Friday - Sessions I and II - New Players I and II will focus on the basic techniques involved in playing, including tuning, strumming patterns and reading tablature. No previous musical experience is necessary. Loaner instruments are available.

Friday - Sessions III - New Tunes for Beginners - Beginner & up. – It is always fun to play a new tune and to get beyond Twinkle, Twinkle. We will use this time to learn one or two more tunes as time allows.

Saturday Session I - Playing Well with Others - (collaboratively with Ilace Mears ** meet in ROOM 107**) Mountain and hammered dulcimers really can play nicely together. Duet arranging and communication tips for both are offered here.

Saturday - Session II - Beginner and Up – Learn the basics of moving from strumming to fingerpicking. Learning good techniques in the beginning will make it easier for you to learn new songs and to play better throughout your dulcimer journey.

Friday - Session II - Adv - Tunings - This workshop explores many tunings for the dulcimer. Learn how to choose the best tuning for the piece being played, how to change the key, different modes, etc. Capos will not be used.

Friday - Sessions III - Adv. - Old Time Hymns - A variety of old-time mountain songs and hymns.
Learned directly by ear from authentic sources or from field recordings. The songs are mostly arranged in the Old-Time style of playing the melody while singing. Songs include: Where The Sun Never Goes Down, Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down, Amazing Grace, When The World's On Fire and more.

Friday - Sessions IV - Beg. - Learn a new Song - Learn a traditional song for beginners.

Saturday - Session I - Int - Learning to play in DAA - Many times even those who have played for several years have not explored tunings beyond where they started. DAA is not a "beginner" tuning but a viable a interesting tuning that fully utilizes the traditional voice of the mountain dulcimer.

Saturday - Session II - JAM SURVIVAL with Joe Collins - Learn tips from some of the best players on how to get by in a jam.

Friday - Session I – ADV. – Autumn Fancy: An Exercise in Inverted Chords and 6/8 Rhythm (Advanced). This workshop will use an original piece by Joe Collins entitled Autumn Fancy" to help you work on several very useful skills - playing inverted chords, pulling off while playing inverted chords, and keeping a smooth 6/8 rhythm even when things get a little fast. These are great techniques for playing some of those faster Celtic tunes.

Friday - Session II – INT & UP – Crossing Your Tab - Once you get the hang of cross-picking, some of those very difficult pieces that are all over the fretboard can become relatively simple by using a cross-picked version. This workshop will focus on taking any piece of tab and transposing it into a very playable cross-picked arrangement. A working knowledge of primary chords on the dulcimer in DAd is necessary to navigate this workshop well.

Friday - Session III - Nov/Int – Playing Well with Others: The MD in an Ensemble. This workshop will help participants play mountain dulcimers effectively in an ensemble, whether it be an ensemble of several different instruments or an ensemble of mountain dulcimers. We’ll share knowledge and work on skills that will help players fit in and make unique contributions to a musical group.

Friday - Session IV – Int. – Make that a Combo, Please! This workshop will focus on picking out the melody in between and in combination with the strums that give body to arrangements. We’ll use exercises to develop effective strum/flatpicking technique and two tunes to incorporate the technique, an original waltz and a challenging O’Carolan piece entitled "Lord Inchiquin.

Saturday - Session I - ADV. – Learn to play a Fast Celtic Tune.

Saturday - Session II - JAM SURVIVAL with Don Pedi in ROOM 116 - Learn tips from some of the best players on how to get by in a jam.

Friday - Session IV - Nov-Beg - Things your Mother Never Told you About the MD - We will discuss what one needs to know about the MD, strings, tuning, strumming, rhythm, and questions you want answered.

Saturday - Session I - Novice & Up - New Songs for Beginners - Learn as many tunes as we can, in the time allowed, played my way.

Friday - Session I - INT/ADV - Tune Multiplication: One tune times three styles equals an interesting medley. Brainstorm on arranging. Hands-on musical magic as we play, and play with, Moses Hoe Your Corn.

Friday - Session II - INT - Uncommon Fiddle Tunes - The World Beyond Golden Slippers - Tunes you may not hear at every jam, but should! Roscoe, perhaps? How about Bill Cheatem? Needle Case? And where do we find new (old) different material anyway?

