Jam Class
Jamming 101, Levels 1 and 2 (but 3’s welcome, too!) — Sid Lewis— In Jamming 101 our motto is “Anyone can Jam”, and after this class you will believe it! Over the last 12 years of teaching jamming at numerous festivals, Sid Lewis has developed what Joe Craven call “the roadmap to jamming”, a complete system of understanding the rules and etiquette of the bluegrass jam. We’ll start you out with chord charts for easy bluegrass favorites, and get everyone on the same beat by going over the details of playing back-up. Everything from tuning to staying in time will be covered, and using the unique Jamming 101 “5 Level System” we can get everyone, from the first week “sore fingers” to the smug advanced player, finding an enjoyable way to fit in. Then we’ll take you to anatomy class…Jamanatomy, that is! You’ll get a birds eye view of the overall jam: how to use kick-offs to start a tune, getting in and out of solos safely, and various standard bluegrass endings. With our custom lead-flag system everyone gets a chance to take breaks if they want, or not if they don’t. As Sid says “Jamming 101 is the place to get all of those mistakes out of your system!” You’ll be led through the “Jamily Tree” to learn how to identify and survive common types of jams, and finally be taught the “Ten Jammandments” of proper jamming. Jamming 101 is more than a class, it’s everything you need to survive as a beginner, get better at intermediate-hood, or learn to enjoy slow jams as an advanced picker. Jamming 101 is truly everyone’s music class, and we welcome all ages, instruments, abilities and interests. If you have most of your fingers and a desire to learn, we welcome you into the Jam!
Prerequisites: We pride ourselves with the “lowest” prerequisites of any class: you don’t even need to know how to play yet, just show up and “Fwap” along on the fingerboard! We even welcome those without instruments to join us for harmony and sing-a-longs. However, to play along with most of the songs, knowledge of the basic chords like G, C, D and A is helpful. But we do have a “Level 1” that allows you to just play a G chord and keep smiling…it works! Jamming 101 is ideal for players just getting started taking leads, as we play the tunes slowly and offer everyone a chance to take a turn. So having pre-learned arrangements is a plus. Last but not least, having the ability to listen to those next to you, and tell if you get out of time, is probably the most valuable prerequisite of all. But not to worry, if you don’t feel you have that, you will when you leave!
Bring: Your instrument, and essential “jam survival gear”: picks, capos and tuners. All music and books for the class are provided, but if you already have your trusty bluegrass songbook and music stand, that’s fine too.
Sid Lewis: Sid Lewis has been performing and teaching acoustic music since he was 12. He won the California State Flat-picking Guitar championships as a teen in 1991-1992 (Redding, CA), and performed with his family band (Lewis Family Band) until he moved to Chico, CA in 2001. After doing session work with various acts including Joe Craven, Michael Hedges, and Radim Zenkl, he founded his own music school: the Acoustic College. The school now features a popular teens rock and roll program the Chico School Of Rock, and is also the home to his extremely popular music “Playshop” Jamming 101. Jamming 101 is currently featured at numerous music festivals throughout the summer, among them the Strawberry Music festival, the California WorldFest, the American River Music festival, the Kate Wolf Festival, and recently it was featured on NPR's Weekend America, where he was dibbed “the answer to our musical prayers!” Sid’s workshop continues to spread in popularity, including an ever expanding line of instructional materials and accessories, as well a training program for new Jamming 101 instructors. His program has become an important and well-loved part of our camps, and we’re happy to have him as part of our core staff.
www.jamming101.com; www.chicoschoolofrock.com; www.acousticcollege.com
