Al Davison
Well-known member
I attended the Alabama Folk School (http://www.alfolkschool.com) this past weekend - just got back. I had four days of uke classes with Jere Canote and learned a ton! It was like drinking from a firehose but I did my best to keep up.
Jere is hilarious! A great instructor and spent part of one class teaching us the rudiments of claw-hammer uke. It sounds great but I cannot say that I can actually do it, yet.
Mostly, I learned a lot of great new strumming techniques and how to improve on just about everything that I knew and a lot that I didn't know.
When we weren't in classes, it was non-stop jamming with about 140 of my new best friends. Fiddles, banjos, guitars, mandolins, basses and even an occasional harmonica and dulcimer were everywhere you could see. You couldn't swing a soprano without hitting an excellent musician who was more than happy to have you join in even if you were not an excellent musician.
I think I played about 10 hours each day - my fingers still hurt this morning.
Once I get Jere's permission, I'll try to post some video here.
This was at a really beautiful and special place - Camp McDowell - in the wilds of Alabama (about an hour north and west of Birmingham). I highly recommend it!
Anybody here ever try clawhammer uke? There are lots of youtube videos if you look. Pretty cool.
Jere is hilarious! A great instructor and spent part of one class teaching us the rudiments of claw-hammer uke. It sounds great but I cannot say that I can actually do it, yet.
Mostly, I learned a lot of great new strumming techniques and how to improve on just about everything that I knew and a lot that I didn't know.
When we weren't in classes, it was non-stop jamming with about 140 of my new best friends. Fiddles, banjos, guitars, mandolins, basses and even an occasional harmonica and dulcimer were everywhere you could see. You couldn't swing a soprano without hitting an excellent musician who was more than happy to have you join in even if you were not an excellent musician.
I think I played about 10 hours each day - my fingers still hurt this morning.
Once I get Jere's permission, I'll try to post some video here.
This was at a really beautiful and special place - Camp McDowell - in the wilds of Alabama (about an hour north and west of Birmingham). I highly recommend it!
Anybody here ever try clawhammer uke? There are lots of youtube videos if you look. Pretty cool.