Friday - Session III – INT – The Dots on the Page Go Round and Round – Very basic music reading skills related to your instrument. Making sense of what's "on the page" can be an invaluable tool, even if (especially if) one learns primarily by ear.

Friday - Session IV - Beg/ Int. - Hymns - Church is often a player’s first "public" venue. How to choose when, what, and how to play. Simple arrangerments of a couple of favorite hymn tunes.

Saturday - Session I – INT - Playing Well with Others: (collaboratively with Lee Cagle) Room 115 - Mountain and hammered dulcimers really can play nicely together. Duet arranging and communication tips for both are offered here.

Saturday Session IV - Nov/Int - Christmas Carols - Christmas is Coming, the geese are getting Fat. Please put a penny in the dulcimer player’s hat! Carols for almost-beginners beauty in simplicity.

Friday - Session I - Intermediate - Pachelbel - Canon in D - make some money iwth that hammered dulcimer. This tune is a hit at weddings.

Friday - Session IV - INT/ADV - Sa Schlockit Light - Learn my arrangement of this beautiful tune from the Shetland Islands.

Saturday - Session I - Steel Drum – Christmas tunes. All Levels.

Saturday - Session II - Jam Survival - Taught with Sharrie – Hammered dulcimer, steel drum, ukelele.

Friday - Sessions I & II - Adv - Preparing your own arrangements for Hammered Dulcimer.

Friday - Session III - Adv. - Adding embellishments to dress up your playing.

Saturday - Sessions I & II - Beginner - Easy tips for how to improvise with your hammered dulcimer. Don’t let "I can’t play the melody of that song." stop you from playing. Learn how to play along with the melody without playing the exact notes of the melody. A great technique for jam sessions.

Friday - Session I & Session II - NEW PLAYERS - Rick will get the new player off to a solid foundation including tuning, holding the hammers, finding the scales. The new player will be amazed at how simple tips can get them playing quickly and with accuracy.

Friday - Session III - ALL - Care and Feeding of the HD - Learn how to take care of your dulcimer and why. An interactive class; questions are welcome. Is there something you have wanted to know about your dulcimer? Which dulcimer will be the best for your needs? What should I look for in a dulcimer before I buy one?

Friday - Session IV - Beg/Int - Blues - Learn a standard blues progression and how to play ad-lib solos to them. A lighthearted fun class. We learn to just be creative and have some fun.

Saturday - Session I - Adv. - Chord Theory I - Learn why certain chords are used in a song. The simple formula to find them. Learn what chords can be replaced with other chords and how to find these replacement chords. I will show you a simple way to find these chords on your dulcimer. Students should know how to play chords.

Saturday - Session II - Adv - Chord Theory II - Learn to play a chord in several positions on the dulcimer. Explore patterns that use the whole instrument and are still easy to remember and use. Hand patterns that really work and why. Explore more chord theory.

Friday - Session III - Beginning Ukulele – Absolute Beginner – Never tried a ukulele? Now’s your chance! We will cover all the basics and have you strummin’ a few tunes in an hour!

Friday - Session IV - Past Beginner - If you know the basics on the ukulele, continue on to learn a few strums, more chords, and more tunes! We’ll learn a few calypso tunes and some fun ukulele favorite sing-alongs! (

Saturday - Session I - Past Beginner and up - UKE FOR ALL - Play a little melody on the ukulele! We will learn how to start playing simple melodies. We’ll locate the notes on our ukuleles and learn easy ways to play them. We’ll get a few tunes with melody and harmony parts to take home with you and play with other ukes - or any other instrument! A good start to finger-picking and chord-melody playing.

Saturday - Session II - Doug & Harry will take students through the paces on playing rhythm with these ancient and popular instruments. Percussion adds a layer of variety to any jam session.

Saturday - Session I - Folk Guitar - Guitars are popular in almost all types of music genre. This workshop will focus on the folk-style fingerpicking and effective utilization of the guitar as part of a folk band or jam. This class requires the student to be fluent in Greek and Hebrew (just kidding).