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.

Ride with the wind

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly

Nov 11, 2009

Karen Dampeer wants everyone to feel what she felt the first time she straddled her Yamaha Stratoliner 1900cc motorcycle.

“I got hooked,” said the Boerne resident. “Since I started riding, I dress the way I want, and I’m always ready to ride when I want.”

Dampeer, who works as a financial planner by day, racked up 12,000 miles the first year she had her bike. One of her trips was a solo journey to Colorado Spring. She made many impressions along the way. “Women came out of diners, amazed that I was traveling this way. It meant different things to different people, but to most it was liberating to see someone doing something like that.”

Dampeer and Robert Allen are the Rider Coaches, teaching the new Course for Motorcycle Riders being offered every weekend through Club Ed in Kerrville. The course is sanctioned by the Department of Public Safety, and qualifies new riders for the Class M endorsement, along with reducing insurance premiums.

Bob Kee, owner of Destination:Cyclesports, provided six Suzuki 250 bikes when saw the need for safety training in the Hill Country.

“We see guys returning to this sport thinking that riding a motorcycle is like riding a bicycle - you never forget. But 25 years off the machine, plus the change in physical conditioning, results in overconfidence. Offering this course in the Hill Country means a better chance of preventing future accidents.”

In the basic course, students learn how to operate a motorcycle, the best protective clothing to wear, how to avoid and react to dangerous situations. By the end of the course, riders will have skills at the two-year rider level.

“The course is user friendly and a safe place to ride and learn,” Dampeer said. “We go step by step, and don’t ask you to do anything we haven’t prepared you for. There is a gradually building up of experience. Anyone can pass the course and build their confidence.”

At the same time, the course is not easy. In fact, Dampeer calls it “strenuous.”

“It is not hard, it just takes different muscles than you are used to using.”

Still, they have trained riders from as young as 15 on up to 79 years old. In the past few years they are seeing more and more women taking their seats at the front of the saddle.

What is the appeal? Romance? Rebellion? Freedom? Thrills?

“It is all of those,” Dampeer said. “I like the sense of being outside and being part of the outdoors. All day, I work in an office, with tons of responsibility, and I’m a good citizen. But sometimes, I like putting aside my normal personality, taking off the mask, and being myself.”

Ride, Karen, ride.

xxx

Club Ed now offers the Basic Rider Course for Motorcycle Riders in Kerrville, at Peterson Middle School on Sidney Baker Street next to IHOP. A new class starts every weekend, between 8 a.m. and 5: 30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Riders must register in advance by calling 830-895-4386, or by stopping by the Auld Center, 1121 Second Street, Kerrville TX 78028.

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, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Mom... I'm bored

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal, April 29, 2009


"Sign my kid up for everything."

That is a direct quote from a phone call I received last spring from a parent looking for summer activities for their child. Once again it is time to think about finding great things for kids to do during those 12 weeks of summer.

Typically the excitement of being out of school wears out after about three days. Kids get restless; parents are pulling out their hair trying to come up with something to keep the kids out of their hair.

Never fear - Hill Country Kids is here! This long-running catalog of kids summer activities pulls together the best diversions in the area. Inside is a directory listing of every single organized kids activity in Kerrville, Hunt, Ingram, Comfort, Fredericksburg, Boerne, and points in between, along with detailed information on select offerings.

For starters, you'll find every Vacation Bible School in the area. Then there are the camps, from MO Ranch to the YMCA. Is your child interested in tumbling, dancing, riding, swimming, or playing music? Look inside - see what you find. There are even some diversions that don't fit any category. Try taking a trip to the Wild Animal Orphanage just this side of San Antonio, where you can spend a day visiting more than 150 lions, tigers, bears, and other exotic animals.

Or round up your cowgirls for a summer camp at the Enchanted Springs Ranch, where the buckarettes will learn how to care for animals, cook dutch oven style, garden, and rope.

These activities are not just mindless diversions to fill time. Don't let your children know, but they might actually learn something. Club Ed for Kids is sending up rockets again at the Shoot For The Stars rocket camp. We also are running the full array of science and art camps featuring Lego building bricks, engineering, claymation, robotics, and junior engineering. We even snuck in one class for adults - Beginning Guitar. No reason to take the summer off from playing music!

The Hill Country Arts Foundation is offering a theater camp, Boerne Gymnastics is reprising its popular and fun Circus Arts camp where kids will learn acrobatics and clown skills. Speaking of clowns, our cover clown "Sunshine" is putting on a magic class and balloon sculpting class for wannabe show people, all supplies included.

