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Walnut Valley Festival ::
Pre-Festival Workshops
Sept. 12
By Rex Flottman
RockKansas guest columnist
For a third year the Walnut Valley Festival will be conducting pre-festival, hands-on workshops for folks wanting to improve their acoustic musician skills. Wednesday, September 12, some of the top acoustic musicians in the country will be in Winfield to teach students some of the skills that have helped them to gain national honors and championships. This year’s teaching staff dynamic.inc five national champions on their chosen instruments.
National finger-style guitar champions Pat Kirtley & Pete Huttlinger will present an intensive fingerstyle guitar workshop. Pat's topics will include thumbstyle guitar techniques, arranging, alternate tunings and Celtic tunes for the fingerstyle guitar. Pete will cover right hand techniques, simple patterns, and how to play smoothly, evenly and clean up trouble spots for those trying to get to the next level.
Pete will also address specific questions or problems from students. The cost is $50 and is limited to 40 participants. Jim Hurst will be presenting flat-pick guitar workshops for level I & II players. The level I workshop is from 9 until noon. The cost is $50 with an enrollment limit of 25. The level II workshop is from 1:30 to 4:30. The cost is $50 with an enrollment limit of 25.
International Bluegrass Music Association bass player of the year for 4 consecutive years, Missy Raines will look at the role of the bass in a bluegrass band. She will discuss basic technique, timing, pulling good tone, setting up the bass, and more. Missy will also discuss why we play scales and how it relates to soloing. It will be geared for acoustic bass but electric players are welcome. It will cost $50 and be held from 1-4:30 with an enrollment limit of 25.
Russell Cook, 1981 National Hammer Dulcimer Champion and dulcimer luthier will be presenting two different hammer dulcimer workshops this year. The first will be designed for the beginner and will be held from 10 a.m. until noon. The second will focus on the more advanced players and is titled “road-mapping the hammer dulcimer”. It will be held from 2-4 p.m. The cost for either workshop is $30 with an enrollment limit of 25 in each. Hammer dulcimers are available for rent during the workshop for $15. To rent a dulcimer, call Russell at 1-888-752-9243. A three-day advance notice is required.
Gary and Les Gallier, the only brothers ever to win the same contest at the Walnut Valley Festival, (Gary 1987 National Mountain Dulcimer Champion and Les, 1990 National Mountain Dulcimer Champion) are holding a workshop for those who would like to improve their playing skills on a mountain dulcimer. The workshop is for intermediate to advanced players. It will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a break from noon to 1:30 p.m. The cost is $50 per person with an enrollment limit of 25.
Andy May, from Nashville Tennessee will be teaching mandolin. Andy brings years of teaching and entertaining experience to this year’s workshop staff. Andy will teach practical noting, chording and flatpicking technique. This will help students learn to play old-timey and bluegrass tunes on the mandolin. He will explore backup playing and lead styles. The mandolin workshop will be held from 9:00-4:30 with a break from noon-1:30. The cost is $50 with an enrollment limit of 25.
Dan Levenson returns to the pre-festival workshops with the banjo and old time fiddle. These classes are for the beginning player. “Meet The Banjo” will cover the basics of old-time clawhammer and bluegrass styles through hands-on instruction. For anyone interested not owning a banjo, Dan will provide a banjo. The banjo class meets from 9 a.m. until noon and costs $35 with an enrollment limit of 15.
Dan will also be offering a beginning fiddle workshop from 1:00-4:00 p.m. Students will learn basic tuning, bowing, and fingering of the fiddle. The class will also cover tips and techniques to help beginners improve their skills. The cost is $35 with an enrollment limit of 25.
Classes this year will be held off festival grounds, locations will include, the Winfield Public Library, the First Baptist Church and the First Presbyterian Church. To enroll in the workshops students must have a full festival ticket for the Walnut Valley Festival. To wrap up the events of the day, the Taylor Guitar Company will be sponsoring a concert featuring guitarists Dan Crary, Beppe Gambetta, Pat Kirtley, Pete Huttlinger and other surprise guests.
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