Adult intensive workshops
Dive deep into the topics you love
Wintergrass adult education includes both festival workshops, included in the price of your ticket, or deep dive sessions for players of all skill levels. These classes require separate registration.
Beginners through advanced players can take advantage of Wintergrass Intensives which include ten master classes on a wide range of instruments and topics. All Intensives take place on Thursday. Half-day intensives are three hours of instruction each. Morning sessions are from 10am–1pm. Afternoon sessions are from 2pm-5pm.
Space is limited.
Novice or curious non-players can take advantage of our Never Too Late Adult Academy on Saturday. This 10am to 3pm course is designed to kick start your jamming life, mimicking the Youth Academy program where students enjoy a safe environment for exploring music, building a circle of friends and getting a little silly.
We thank Amazon.com for supporting all our education programs, and Artistworks for sponsoring our Intensives program.
MORNING CLASSES
John Reischman 10am-1pm, larch
Bluegrass Mandolin Fundamentals
In this workshop we will cover all the techniques required to be a Mandolin player in a bluegrass band. Strong Rhythm, tremolo, single note fiddle tune style playing, double stops, and more! We’ll learn some tunes and songs that illustrate these techniques. Selections from Bill Monroe, Frank Wakefield, David Grisman, and me!
Skill Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Gabrielle Macrae 10am-1pm, laurel
Old-Time Fiddle
Learn an accessible old-time tune with an emphasis on bowing technique. We will talk about how to use rocking, droning and bowing patterns to get that old-time groove.
Skill Level: Intermediate
Patrick Sauber 10am-1pm, juniper
Bluegrass Guitar
This class will be about building and refining the skills necessary in a band setting. We’ll cover topics such as right hand technique, g-run variations, cross-picking, and creating solos. Special emphasis will be given to timing and rhythm.
Skill Level: Intermediate-Advanced
Väsen 10am-1pm, maple
Swedish Fiddle Tunes
Veteran instructors Olov Johansson and Mikael Marin will help you unfold the mysteries of Swedish fiddle tunes. We will look into how to play these kind of tunes, bowing patterns and rhythms, phrasing and ornamentation etc. We’ll do recordings of melodies and all other voices at the end of the class. All instruments welcome.
Skill Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Joe Craven 10am-1pm, Madrona
Vocal Improvisation
Vocal Improv; Singing Creatively, Soulfully and Spontaneously:Your voice is the most portable, versatile, amazing musical instrument you’ll never buy! Anyone can do creative things with their voice when the right people are there to show them and Joe Craven is one of those people.
Show up “empty handed and open minded” as he will awaken your voice to new possibilities quickly, and in fun ways, while adding greater expression to your singing of a song or scatting melodies right in the moment. This is not an ability-based class; most anyone can do what Joe will teach you.
Skill Level: Open to all
AFTERNOON CLASSES
Casey Driessen 2pm-5pm, larch
Groove Chops & Genre Hops
Bluegrass may be the birthplace of the chop, but this percussive bow technique loves to travel. In this workshop, we’ll hop between genres, borrow their best grooves, and turn them into tasty chop phrases (with plenty of variations for flavor). We’ll use familiar tunes to explore each style’s “feel,” and sneak in some technique-building tips along the way. Some chop chops under your belt recommended
Skill Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Nina Gerber 2pm-5pm, Laurel
Demystifying the Guitar Fretboard
Everybody just loves theory, right? OK, never mind. In this class, we will learn just the right amount of theory to help understand the fretboard, learn about chord construction to increase your chord vocabulary, and get you started playing some simple leads all over the neck while knowing what you are doing. We’ll talk a bit about technique and tone as well. No fancy licks here, but hopefully enough information so you can create your own fancy licks.
Skill Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Mike Bub 2pm-5pm, Juniper
The Boom Boom Logic
This workshop delves into the art of playing bass in the world of Bluegrass music. We’ll cover fundamental concepts to advanced techniques, providing knowledge for musicians of all skill levels. This session will include detailed discussions, demonstrations, and practical tips to help you enhance your bass playing skills including one-on-one analysis, offering insights and feedback to help you improve your playing.
Skill Level: Open to all
Allison de Groot 2pm-5pm, maple
Old-Time Banjo
This class will focus on ways to approach creating variations. Deconstructing a tune down to the key notes and getting away from muscle memory can help open it up, and then new ideas, rhythms and notes can be added back in. Focusing on maintaining a solid rhythmic foundation, this class will provide a roadmap to being able to play a tune in multiple ways and being a more flexible and adaptable banjo player.
Skill Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Nick Hornbuckle 2pm-5pm, madrona
Play the Words – Earl Scruggs
Perhaps one of the greatest Bluegrass maxims and a Koan of epic proportions. What did he mean by that and…how do we put it into practice? This class will focus on following Earl’s example of creating solos that “play the words.”
Skill Level: All levels are invited and tablature examples, along with audio files, will be provided.
Cliff Perry & Emmett Pritchard
SATURDAY! 10am-3pm, Skyview
Never Too Late Adult Academy
Never Too Late is the camp for grown-ups! Cliff Perry and Emmett Pritchard lead a day of fun and learning for all, from beginners to veteran pickers. Modeled after Wintergrass’s award-winning
Wintergrass is a production of Acoustic Sound, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization. EIN: 91-2103544
all photos copyright Maria Camillo