The list is endless: twirling, tennis, tapping, drawing, karate, golf, reading. There is no reason to ever hear those grating three words, "Mom... I'm bored."

Pick up a copy of Hill Country Kids, and sign up your youngsters (or grandyoungsters) for everything!

XXX

Hill Country Kids catalog is sent home with every elementary and middle school child in public and private schools in the hill country. You can also pick up a copy at local chambers and libraries, or by visiting www.hillcountrykids.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.

Shooting for the Stars

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal April 22, 2009


Calling all future astronauts and rocket scientists. You might get your ticket to outer space by launching your very own rocket right here in Kerrville.

The Shoot for the Stars Rocket Camp is our best-attended summer program. Every year, we offer several four-day workshops where kids ages 8 to 13 get their hands on model rockets. This camp was developed by Brett Williams at Fredericksburg High School, as an offshoot of his nationally-recognized aeroscience course. It is offered throughout the hill country and is taught by Williams' current and former students.

While the camp is great fun, the youngsters cannot get their hands on their rockets until they learn some basics of flight. They must take notes as the instructor introduces them to Newton's Laws, the laws of thermodynamics, and the Bernoulli Principle (any of you grownups want to take a stab at reciting those?). It's tough training, but soon they will see these scientific concepts applied to the real world.

That is the fun part. Under two instructors' guidance, the students soon are selecting body tubes, gluing on fins, and mounting recovery systems. Over the next four days, they determine the center of mass and the center of pressure, then weight the nose cone with BBs to compensate. The final step is adding the engine mount, making their rockets launch-ready.

Launch day is a big event. Families are there, as short kids and tall kids carry tall rockets and short rockets out to the football field behind the Auld Center. All are hand-built with care and pride.

That drilling on laws earlier in the week pays off, as each student must answer a few basic questions on the principles of flight before they are cleared to launch. They then take their rocket to the launch pad and connect the wires that will ignite the engine.

The countdown begins, as the crowd takes up the chant: 3... 2... 1! The young rocketeer punches the launch button.

Every bird goes up. Some ride the plume straight and true, some corkscrew and wobble. More than we like end up in trees or on top of school buildings. The best descend gracefully within the bounds of the football field.

But when you look in the eyes of the young man or woman who has just watched his or her creation ascend to the clouds, there is no doubt this rocket camp has ignited something straight and true.

XXX

Shoot for the Stars Rocket Camp will be held in Kerrville and at Ingram Middle School the week of June 8. Details on these and all other summer programs can be found in the Hill Country Kids catalog being sent home with area students. Information also available online at www.hillcountrykids.com or www.clubed.net, or by calling 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.

The Secret Life of Snowbirds

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Mar 18, 2009


Goodbye! Goodbye!

I heard the cries from the door to the classroom where the latest dulcimer class was just finishing.

It was spring, and one of our adult students was heading back north.

A snowbird?

"Oh yes," he said. "I come every winter, and this year I just had to take this dulcimer class - it is the only one offered in the hill country!"

Why not move to Kerrville and stay, I asked him.

"Grandkids," was his one word answer.

The encounter got me thinking about the phenomenon of "snowbirdhood." Having lived here for 30 years, I have come across snowbirds in other aspects of my life. A large group gathers in Fredericksburg to help build houses for Habitat for Humanity. We used to have a clowning instructor who would teach for us, as long as it was between Oct and March.

The whole concept of snowbirding appeals in a bittersweet way.

It is always sad to have to say goodbye to friends you have met and known for several months. Yet it must be an exciting existence, like leading a double life. In summer you bump around the Midwest dressed in overalls. But each winter you travel to that exotic locale - "the south."

(As a former yankee, I understand the appeal of living half the year - the cold half - in the warm, sunny south, where you can wear shorts on Christmas day and plant your garden in February. To a Midwesterner, that's like imagining living on the moon and being able to jump six times higher - simply incomprehensible.)

You'd like to think that snowbirds would invent a wholly different life to go with their southern residence. An engineer in Nebraska might become a secret agent in Texas. An English teacher could become a best-selling author of steamy romance novels.

But that doesn't happen. I've noticed that wherever you travel physically, you drag your personality and comfort zones with you. A homebody in South Dakota will also stick close to the RV while parked at the edge of the Grand Canyon. We haul our worldview even into the virtual world. While taking a class on Second Life - an online world where you create an avatar that represents the real you - our students would tend to build "mini-me's," perhaps making the hair a shade darker and trimming a few pounds off the mid-section.

