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An introduction to Guitar Weekends
The most common question I get is,
"How good do I need to be?" My answer to that is
"As good as you are now!".
What happens and
when
The residential guitar weekends here at
Beckfoot are held Throughout the year
from March to November.
They have been specially developed for hobby-players
like yourselves who don't get enough time at home to
practice and have trouble in finding other players to
work with. Mind you some that come on the weekends have or still do play in bands.
The
Guitar Weekend runs from just after 3pm Friday afternoon
through to Sunday afternoon after lunch and you just
play, learn and relax through out the fully residential
weekend. Your time here is completely devoted to guitar
related activities. We do cater for non residential
players as well.
On
the Friday, having arrived sometime in the afternoon we
help you get to know the other players on the weekend.
This helps you to feel more at ease when it comes to
playing and learning during the workshops which start in
earnest on the Saturday morning.
We gradually get you playing on the Friday to get you
warmed up, and we do a lot of talking to find out what
each of you wants to get from the weekend.
The
Saturday consists of workshops throughout the day (9.15
till 5.30) based around the specific techniques and
knowledge required for that style of weekend. With
breaks during the day for coffee, lunch and afternoon
tea. We then have personal time till dinner at 7pm after
which we continue with an organised jam session. See
below for what else we do on the Saturday night.
Some
want to learn specific techniques others just want a
chance to play. The weekend is a balance of structured
workshops, organised jam sessions and relaxation.
On the Saturday evening after dinner we do like to split
the group into two smaller groups. Each group will then
learn and present a simple tune or song after spending
time preparing and arranging who does what and using
some of the principles and techniques learned during the
day.
We have people of all ages and all abilities on our
weekends and I make it a point to put people at ease.
It's quite daunting to come away and join folks you
don't know, I know because I'm in the same position as
you just a bedroom player with a lot to learn. It is fun
to work with others and certainly improves your ability,
so do not be put off and give it a try.
Guitar weekends are not just a jam session!
I would not advise raw beginners to come along, you do
need to know a few chords and be able to play some lead.
It doesn't matter if you cannot finish the tunes. I have
that problem! We have a special Back to basics weekend with Lin Flanagan called
Strugglers weekend
this includes core subjects to help you improve your
playing both here and when you get back home. Also an
Improvers weekend with Gary Dunn
which covers the same core subjects, All the essentials to
improve your guitar playing on a
weekend course. If you
are not sure which weekend to come on then come on one
of these.
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