of the children’s activities and a perfect out of the way spot for late night sessions.

The provisional  list of workshops is as follows:

 Saturday 2^nd  June

The guitar’s role in traditional music  led by Ewan Robertson of Breabach. Ewan will be focusing on tune accompaniment, exploring rhythm, dynamics, tunings and chord voicing. 

Fiddle workshop with Megan Henderson of Breabach Megan’s workshop will be focused on West Coast Scottish fiddle music including, pipe tunes & Gaelic music and technique.

Flute and whistles workshop led by James Mackenzie of Breabach.James will be teaching pipe tunes and traditional Scottish tunes , looking at some different ornamentation and phrasing techniques and discussing playing in a group situation along with the highland bagpipe and how this alters his way of playing. 

Bass Workshop with James Lindsay of Breabach. James will be looking at creative ways of utilising the bass in a folk music setting. We will delve into building melodic & stylistically aware bass lines as well as grooving, different techniques and improvisation. Open to all types of bass players (acoustic and electric) and anyone else that might be intrigued.

Songwriters forum with Dave Wilson. For the aspiring through to fully fledged songwriters to share their thoughts, tricks and tips and discuss the wonderful art of song writing, Dave will lead a workshop each day.

Singing Workshop with Kathryn Roberts.  Join Kathryn Roberts to explore understanding and getting the best out of your voice using breathing and range-strengthening exercises – open to all abilities.

Introduction to bluegrass music with The Toy Hearts. The Toy Hearts will uncover the rich history of bluegrass music and it’s traditions, through exploration of the genre’s founders and subsequent pioneers.  Providing interactive examples, the band will take an in depth study into the acoustic instruments that complete a bluegrass line-up and their global origins. All abilities welcome.

Improvers session

Children’s Band Workshop. Beginner’s workshops on each day will provide guidance and the chance to try a variety of simple instruments. Whistles, bodhrans, mini melodeons and ukeleles will be available to play. 

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Sunday 3^rd   June

The Go Set present an independent musos guide to ‘getting your music out there’ using todays social networks.

Songwriting workshop with the Go Set. How to transform traditional stories into contemporary song

Group and Harmony Singing Workshop with Kate Denny An introduction to the enjoyment of group and harmony singing, exploring a range of material through call and response, round and harmony part singing. No experience necessary.

Bluegrass guitar with Sophia from The Toy Hearts. Featuring the basics of bluegrass lead guitar: flat picking, cross picking, G-runs and bluegrass rhythm guitar.

Dobro guitar with Stewart from The Toy Hearts Featuring an introduction to bluegrass dobro styles, playing without a capo (in keys other than G) and then more advanced work on Bar Slants.

Hammer dulcimer workshop with Pete Grassby

Song accompaniment with  Jed Grimes – choosing the right approach, bass runs and patterns, strum and fingerpicking styles and alternate tunings.(Intermediate)

Songwriters forum with Dave Wilson

Improvisation with the QP. Members of the QP will demonstrate the use of improvisation to embellish and enhance tunes. Suitable for all instruments.

Dance music with John Kirkpatrick. Workshop on all aspects of traditional English folk dance music from the master of the squeeze-box. Suitable for any instrument. 

Children’s band workshops

The Jaywalkers Children’s Bluegrass workshop  Children of any age, on any instrument. Simple songs to sing along to, simple tunes to play together. Bring instruments – preferably guitars/fiddles/mandolins/anything with strings on (but any instrument will do) and by the end of the hour you’ll know some new tunes and songs to take home.

Border Dance Workshop with The Witchmen

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  Monday 4^th  June

Irish music workshop with Tri. Repeating last year’s very popular workshop, Tri will give an introduction to Irish music along with a few tips they’ve picked up along the way.

Fiddle  with Niamh Dunne from Beoga. Niamh will give a workshop on the music she grew up with in her hometown ofLimerick. The Dunne Family is one of the many well known musical families ofIreland, with a heritage stretching back many generations.  

Bodhran with Eamon Murray from Beoga . From County Antrim Eamon is 4 time All-Ireland Bodhrán champion. In this workshop Eamon will give an unique insight into the techniques and patterns that make up his sought-after style.