But our personalities don't change, whether we are stalking the plowed fields of Kansas, padding through the bluebonnets of Texas, or soaring in an electronic sky.

So here is to snowbirds! Long may they fly, though sad when they flee, and all we wish for them is that the day they alight, let it be in Club Ed, Texas!

XXX

Snowbirds can take a Club Ed class from anywhere in the world! For information or to sign up, click 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.

Take your garden to another level

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Mar 4, 2009


I miss Iowa sweet corn.

Though I've lived in the hill country since 1980, I make no secret that I am an Iowa boy, born and fed on a farm in the breadbasket of the world. Back in the Midwest, the topsoil is measured in feet, not inches. The soil is so rich one observer claimed you could just eat the dirt without bothering to turn it into vegetables.

So when I arrived in Texas, I set out to grow a garden. I quickly discovered that the dirt in Texas was a little more unforgiving than Iowa loam. But I eventually uncovered an approach that worked - raised beds.

By piling up dirt into 4-foot square beds, supplementing the soil like crazy, watering and mulching, my kids were soon turning up their noses at mounds of broccoli, brussels sprouts, and zuchinni.

Dr. Tom Harris is a true expert at what is now called "square foot gardening." He teaches a series of gardening courses in Kerrville and Boerne, has written "how-to" books, and keeps lists of plants that are best suited for the local climate and conditions. He regularly helps immigrants from other states navigate the conditions of the Southwest so they can produce bumper crops in their own backyards.

The retired educator and Master Gardener will be in Kerrville on Wed, March 11 to lead a class in building some of these raised beds in the backyard of the Auld Center, home of Club Ed.

Dr. Harris digs this approach to gardening. "No weeds, no work, less water," he ticked off the reasons. "Raised beds are super handy, and very friendly with nature - you can recycle all your yard wastes by making mulch or compost."

That overcomes the biggest challenge for hill country gardeners - growing plants in rocks. "Mostly what we have around here is caliche," he said. "You can't hardly grow anything in that stuff. It is easier to start with a raised bed and make your own soil."

Building raised beds does not have to be elaborate or expensive.

Gardeners have used rocks, bricks, and timbers to raise the beds to at least 6 inches. Dr. Harris uses 8-inch cinder blocks. He fills them using a 50% mix of light garden mix, and recommends drip irrigation for efficient watering.

The best thing about raised bed gardening is that the concept applies anywhere in the world, and it works for growing vegetables, flowers, herbs, and trees - "whatever you want to grow."

So if you yearn to learn the secrets of building a square foot garden of your own, make tracks over to Club Ed. He figures the class can build three or four raised beds - it will just take you a couple of hours.

And you must promise to bring me a sample from your first crop of sweet corn.

XXX

The Square Foot Gardening Workshop meets on Wed, March 11. For information or to sign up, click 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.

Look up

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Feb 25, 2009


For Jim McMahon, things are always looking up.

It's not just because he is an optimist, but because his hobby is astronomy.

The retired mathematician teaches Backyard Astronomy for Club Ed. His objective is to bring the mystery and wonder of the universe to your own backyard.

A curious mind helps, as does a pair of binoculars.

"A pair 7 x 35 binoculars - which a lot of people already have - comes in very handy," McMahon said. "If you can hold binoculars steady, you can see the satellites of Jupiter."

The first number is the degree of magnification, and the second number is the width of the lens in millimeters. So a set of field glasses 10 x 75 means they magnify the image 10 times and the lens is 75 millimeters across.

Is bigger better?

"Yes, because you can collect more light and see fainter objects," he said.

Higher magnification also means it is more difficult to hold the binoculars steady. So this is where serious astronomy buffs move up to reflector telescopes. They offer more magnification, more stability, and more features.

"This is an 8-inche telescope," McMahon said, pointing to his compact red viewer that he uses in class. "That means you can see very faint objects with this telescope."

Technically, his is a catadioptric telescope, which means the light is funneled through a series of lenses and mirrors before it reaches the eye.

"It folds the optics so don't have telescope too long and unwieldy," he explained. This allows for the performance of a large aperture and long focal length in a package that is lightweight and transportable.

You can go up quickly in sophistication by adding tracking devices, computer controls, and photography accessories.

Still, looking up at the night sky is an affordable and accessible hobby. Of course the best viewing is from an area far from the lights of the city. If you can't escape to the country, you can still get decent viewing if you shade the light. Put your scope in a tree's shadow, for example, to block out the mercury vapor street lamps.

