DON STIERNBERG

1) Jethro Burns Mandolin Style
Brief overview of Jethro's life, career, and influence upon today's acknowledged masters. Making eighth notes swing. Jethro's linear concept as applied to fiddle tunes ('hoedowns"). Jethro's pioneering chord-melody style arrangements of standards. Rhythm chord voicings for swing and jazz. Favorite Jethro repertoire.

2) Technical Exercises for Right and Left Hands
Thoughts about thumb and wrist placement. Training the fretting fingers to stay close to the board. Using the symmetry of the fretboard for accessing scales, chords, and arppeggios. Getting eighth note lines to flow for fiddle tune, bluegrass, and jazz playing. Knowing where everything is on the fretboard. Avoiding tension and pain.

3) Improvisation for Swing and Bluegrass * (Don Stiernberg and August Watters)
Swing and bluegrass have much in common. A thorough understanding of pentatonics, phrasing, voice leading, and blues vocabulary is essential to both styles. Structuring your improvisation around the strong chord tones sounds great, whether you're playing over a simple I-IV-V progression, or something much more complex.

BEVERLY WOODS:

1) How to Learn Tunes *
You hear a tune you would really like to play, or find one written in a book that looks good -- how do you get your mind and fingers around that tune so that you can add it to your repertoire? The mandolin is a great instrument on which to learn tunes, and we'll explore techniques that will help you learn and retain tunes more easily. We will be working by ear, so no music reading experience is required.

2) Rhythm & Phrasing *
In this workshop we'll be adding shape to your playing by increasing awareness of rhythm and phrasing. Lots of music played on the mandolin is dance music, or related to dance music, so we will be exploring what that means for rhythm. What makes a jig feel like a jig? What's the difference between a reel and a hornpipe? And: how can you make your playing sound more expressive, cohesive and connected? These questions and more will be explored in this workshop, open to all levels (including beginners).

3) Creative Backup (with Seth Austen) *
Playing back up offers many possibilities for mandolin family instruments; chords and inversions, double stops, drones, harmonies, counter melodies, bass lines, rhythmic variations. We'll explore these ideas and discuss how to come up with creative back up parts for traditional instrumental tunes and songs. This class is for any level and instrument.

AUGUST WATTERS

1) Ear Training for Improvisers *
Ear training is all about putting labels on familar sounds, so they're easier to find and use in the future. We'll work on getting away from playing figerboard patterns, toward an approach

2) Improvisation for Swing and Bluegrass *(with Don Stiernberg)
There are many books and videos on bluegrass soloing, but after basic pentatonics, what's next? This workshop will discuss improvisational devices used in bluegrass and ideas for developing and extending your own bluegrass style.

3) Chord Melody Method for Mandolin
This class will explore the closed-position chords that work so well on mandolin, and the mechanical devices used to build them. Understanding the underlying formulas can open up your understanding of how each note functions within the chord. Participants should be familiar with basic chord construction (i.e., how to spell major, minor, and seventh chords).

SPECIAL 3pm FRIDAY WORKSHOP:
4) Mandolin Techique/Generating Licks
We'll start by discussing effective and efficient techniques for developing tone. Then we'll discuss simple devices for developing your improvisational vocabulary. Phrasing and voice leading provide the structure for improvisation. Every improviser needs to spend a certain amount of time on vocabulary: we need to know the rules of sentence structure, but we must also think what to say!

KEITH BAUMANN

1) String Band Blues, Stomps and Rags *
The southern string bands of the 1920's and 30's played some great music and the mandolin was a key ingredient in these ensembles. We will pick some great lowdown blues, rags and stomps while we explore this wide-open genre where the rhythmic groove is king and anything goes.

2) Introduction to Western Swing *
Western Swing music combines elements of Dixieland, string band, big band swing and the blues. In fact, it was one of the earliest adopters of jazz on the mandolin. We will be looking at some basic techniques and exploring common repertoire that will have you swinging Texas style in no time. Learn to use closed chord shapes to play "Texas style" rhythm. We will also cover scales, arpeggios, phrasing and improvisational skills. This music is a great first step for mandolin players looking to get into swing and jazz music.