Button accordian with Damian McKee from Beoga  Damian is one ofIreland’s most dynamic button accordion players. He will give a workshop on the B/C system, taking you through some tunes he’s learnt over his 25 years of playing and showing you valuable techniques specific to the instrument. 

‘Beyond Basic Bottleneck Blues Guitar’ with L’il Ian Goodsman

Are you bored with sliding on the 5, 7 and 12 frets for your bottleneck blues? Learn some techniques you can use to alleviate that boredom and how you can incorporate some finger work, minor chords etc. using open G and D.

Songwriters forum with Dave Wilson

 Tunes Workshops Nancy Kerr and James Fagan will take a few tunes from the Tunes Workshop website and show how they would make the dots come alive – including ornamentation and different approaches to arrangement. Suitable for all instruments.

Jacques Sotzem’s masterclass.  Includes developing new pieces using traditional techniques, the rhythm of the right hand thumb, advantages of standard tuning, chord theory and the major importance to develop the dynamic.

Children’s Band Workshop 

Longsword family Workshop with Bishops Morris

Here’s a list of last year’s workshops, to give you an idea of what you can expect:

• Children’s Band Workshops. Beginner’s workshops on each day provided guidance and the chance to try a variety of simple instruments. Whistles, bodhrans, mini melodeons and ukeleles were available to play.
• Spirit of the Rainforest – Su Hart from Baka Beyond hosted the Baka Women’s Singing Workshop.
• Beginners bottleneck guitar with Phillip Henry, including introduction to open tuning, setting up an instrument, holding the slide, playing simple scales, vibrato and accompanying yourself.
• Autoharp demonstration and workshop. A hands on workshop led by Bob Ebdon from the UK Autoharp Association who gave a demonstration on how to play the instrument followed by the opportunity to have a go.
• Introduction to Irish music workshop with Tri. Young wizards Tri explained their introduction into Irish Music and give tips on techniques employed.
• Flatpicking guitar with Viper Central explored the guitar style used in bluegrass and old timey country music.
• Fiddle tunes from Hampshire’. A fiddle workshop led by Paul Sartin based on tunes from his native county.
• Songwriting workshop with Anthony John Clarke. With 35 years of songwriting experience and having written several well-known folk songs, Anthony John discussed the significance of the lyric and its relationship with the listener and performed some of his favourite songs which have influenced and delighted him over the years.
• Harmony Singing with the Young Uns. An introduction to singing in groups and the use of harmonies in folk song.
• Percussion with Jim and Dan from 4Square.
• Clawhammer and bluegrass banjo with Viper Central who demonstrated techniques used on the 5 string banjo.
• Mi Tunes. Accordion workshop with Paul Hutchinson
• Bluegrass harmony singing with Viper Central.
• Fiddle workshop with Gabe McVarish (Dàimh). Gabe hails from Northern California where he learned traditional Scottish tunes on the fiddle. His versatility as a tutor has seen him highly sought after, having taught at festivals and higher education establishments including the University of Limerick. Gabe also teaches fiddle regularly in Lochaber. Gabe taught traditional Scottish and Irish fiddle tunes.
• Mandolin and tenor banjo workshop with Damian Helliwell (Dàimh). Damian, from the Island of Eigg taught Scottish & Irish tunes using GDAE tuning. Entirely self-taught, Damian joined the Dàimh in the spring of 2011, and is not only an outstanding musician but also an exceptional composer of tunes.
• Whistle workshop with Angus MacKenzie (Dàimh) Angus is a native Gaelic speaker from the musically rich area of Mabou, Cape Breton Island on Canada’s east coast. Angus works with Fèisean nan Gaidheal teaching whistle to children across the Highlands of Scotland. Angus taught Irish and Scottish tunes on tin whistle.
• Songwriting Forum with Dave Wilson. For the aspiring through to fully fledged songwriters to share their thoughts, tricks and tips and discuss the wonderful art of song writing.
• Melodeon workshop with Pete Grassby.
• Acoustic blues guitar workshop with Steve Phillips. A chance to pick up some tips on fingerpicking techniques, the use of open tunings and playing slide guitar.
• Molly Dance Workshop led by Ouse Washes. An introduction suitable for all ages.