When you observe the stars, you will be sharing an activity practiced by man from the first night he lay on his back. For ancient civilizations, the starry sky was the tableau for its bedtime stories, legends, and lore. Early astronomers learned to predict the seasons and track the passing of time. It still sparks the imagination of every person who takes the time to look up.

With McMahon's help, that appreciation of the skies can start outside your back door.

XXX


Backyard Astronomy begins Thursday evening, Feb 26. For information or to sign up, click 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.

When camels ruled

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Feb 18, 2009


Longtime Kerr residents are familiar with the clumpy story of the U.S. Army's experiment with using camels in the 1860s.

But newcomers are always surprised when they learn about the history of Camp Verde. The area, now home to the Camp Verde General Store and Post Office, is 10 miles south of Kerrville on Highway 173 at a site considered " the most historic crossroads in Kerr County."

Gerald Witt teaches a Club Ed class there called Camp Verde - The Camels and More.

"It really was a government project," Witt said. "They thought camels would be the best beasts of burden for carrying cargo across the southwest. So they went to Asia Minor and came back with 40 camels."

The year was 1861. It was the start of the Civil War, but the "camel experiment" had nothing to do with war. According to Witt, this was all about the Army finding a better way to ship cargo across an unsettled west.

The project was not without challenges. The Army had to bring in camel handlers from Asia. Apparently, American soldiers didn't get along with camels.

"They were more used to working with horse or cattle," he noted.

The upshot is that the camel experiment was a success. The hardy beasts of burden easily navigated the deserts and mountains, hauling goods from Texas to California. But a national distraction ended the program.

"In two words, what killed it was the Civil War," Witt said.

The camels that made the trip to California never came back. The ones left at Camp Verde were auctioned off to circuses and zoos, and a colorful chapter in the area's history closed.

In his class, Witt points out that Camp Verde was about more than camels.

Along with Fort Martin Scott in Fredericksburg, Camp Verde was part of a string of forts stretching from Fort Worth in the north to Fort Inge on the Rio Grande. For a very brief period, they served as the line of defense along America's western frontier. A restless nation quickly grew beyond it, and the forts were abandoned or converted to other uses.

Witt tells how the Comanche nation adopted the horse and moved in from Wyoming to spread across Texas. That leads to discussions of the two battles of Bandera Pass; one with the Spaniards, the second with the Rangers.

Again it is a reminder of the area's colorful and often unforgiving past. For those of us who came to Texas from states where settlers plowed sod or poled rivers, it is fascinating to walk hills and riverbanks where only a few generations back ancestors of local families clashed with Indians, led cattle drives, and built ranching empires.

So as you sit inside Camp Verde General Store, sipping your tea and gazing out over Verde Creek, Witt will help you envision a time when camels roamed those hills.

XXX

A few times each session, Gerald Witt teachers Camp Verde - Camels and More. For information or to sign up, click 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.

"Clubstitution"

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Feb 4, 2009


Here's some good news - not everyone is participating in this economic downturn.

I heard a report on public radio that some businesses are actually enjoying increased revenues. The example they used came from a spa in Massachusetts. The owner reported a sales increase of 10%, and no one was more surprised than she.

It turns out that spa patrons were using a strategy called "substitution." As I understood the term, it means that no matter their economic situation, people will continue to pursue pleasure and self-fulfillment. The only difference is that instead of taking the cruise of a lifetime, they are substituting more affordable diversions closer to home. This woman, for example, was unable to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but she could afford a weekend of pampering at a local spa.

In other words, they substituted a more affordable luxury. For some of us it may mean grabbing a candy bar instead of enjoying a four-course meal. For others, it means passing up that trip to Italy, and instead signing up for an Italian cooking class.

Club Ed - with hundreds of classes and workshops - can help in this phenomenon. I hereby coin a term : "Clubstitution."

If you find - for economic or other reasons - that you won't be trekking across Asia this summer, you can always sign up for the Club Ed backpacking course. You will hike the hill country, and it will cost less than a hundred bucks. That is "Clubstitution!"

I leafed through my catalog and came up with several more "Clubstitution" ideas for you:

- Instead of experiencing the wonders of Istanbul, "Clubstitute" Beginning Belly Dance. It's a 5000-year-old art form that will help you shed inches and attract attention.

- Lost your seat on the next space shuttle? "Clubstitute" Backyard Astronomy. You can travel the universe right outside your back door.

