Picking from 0 to 60: Acoustic Music Workshop

by Phil Houseal, 1/19/2011


He’s played at Merle Fest and the Kerrville Folk Festival, written guitar instruction books and magazine articles, played folk, bluegrass, jazz, and blues, and toured with artists such as Joan Baez.

And on Saturday, January 29, you can sit in the same room with David Hamburger while he teaches everything from music theory to fingerpicking styles to hot blues riffs.

It is one strand of the new one-day January Acoustic Music Workshop sponsored by Kerrville ISD’s Club Ed and Bob Miller’s Hill Country Acoustic Music Camp.

Hamburger is a renown guitarist who has performed with the great string players, and whose guitar, slide guitar and dobro playing can be heard on many albums. For the Kerrville workshop, he will teach Guitar Workshop - Theory; 6 degrees of Travis Picking; and Fingerpicking Blues.

If you attend, be ready for a ride.

“I designed this class as a ‘blitz,’” he explained. “We will go from zero to 60. The first 15 minutes might bore the experienced guitar player, and the last 15 minutes will terrify the beginner, but everything in the middle will be just right for everyone.”

He will take students from the simplest fingerpicking style to the most complicated, based on his own Acoustic Guitar Fingerstyle Method instruction booklet. He promises that students will leave class with handouts and enough to work on for months.

The workshop will also feature world-class banjo player Alan Munde and ukulele expert Pops Bayless.

This is the first time Club Ed has offered such a workshop and enrollments have been brisk.

One innovation is offering the added “house-style” concert on Saturday evening at the Union Church on the Schreiner University campus. It features all three artists playing “unplugged” joined by local bassist Gary Hatch. It is open to the public, even if not attending the classes.

While teaching his workshops across the country, Hamburger sees a neverending stream of people who continue to be fascinated with the stringed instruments.

“A lot of Baby Boomers want to finally learn to play the way they were never able to do,” he said. “At the same time the younger players are discovering that playing country, blues, and traditional guitar is just as interesting to them as it was to boomers 30 years ago.”

While he used to teach and play full time, Hamburger now spends most of his time working in his own recording studio in Austin, composing music for television, commercials, and documentaries. But he still likes teaching and enjoys getting out to the Hill Country.

“I love coming to Kerrville,” he said. “I have friends there, have done house concerts, been to the Folk Festival, and I teach at the Acoustic Music Camps. This is really adding to the music scene there.”

XXX

For information or to sign up for the Acoustic Music Workshop on Jan 29, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Workshops meet at the Kerr Arts & Cultural Center, 228 Earl Garrett St, Kerrville. Class Times are: 10:00am to 11:15am; 1:00pm to 2:15pm; 2:30pm to 3:45pm. Fee is $40 per class, or students can sign up for all three workshops by one instructor for a discount price of $100.

The Saturday evening “House Concert” will be from 6 - 8 p.m. at Union Church at the corner of Broadway, Water, and Travis Streets in Kerrville. Concert admission is $20, and guests are welcome to bring a snack and beverage to share.

String Fever

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Jan 28, 2009

When it comes to playing music, Karen Shirer's favorite stage might be a soapbox.

"The music industry has taken music away from us," she proclaimed. "They make it sound wonderful on a recording, then sell it back to us. As a result, we feel that any music we try to play won't sound like the recording, so our music is inferior."

Shirer wants the masses to take back the music, and she is working on her mission by teaching beginning guitar for the first time in Club Ed.

Shirer herself is an accomplished musician, playing piano and guitar. This fall she picked up the violin for the first time, and has already performed a concert with the Take-A-Bow orchestra of adult beginners. She believes that music is meant to be played by everyone, together and with joy.

"There is so much enjoyment we can find, even as adults, struggling in playing together," she said. "We can enjoy the process as well as create a decent end product. Music does not have to be perfect in order to be enjoyed. It is okay to laugh!"

