ABOUT HELEN:

Helen Forsythe has been teaching bluegrass and clawhammer banjo for around 10 years. She is a singer and performer of country, bluegrass, and other folk genres and has traveled internationally teaching and performing American folk music. She performs solo and in ensembles such as the Bigmouth Buffalo Stringband and Slapdash Bluegrass. Her teaching emphasizes how to play in groups and accompany the voice. When not playing music, she can be found collecting compost and raising chickens in Northfield, MN.

ABOUT mike:

“Clawhammer” Mike Sawyer is the driving force behind the Minnesota Fiddle Tunes Project and Upper-Midwest Old-Time recordings and blog. He is a collector, teacher and player of the region’s traditional music and plays a diverse range of instruments: banjo, autoharp, guitar, button box, and the fiddle. Mike’s projects revolve around learning tunes from old sources and bringing them back to life and into the repertoire of modern traditional musicians.

clawhammer banjo camp w/ helen forsythe & mike sawyer

Saturday, August 6, 2022

Take home some new tunes, learn helpful tips, and enhance your jamming proficiency as you spend a day with the world’s best folks – banjo players! This event is an opportunity to build skills and build community with other like-minded musicians. All events take place at Hot Spot Music, 801 Division Street S. Northfield, MN 55057

Registration - 12 spots available

  • Early Bird Registration - $95 thru June 15

  • Standard Registration - $115 after June 15, until the course fills

  • Scholarships available, just contact us to find out more.

  • Payment info coming soon, but contact us now to reserve your spot!

details

This camp is intended for intermediate clawhammer players who know their way around the instrument. Each instructor will teach a tune in the morning session, tab for the tunes will be provided. Then we’ll all gather for a midday jam session filled with tips and tricks for playing with others and ideas for continued improvement. In the afternoon, each instructor will share a more focused concept, exercise or practice technique to help build our banjo skills. For those who wish to stick around into the evening, we’ll grab some eats and then enjoy an informal jam session on the patio (hopefully joined by a few local fiddlers, bass players, and others..)

Clawhammer Banjo Camp schedule

8:00 a.m. Doors open at the Hot Spot

8:30 a.m. Welcome gathering, introductions, orientation, etc.

9:00 a.m. Instructor #1 Lesson (1 hour, learn a new tune)

10:00 a.m. Noodling time (practice, questions, relax, etc.)

10:30 a.m. Instructor #2 Lesson (1 hour, learn a new tune)

11:30 a.m. Noodling time (practice, questions, relax, etc.)

12:00 Lunch Break (on own in Northfield)

1:00 p.m. Instructors-led jamming tutorial (90 minutes)

2:30 p.m. Break/Noodling time

3:00 p.m. Instructor #1 Mini Lesson (40 minutes, tips & techniques)

4:00 p.m. Instructor #2 Mini Lesson (40 minutes, tips & techniques)

5:00 p.m. Supper (on own or pizzas on the patio)

6:00 p.m. Optional Student Jam Session on the Hot Spot Patio