- About that trip to Italy. We offer a new Pizza and Pasta class - taught by Anthony Coden, a professional chef from France. If you can't go to Europe, we'll bring Europe to you!

- Considering calling in a landscaper? We have many options to "Clubstitute." Make your own Garden Pavers, build your own Raised Bed Gardens, learn to install a Rainwater Collection system.

- Yearning to whitewater raft down the Colorado River? "Clubstitute" River Kayaking, right here on the gurgling Guadalupe.

- Can't even manage that weekend spa trip? Don't need it - we have several Yoga and Massage classes. One is self-massage, so you don't even need a partner!

- Can't travel at all? "Clubstitute" Travel Photography, and live vicariously through others' work.

You get the idea.

And if you still insist on traveling, Club Ed can help anyway. Sign up for Gina Henry-Cook's "Free Vacations" workshop. She'll show you how to go ahead and take that cruise, and get paid for doing it!

That would have to be the ultimate "Clubstitution!"

XXX

Club Ed offers hundreds of classes you can "Clubstitute!" 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.

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!"

XXX

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.

Hints to start Your Year

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Jan 7, 2009

It is a new year, so here are some of the top tips we've gleaned this season from our community education teachers. May they help you navigate the months ahead!

Keep your knives sharp by not putting them in the dishwasher or silverware drawer, where they will bang against other utensils.
Dr. Tom Harris, Tool Sharpening

You only need to learn three things in order to draw: 1) How to represent the shape of things; 2) How to produce textures; 3) How to understand the difference in values.
Frank Sant'Agata, Drawing

Your web site design should be based on the content, not the other way around. Don't rely only on "branding." Branding is for cattle.
Christie Kitchens, Web Design

When flyfishing, a good cast should feel the same way a pitcher feels when he is pitching.
Mike Andrews, Fly Fishing

The best way to improve your writing is to write less. Remove unnecessary words, especially needless modifiers such as "very" and "nearly" and "really." Really!
Bobbie Christensen, Writing your First Book

Apple Cider Vinegar is not only good for plants, but for humans and animals as well. Use it:
for plants as a fungicide and miticide by adding two tablespoonfuls to a gallon of water for foliar spraying
for soil by adding one tablespoonful to a gallon of tap water to correct the pH balance of the soil
to detoxify harmful agents in human blood and organs by taking one teaspoonful daily in grape juice
to kill fleas and ticks on dogs by adding one teaspoonful to their drinking water
Harold Pieratt, Growing Roses

To make arrowheads more quickly, work slower. To finish a point, you must strike the flint 200-300 times. Any one blow can abort all your effort if done improperly.
Jim Morris, Flintknapping

The first step to singing better is learning how to recognize and control your "chest voice" versus your "head voice." Then it comes down to being able to match pitches.
Marsha McCoy, Singing for the Really, Really Scared

Toss those white elephants! The top tips to better organize your home: 1) have a place for every item in your house; 2) have a command center that is the place for every paper that comes into your home; 3) surround yourself only with things that bring you joy.
Laci Secor, Home Organizing

One inch of rain on a 6500-square-foot roof will produce 4000 gallons of water.
John Kight, Rainwater Harvesting

Most people kill plants by over watering.
Dr. Tom Harris, Gardening

Top three ways to travel free:
1) Maximize frequent flier miles using a credit card, so you can fly for free
2) Put together a small tour that will let you travel free
3) Earn a free cruise by putting together a class to teach aboard ship
Gina Henry-Cook, Travel for Free

The fastest way to learn to play piano, and the key to improvising on the piano, is to learn basic chords.
Craig Coffman, Instant Piano for Hopelessly Busy People

Top reasons most small businesses fail: 1) lack of planning; 2) lack of experience; 3) under funding. Take time to develop a business plan before you start.
Lisa Hindley, How to Start a Small Business

If you're looking for an instrument to pursue as a hobby, start with the mountain dulcimer - it is easy to learn, and most songs are played in one key - usually D.
Jan Layman, Beginning Dulcimer

Like we like to say: Everything I know I learned in community education! Have a learning year!

XXX

Our Spring 2009 Club Ed catalog has been mailed and is also online! 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.

Writing a Romance

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal
Jan 7, 2009

Did you ever yearn to write your own romance novel? Students in a recent Club Ed class learned what it really takes to top the bestseller list from successful novelist Mara Fox.

The Harlequin Romance writer lives in Fredericksburg, and spent a few sessions unveiling the secrets behind her first novel I Shocked The Sheriff.

