A truly great experience

I am attending the Advanced Banjo Camp taught by Dr. Banjo, Peter Wernick, in Boulder Colorado from Jan. 18 through Jan. 23, 2009. I thought it might be fun to report from the camp nightly to give you my thoughts on the event. To start at the beginning of the series, click this link: beginning of the series

Intimate access to Dr. Banjo is worth the price of the camp

I continue to feel blessed and lucky at being able to attend banjo camp with Peter Wernick. The second day of camp didn’t bring on as much individual attention to my picking and I didn’t pick up anything aimed at my picking in particular, but I did get to see Peter help two of my fellow campers with their technique, and I watched him pass on some of the same advice to them that he gave to me. It was really neat to watch as Peter spent a concentrated block of time working with fellow camper Daron Shupe, going over some concepts over and over and over until Daron understood the point Peter was trying to make and could do it. We all heard a definite difference in Daron’s playing by the time Peter finished working with him. I blogged on day 1 about learning to emphasize the beat and of making my strings pop and distinguishing between the notes, and for me that’s a whole new realm of thinking about my right hand. It was pretty eye opening to see Peter drill these same concepts into Daron, but then to also hear the difference by the time Daron grasped what Peter was saying and could demonstrate what was being taught. It was really something to hear.

Click me! Click me!

Dr. Banjo has a lifetime of experience and stories

I have to admit that I haven’t been as aware of Peter Wernick as I could have been. I’ve known him to have a thriving teaching business, both with live banjo camps and recorded lesson aids, such as instructional DVD’s and books. I’ve also known that he was a member of the famous band Hot Rize, but for no particular reason I just didn’t really end up following Peter’s career or owning anything by Hot Rize. (Believe me that’s about to change.) It’s been eye-opening to learn just how connected Peter is to the bluegrass world, and how much he knows about almost every performer and picker in bluegrass. If Peter isn’t on a first name basis with them or hasn’t been in a picking scenario with them, he has a wealth of encyclopedic knowledge about them. Peter is a living treasure who is connected enough to have spent time with Bill Monroe, to be able to call up Earl Scruggs on the phone as a personal friend, to have picked with Tony Rice, to have known Tony Trischka as he was coming up (they even roomed together once upon a time) to be on a first name basis with Bela Fleck…the list goes on and on. Part of class time is spent watching old documentaries and television shows about bluegrass stars and bluegrass performances, and it continues to amaze me how Peter knows the “back story” behind everything we get into.

Boulder is a beautiful area

Mountains so close you can touch them

I‘m rather limited as far as having to stay within walking distance of the hotel I’m staying at, but on the drive here from the airport and on my walks to various eateries, I’ve marveled at the scenery. I’ve seen relatively little in comparison to what Colorado has to offer, but for a flatlander from west Michigan, it’s really magic to step out the door of the hotel and see these huge mountain ranges on the outskirts of town that rise up and appear to be behind the very next building. Someday I hope to come back during the summer and explore the area. (Yes, I still can’t believe people would come to an area like this during the winter. I’ve heard rumors that people even come from warm climates and purposely spend time out in the snow and cold, doing insane things like skiing. I’m doubting that actually happens, but they say it does. Mental illness is a bigger problem in this country than I thought.)

More to come!

I‘m looking forward to picking up everything I can before the week is out. There is to be a concert on Friday night for the locals starring us, the banjo campers, and we are taking a tour of the OME banjo factory on Thursday. Between Peter’s teaching and the wealth of resources he makes available from his personal library, this banjo camp is well worth the price of admission and I encourage you to consider attending if you can. You won’t be sorry.

Update: the next blog post about day #3 is loaded. To go straight to this post, click this link: banjo camp, day 3.

Banjo Paul
“Wunse, I coodn’t even spel bango pikker…now I are one!”
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Tagged as: 12 kinds of awesome, Banjo, Banjo lesson, Instructional series, Learning, Miscellaneous, Peter Wernick, tons 'o fun