Shirer teaches from what she calls a "folk" standpoint. That, she explained, means learning music not just in terms of reading notes, but by experiencing it. That means performing in a group.

"You must also learn to read other musicians you are playing with," she said. "Playing is a time to enjoy one another. There is so much about music that connects people."

Shirer starts beginners off learning basic chords, showing the structure and patterns common to many songs. She teaches people to learn to play by ear, so they can hear the chord changes and feel the music. She throws in music theory, but she calls it "pretty painless theory."

"I teach practical theory," she explained, "like how to use chord changes in your music by listening as well as by reading."

The thought of playing in front of others terrifies some beginners, especially adults. But Shirer feels it is important for players to step out of their comfort zones.

"Music is about sharing emotion, but it does not have to be scary," she said. "You are sharing delight as well. We know there is a bit of nervousness, but we don't want people to feel scared. We try to foster a supportive and encouraging environment."

That is why she came up with Acoustic Easy Jammin' to follow her beginning class. Musicians of all levels can perform together, taking turns leading the group. It evokes a kind of "playing around the campfire" experience.

"I love the campfire sing-along, playing songs people already know from when they were young. In the jam, the focus is not on learning new songs, but rather on learning how to play them and enjoying the sounds of the different instruments."

So turn off the radio and take off the headphones, and head to Club Ed to learn to play real music.

"Learning something new does the brain an amazing amount of good," Shirer said. "It keeps you young, and nurtures the joy that music just brings to your soul."

XXX

Club Ed is offering classes in guitar, piano, singing, and dulcimer in the spring session, now underway. Karen Shirer's guitar classes begin Feb 19. Visit www.clubed.net to sign up, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

"Fake it" til you play it

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Jan 21 09


Craig Coffman wants to give "faking it" a good name.

"Faking it" - or playing by ear - is the concept behind his popular seminars Instant Piano and the new Instant Guitar. It is Coffman's contention that you don't have to look at little black dots in order to harness and enjoy the power of making music.

"That term 'fake' isn't really a description of what is going on," Coffman said. "The guy in a piano bar may be using a fake book, but don't call him a fake musician."

Coffman has been traveling the country since 1993, leading over 200 seminars a year in which he teaches adults how to play piano in one day.

Many of his students took conventional piano lessons as kids, but gave up out of frustration, impatience, or being rapped on the knuckles by autocratic teachers. Those piano teachers are horrified by Coffman's more natural approach to music theory.

"If you are playing pop music, you must be more free about it," he explained. "Music is based on hearing and imitating the playing. Pop music has always been handed down that way. You can't write down everything that is going on in a pop song."

Coffman teaches Instant Piano as part of a national program. He has created his own workshop based on learning guitar "instantly." The Arizona resident plans to ramp it up across the country soon.

"This is a revolutionary concept to most people," he said. "When you talk to people and tell them they can play and don't have to read notes, that is shocking."

Coffman guarantees that his students will leave the workshop able to play simple songs with both hands. They can take home a book and CD to help guide them. It must work, because over five years no one has asked for a refund.

"People call back all the time with astonishing testimonials. One lady in Illinois had tried her whole life to learn piano. Three months after my class, she invited me over to listen to her play. She was 86 years old!"

Coffman is passionate about what he does, and tries not to disparage traditional piano instruction. But he has heard many piano teachers lament how many students drop out of lessons.

"If you can play piano by reading notes, you are in one of the most exclusive clubs in the world," he noted. "So I come along and make it easy for a broader group of people to learn to play. That makes me feel good; it makes me feel like I am doing something to enrich people's lives."

So the next time you overhear a "note reader" use "fake book" as a derogatory term, remember this: "Piano players use 'fake' as a badge of honor," Coffman said, then growls, "We don't need no stinkin' music!"