Unlike the faces of many romance heroines, Fox's basic message was unvarnished and stark.

"If you are writing for yourself, self publishing is fairly easy and inexpensive, and you can have a stack of beautiful books for family and friends," Fox said. "But if you want your book in bookshops, you have to do what the publisher wants."

In other words, you have to compromise the "book of your heart" so it "their book."

Fox has had students disagree strongly with that advice, but she points out that her message has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. It is all about creating a saleable product, and to achieve that you must follow certain guidelines.

"The publishers have to be as happy with your product as you are," she said.

At the same time, Fox counsels that authors stand up for their beliefs when dealing with the book market. In her first novel, her heroine was a recovering alcoholic. The editor questioned having that character trait in the main character, but Fox convinced her that the entire book was based on it. There were other details she ended up changing, but she held firm on what became the key to the novel.

Over the years at Club Ed we have noticed a passionate interest in writing among students. Fox believes that is because writing is "closer to thought" than music or art.

"Writing is so personal," she said. "Everything I write involve issues I am dealing with. I think writers are the most vulnerable people in the world, because they want people to know them but don't know how to let people know them."

As a result, she believes the most successful authors are those unafraid to reveal the truth about themselves.

"A great author's book is so gripping because she puts so much of herself in it," she said. "That what makes it fabulous, but it also makes it so risky for the writer."

I have heard the quote that writing is easy - you just sit down and open a vein. Fox would agree.

"Writing," said Fox, "is one of most personal things we do as human beings."


XXX

Club Ed is offering a series of courses on How to Write, Market, and Publish your book in Boerne and Fredericksburg in April. Our Spring 2009 catalog is now online! Visit www.clubed.net to sign up, or call 830-895-4386. Catalogs will be mailed by January 1.

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.

The girl wants to dance

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal
Dec 17, 2008

"Phil, I want to learn how to dance."

A lovely lady named "Carolyn" started our phone conversation with that simple statement. She had called the right place. I had heard the same lament from quite a few of our hill country neighbors before.

That is because Club Ed has helped literally hundreds of couples learn to two-step, rumba and waltz across Texas. In fact dance classes are the most attended and first-filled in every community education program in the world.

"So you want to learn how to dance," I replied. "May I ask why?" I am always curious what motivates folks to finally step up and take a class.

Carolyn, who is now a grandmother, had several answers. She wanted to surprise her family. It was good exercise. But her most compelling reason was this: "It is just something I want to do."

I found it interesting that Carolyn had never learned to dance growing up in west Texas, home of Ernest Tubb, Buddy Holly, and Waylon Jennings. She explained how a strict upbringing precluded access to some of the baser pleasures of life on the plains.

"I never smoked; I never drank," she said. "And I know it is kind of late in life to learn to dance, but I am going to."

One advantage Carolyn carries in her tool box is her love for music, especially old country music. She mentioned Eddie Arnold and Marty Robbins. Perfect for the country two-step.

Carolyn has one handicap though: "I am kind of bashful about getting up in front of people," she said. "So anything I do, I want to do it right."

This spring she can choose from a smorgasbord of dance styles. Club Ed is offering rumba, tango, ballroom, waltz, cha cha, and belly dance. For someone with Carolyn's love for country music, she might start with country and western.

Whichever dance she chooses, here's hoping she gets off on the right foot. With luck, she will never have to relive a wistful memory that she shared before hanging up.

She remembered a night when a handsome gentleman asked her to dance. Carolyn panicked, because she didn't know the steps. She had to walk away, although she did so regretfully.

"I didn't waltz, because I didn't know how," she recalled. "I suppose he would have made me look good if I just hung on and picked up my feet. But I want to try this the right way, so I'm just going to do it!"

I know we'll see her in class.

XXX

Our Spring 2009 catalog is now online! Visit www.clubed.net to sign up, or call 830-895-4386. Catalogs will be mailed by January 1.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 local classes, 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

XXX

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.

The magic of fly fishing

As published in the (Kerrville TX) Community Journal, Oct 22, 2008 - Phil Houseal

For Mike Andrews, the difference between fishing and fly fishing is like the difference between checkers and chess.

"Checkers is a fine game," Andrews explained. "It is enjoyable and challenges the mind. But chess offers a whole new dimension. You can spend a lifetime learning the game, and you never master it. There is always something new to learn."