3) Monroe-Style Mandolin *
This workshop will explore the building blocks of Bill Monroe's ground-breaking style. We will explore Monroe's right hand techniques and how he used a pick along various rhythm patterns to emulate the fiddle bowings of old-time musicians. We will also review Bill's left hand fingerings in both the open and closed positions that he commonly used to create his melody and improvised solos.

Workshop will cover:
-Monroe's approach to old-time fiddle tunes.
-His classic closed position scales, arpeggios and blues runs
-Using pick downstrokes
-Triplets and Tremelos
-Creating drive and volume with double stops, triple stops and more

JIM DALTON

1) Classical Techniques for Unaccompanied Playing
Build on existing techniques and combine them to make a strong solo style. We'll work with chords, arpeggios, tremolo etc. and combine them into such techniques as "duo style" which is a solo technique of accompanying one's own tremolo melody.

2) Improvising an 18th Century-Style Prelude
Yes, there was (and is) improvisation in classical music. This workshop is aimed at two groups of players: (a) classical players who wish to try improvisation and (b) those with some improvisation experience who are looking for an introduction to classical style.

3) Progressing from "Just Reading" to "Sight Reading"
Practice techniques and strategies that will smooth the path to becoming an excellent reader of music "prima vista."

SETH AUSTEN

1) Klezmer Music for Mandolin *
Eastern European Klezmer is a rich musical tradition well suited to mandolin family instruments. We'll explore some scales and rhythms typically used in klezmer, discuss ornamentation and melodic variation within the tradition and learn to play a few classic tunes from the traditional repertoire of freilachs, bulgars, khosidls and horas. We'll also look at accompaniment styles and roles of different instruments within an ensemble. Tunes are taught by ear, however sheet music will also be provided. Open to all instruments and levels. No previous knowledge of klezmer music necessary.

2) Creative Backup (with Beverly Woods) *
Playing back up offers many possibilities for mandolin family instruments; chords and inversions, double stops, drones, harmonies, counter melodies, bass lines, rhythmic variations. We'll explore these ideas and discuss how to come up with creative back up parts for traditional instrumental tunes and songs. This class is for any level and instrument.

3) Chord Construction Basics
We'll discuss how major and minor chords are constructed and learn an easy system of playing inversions up the neck. From there we can look at other types of chords, including sevenths, suspended, etc. Once you've learned a few simple shapes, it's possible to play any chord, and in any key. This class is for mandolin or any mandolin-family instrument, fiddle, tenor banjo, or anything tuned in fifths!

*for all instruments

Beginners Track
Beginners will work with Beverly Woods -- a patient teacher with a gift for making it all understandable and getting the students playing. Each teacher will cover a variety of topics designed to get everyone playing in a group. Beginners are welcome to attend other workshops also, or move between beginners' track teachers. They'll get lots of individual attention to make sure they're getting off on the right foot!

Saturday Night Faculty Concert
Don Stiernberg & CCMC faculty
This concert will be open to the entire Cape community: an entertaining and thoughtful presentation of the world of mandolin music by the faculty of CCMC, along with Don Stiernberg. Admission price is included with CCMC tuition.

Guitars and other instruments at CCMC
There's room for guitars (both folk and classical) in most of the ensembles. Some ensembles can also accommodate fiddles, bass, banjo, and other instruments as well. Musicians who play these instruments are welcome to participate fully in the camp -- every workshop period will offer classes that are not mandolin-specific. When you register, just let us know any instrument you'll be playing.

Ensemble Performances
Playing in an ensemble is a thrill -- mandolin is such a sociable instrument! The Camp will present an opportunity for mandolinists of all levels to play, rehearse and perform in a group, and to work on those ensemble-playing skills that just can't be addressed by practicing alone.

Ensembles will be separated by level, style, and amount of interest in preparation before the festival. Some ensembles will be completely "by ear," and give the participants a chance to create an arrangement by working together, while others will pursue a polished ensemble sound while playing written, arranged and improvisational music. For those interested in preparing before the festival begins, written parts will be provided in both standard notation and tablature.

Radim Zenkl leads his advanced students in performance, CCMC 2005