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Craig Coffman will teach Instant Piano for Hopelessly Busy People, How to Play Piano by Ear, and Instant Guitar on Sunday, Feb 1. For information, visit www.clubed.net or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

Driven to play guitar

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal
Dec 24, 2008

She had never played an instrument and could not read music. But five years ago she bought a guitar and vowed to learn it.

After a few attempts to teach herself, she put the guitar back in its case.

"I tried to learn it on my own," she said. "But it just didn't work. Now I finally have time to take some lessons."

Out came the guitar again, and Jennifer Hudson signed up for Derek Baker's guitar class through Club Ed. She went to great lengths - literally. The class was held in Boerne, and Jessica lives west of Kerrville. Twice a week she made the 100-mile round trip to join Baker and his 23 adult beginner guitar players.

You have to ask if it was worth it?

"Derek Baker is a fabulous teacher - probably the most positive person I know," she said. "He is very encouraging, and always was pointing out how far we have come, how much we have learned, and showing us how great we are going to become."

The 23 students in this particular class worked so well together, they actually started practicing together on their own one day a week outside of class. Hudson welcomed this development, given her previous experience trying to practice on her own.

The group ranged in age from 12 to late 60s. But they were all basic beginners.

Baker's teaching approach is to build a strong foundation. He teaches chords and scales as well as theory. Hudson especially appreciated the way he pushed everyone to get a bit of performance experience.

"He had us play in casual settings such as at a church picnic," she noted. "I was probably the most nervous person. But I learned that if you make a mistake you just smile and keep going."

Their repertoire reflected a range as wide as the ages of the students. This class learned tunes from classic John Denver and praise music to Freebird and Margaritaville.

Baker wrapped up his lessons by teaching lead riffs and bar chords - which as any beginning guitar player knows are not easy to learn.

"He won't let us take the easy way out," Hudson said of Baker's teaching techniques. "He is teaching us the hard stuff to help us be better players."

So it's challenging, it's a long drive, and it eats up two nights a week. Why does Hudson do it?

"Number one it's fun," she replied. "His teaching style makes it so anybody can learn to do it. He starts with basics, then builds from there. You will be surprised how fast you learn."

It is definitely worth the drive

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Club Ed will offer guitar in Boerne and in Kerrville in the Spring 2009 session. The catalog is now online at www.clubed.net, with copies to be mailed after Christmas. Call 830-895-4386 for information.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

Club Ed - the place where learning never ends

As appeared in Fall 2008 VISITORS GUIDE - KERRVILLE DAILY TIMES Contact: Phil Houseal, 257-2218, phil.houseal@kerrvilleisd.net

There is a place in Kerrville where people are kayaking down rivers, playing guitar, traveling to the Renaissance, planting native gardens, programming computers, and learning to tango.

That place is Club Ed - the community education program of the Kerrville Independent School District.

This award-winning and nationally recognized program is the place for learners of all ages Every spring and fall, Club Ed offers more than 150 local classes in the areas of computers, art, fitness, language, music, recreation, travel, and self-improvement. Students can go online to sign up for 400 more classes open year round from the convenience of home.

Club Ed is also the area's leading training center. Professional instructors lead custom training on computers, software, web site design, customer service, grantwriting, and other skills for nonprofit organizations, businesses, and individuals.

Besides being fun, Club Ed helps keep the mind sharp. Scientific research uncovered 10 benefits that come from lifelong learning:

1. leads to an enriching life of self-fulfillment
2. helps make new friends and establish valuable relationships
3. keeps one involved as active contributors to society
4. helps find meaning in our lives
5. helps adapt to change
6. makes the world a better place
7. increases wisdom
8. creates a curious, hungry mind
9. opens the mind
10. helps fully develop natural abilities

To enjoy these benefits is easy, according to Phil Houseal, Director. Catalogs are mailed to all hill country residents twice a year. Anyone interested in teaching or taking a class can visit www.clubed.net, call 830-895-4386, send an email to club.ed@kerrvilleisd.net, or stop by the Auld Center, 1121 Second Street, Kerrville TX 78028.