Andrews helps others learn those new things while teaching Fly Fishing On The Guadalupe for Club Ed. He is a Certified Instructor for the Federation of Fly Fishers, but he did not pick up a fly rod until about three years before he retired. Andrews was watching those Saturday morning outdoor shows when he began his fascination with the sport

"It did not look like a very efficient way to fish, but there was something magical about it," he said. "There was something about that cast that just mesmerized me."

So he bought a cheap rod and reel. Not having access to a Club Ed class, Andrews pretty much taught himself, watching TV, reading books, and asking advice of all his fly fishing buddies. He figures he spent a year out in his yard "making bad casts."

Then he retired and moved to Kerrville, where the bounty of great fishing water beckoned. He became a charter member of the Hill Country Fly Fishers and refined his technique, eventually earning certification as an instructor and guide.

Andrews led many clients up the hill country's rivers and streams, and over the years he noticed the effect fly fishing could have on people.

"It is a form of recreation that relieves some of the stress we have," he said. He attributes this in part to just being in nature. "During fly fishing, you are IN the water, not standing on the bank. There is a closeness to nature when you are in the water with the fish. And you have a chance to see places off the beaten trail. You see more of the outdoors in a natural state than you do in other types of sports."

Now the teacher, Andrews feels great rewards introducing others to the intricacies of this watery chess game.

"I sense most of them feel like they've been introduced to a sport and know enough basics they can go fly fish on own. There is a genuine enthusiasm."

It is the same enthusiasm Andrews first experienced 20 years ago. He doesn't watch the fishing shows much anymore. But the perfect cast still holds that magical feel for him.

"I like to watch my own cast go out," he admitted. "It is like how a pitcher feels when he is pitching. When he wants to throw a curve ball, and throws a good one, that is the feeling I get."

XXX

Mike Andrews will teach Fly Fishing for Club Ed in the spring session. To learn more about this and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

Born in the Renaissance

As published in the Community Journal (Kerrville TX) Phil Houseal, Oct 08, 2008

"I feel like I was born in the Renaissance."

With Angela Freeman's Italian accent and continental aura, you could easily believe she was. Freeman is Club Ed's expert on all things Italian, from art to history to speaking the language. She will combine all those interests in Il Salotto Del Rinascimento - A Salon of the Renaissance.

While not born in the Renaissance, Freeman was born in the heart of Italy in the region of Parma. She was raised and schooled in Milan. It steeped in her an abiding affinity for the Renaissance.

"I believe it was the most interesting and important part of our history," she said. "There was such an evolution in every field - not just painting, but also sculpture, architecture, philosophy, and literature."

The Renaissance is usually described as a cultural movement that bridged the Middle Ages and the modern era. It began in Italy and later spread to the rest of Europe. The Italian word Rinascimento comes from re- "again" and nascere "be born."

Freeman was born into a family where culture was important. She grew up surrounded by books. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was an officer in the Italian army. She married an American and has spent most of her adult life in this country, where she sees the connection to her beloved Renaissance.

"America now finds in this era something that is popular, so they are becoming more interested in the Renaissance," she said. "The Italian style is liked. Just look at the fashion, the furnishings, the food, even the important buildings in the capital reflect the influence of Italian architecture."

Freeman has compiled - by hand - a 64-page book with examples of the art and influence of the Renaissance ("My husband said this is not just a book - it is an encyclopedia!" she said). She will share it with her students in the class. In her book, she tried to pick the most important figures, not just the most well-known names of the Renaissance: Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and Raphael.

"There are many minor figures that also did excellent work, but who do not enjoy the fame of those three," she said, citing names such as Titian, Cellini, Dante, and Veronazi. "Please come... it will be una posseggiata attraverso il Rinascimento!"

That translates to "a walk through the Renaissance." With Angela Freeman, it is more like "a lifetime in the Renaissance."

XXX

To learn more about this and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

Ni hao! (nee-Ha-OW - that is hello in Chinese)

Published in the Community Journal (Kerrville TX) August 19, 2008

Those whose interest in the Far East is rising as a result of the Beijing Olympics can add to that knowledge with Club Ed. Next spring we are sponsoring a trip to China, and this fall you can start working on the language by taking Chinese Language.

Tatiana Authement teaches both Chinese and Russian. Tatiana is a native of Moscow, and spent time teaching and living in China, where she participated in a historic first I'll share later. So along with language instruction, she plans to pull back the Iron Curtain to give westerners a glimpse into daily life in the former Soviet Union.

And what a life. Tatiana's parents were dissidents, who actually met while held in one of the gulags. When Stalin died in 1953, the government released her parents.

Both were theater producers, so Tatiana grew up surrounded by artists, actors, and performing troupes that put on local productions.

"We would travel to peasant villages, and give little shows with singing, playing, and comedy," she recalled. Her father directed these shows, which were approved by the communist party line. But it was a way to spread culture to her countrymen. Young Tatiana was often cast in these local productions.

"I was performing bad characters mostly," she explained. "I was always the mischievous one - I played the witch types that went flying across the stage."

She eventually enrolled in Moscow University, and studied International business relations and the Chinese language.

In 1989 she traveled to China, where her life took an unexpected turn and she made a bit of history. Tatiana never particularly wanted to come to the United States, but she met and fell in love with an American. Both the U..S. and Soviet embassies in China refused to marry them, so they were married in a Chinese courthouse by Chinese officials. It was the first marriage between an American and a Soviet citizen ever performed in China.

Tatiana has lived in Texas since 1994. She finds most Americans to be very curious about Russia, but not always informed.

"People ask all sorts of questions about my life," she said. "The everyday stuff interests them. They know about Tchaikovsky and Dostoyevsky, but they don't know what the Russian people are like."

She finds many Americans hold onto stereotypes of Russian people left over from the cold war.

"People say to me, 'You can't be Russian... you don't look like a Russian!'"

To help educate us, Tatiana promises to add in a bit about the culture as well as the basics of the language.

"We have this great soul," she said. "Things like our little traditions and superstitions. If you don't know them, you can't understand us."

She acknowledges that one cannot expect to learn any language in six lessons. But she promises that students will have a better understanding of the culture and even be able to read a sentence or two. She does promise two things: "It will not be boring. And there will be no propaganda!"

XXX

Tatiana will teach Chinese starting Sept 16 at 1 p.m., and Russian starting Sept 16 at 3 p.m. The trip to China leaves in April, 2009, with a free information session set for Tuesday evening, October 21 at the Auld Center.

To learn more about these and hundreds of other lifelong learning classes starting this fall, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net.

Sharpen your tools

As published in the Community Journal, Kerrville TX Aug 13, 2008


Whether using your mind or your kitchen paring knife, dull tools are dangerous.

Welcome back to another season of Club Ed, where you can not only sharpen your mind; you can sharpen all of your working tools.

Dr. Tom Harris, revered as a wizard at gardening, has always been fascinated in the tools that help him keep that garden in shape. That is why he will teach a Tool Sharpening Workshop this fall.

"I took a course in tool maintenance when I was working on my Industrial Arts degree," Harris said. "We learned how to maintain all the machines and hand tools in shop. I found it fascinating, and loved all of it. Ever since I have had a fetish about sharp things being sharp."

Taking care of our tools has become an anachronism. Back on the farm, my dad carefully cleaned the dirt off the hoes after each use, sharpened the edges, then dipped them in a bucket of used oil before hanging them up in the barn.

These days, when our hoe becomes dull, we are more likely to toss it and buy a new one than we are to sharpen it (if we even use a hoe, come to think of it). You wouldn't do that with your brain; why do it with your tools?

Harris acknowledges that sharpening has become a lost art, but not for him. He still cleans his spades and hoes after each use, sharpens the blades, sprays the metal with WD-40 and applies linseed oil to the wood handles.

"I've got shovels, hoes and rakes that are 25 years old," he said. "Some of them look better than new ones. I'm a nut about it."

Still, Harris is not obsessive about how you sharpen your tools. He teaches students how to sharpen by hand and to "eyeball" it, mainly by matching the same angle as the original blade was ground. His other tip is to keep your knives sharp by not putting them in the dishwasher or silverware drawer, where they will bang against other utensils. He recommends simply rinsing them off after each use, drying, and placing back in the knife holder.

Oh, about the "dull is dangerous" comment?

"You have to work harder to make a dull tool work," he noted. "If the blade is sharp, it will do what it is supposed to do, easily. If it is dull, that's when you make a mistake."

Sharpening your spades, scissors, knives, and shears is a strange combination of practicality and Zen.

"It is just fascinating," Harris said, "when you can get something sharp enough to shave with, whether it is a shovel or a razor."

Or your mind.

Welcome to Club Ed!

OK gang... we always want your feedback about our Club Ed program - the largest training and lifelong learning program in the Texas Hill Country.
I'll post comments and articles about our classes, teachers, and students from time to time. Might throw out some questions. We are always looking for your ideas on new classes, good teachers, and cogent topics.

Blog On!
Club Eddie