The British BMG Federation Summer School 4th – 6th July 2008 at Burwell House, North Street, Burwell, Cambridgeshire CB5 0BA

Burwell House is an 18th century house with Victorian additions set in beautiful grounds with nooks and crannies for individual practice both inside and out. Meals can be taken either in the conservatory looking out onto 3 acres of landscaped gardens, or outside if the weather is good. There is bar for drinks and informal playing/jamming. The village of Burwell has retained a peaceful and friendly atmosphere and offers places of interest, including museum, castle site, spring and a fine church dating back to 12th Century.

Directions Burwell lies approximately 12 miles North East of Cambridge and a short drive from Newmarket and Ely, with straightforward access to and from the A14 and thence the M11; Newmarket is the closest railway station.

Friday Registration and room allocation will take place between 5pm and 6pm.Dinner will be at 6.30pm, after which there will be a short welcome and introductory session followed by class tuition with your tutor. Informal playing/jamming in the bar will end the evening nicely!

Saturday This will be busy with class tuition all day. After dinner students will have the choice of playing in a large ensemble, in smaller groups or the time can be used for personal practice - there will be opportunity to put forward ideas for this session. Informal playing/jamming will again take place in the bar area.

Sunday Class tuition will run until lunch-time, after which there will be a student/tutor concert to bring the weekend to a close. We expect to depart from Burwell at approximately 3.30pm.

Accommodation This will be on a shared basis. We have full use of the building and the intention is for no room to have more than 6 persons. If students know of others with whom they would be happy to share a room, they should provide their name(s).

Cost of the week-end is £160 for BMG Federation Members, £170 for Non-Members and £124 non–residential. There is room on the site for tents and motor-homes. We expect this course to be popular so before booking please contact Henry Girvan via e-mail at henry.girvan@btinternet.com or telephone 01592 630374 to check there are spaces available for your chosen course. A deposit of £40 will then secure a place with the balance due at the end of May. Cheques should be made payable to The British BMG Federation and sent with your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, BMG Federation membership ID number if you have one and course title to Henry Girvan, 231 Cluny Place, Glenrothes, Fife KY7 4QT . Also please state whether you will be residential or non-residential.

Elias Sibley: 5-string Classic Banjo
 This course is suitable for both beginner (with some previous knowledge of the instrument and music reading) as well as more advanced students and will cover intensive study of all main aspects fingerstyle banjo playing, with particular regard to solo and ensemble playing, interpretation, technical development, sight reading and practice methods. This will be achieved through relaxed, friendly workshops and classes involving both tutor and group feedback. All ensemble music will be provided, however students should provide their own copies of any solo repertoire they would like to present in classes. The course will culminate in an informal concert featuring some of the ensemble music covered (which this year will focus on popular music of the post war period) as well as opportunity for participants to present any solo repertoire should they wish.

Nigel Gatherer: Mixed Instruments
This course will study American rural music from first forty years of 20th century, when string bands ruled the airwaves and before the bluegrass explosion. Mandolins, guitars and banjos (tenor and 5-string) are welcome and there may also be limited space for fiddles and bass. Tunes and techniques will be taught by ear but music and recordings will also be provided. Suitable for people who have been playing their instrument for at least a year.

Dave Griffiths: Blues Mandolin
Intermediate. Not suitable for complete beginners. Minimum playing for at least one year.Knowledge of keys and major scales of C, G, D and A. Ability to read music an advantage. Parts will be available in notation and TAB format. Harmony and chord scale explanations will only be available in notation. Music and handouts will be provided.

Course outline: Introduction to style, form, scales and chords required to play blues and the theory and practice of improvising a blues solo over a chord accompaniment.

Content: Brief history and notable players, 12 bar blues forms, mixolydian scale (dominant seventh), blues scale, pentatonic scale, arpeggios, understanding chords, seventh chords, two note chords and turn-arounds, double stop harmony, learning tunes, improvising using chord/ scale theory, building solos, playing duets.

Preparation: Major scales, mixolydian scales and chords (these will be available in PDF format and emailed to participants before the course or in exceptional cases printed copies will be sent).

Roland Gallery: Classical Guitar
Subjects to be dealt with on this course will include practice techniques; performance preparation; interpretation; technical work & daily exercises to improve sound production, projection & dexterity; reading of notation; working towards grade examinations. The course will be suitable for players from about grade three to advanced levels; some knowledge of notation (or tab) and reading skills will be expected.

Tutor Biographies

Roland Gallery is a leading player in the field of guitar chamber music. For ten years he led the English Guitar Quartet and currently leads Segovia Trio. He formed the Modern Guitar Trio to perform exclusively works written by members of the group. Roland has played at London’s major concert halls including Wigmore Hall, Albert Hall, Barbican and South Bank. He has toured Hungary, Israel, Australia, Canada and Germany, appeared on television and broadcast live on Radios 2, 3, 4 & Classic FM. Since 1978 Roland has taught classical, electric, steel-string acoustic and bass guitar at Harrow School and has been Professor of Guitar (classical) at Trinity College of Music since 1992. He gives individual tuition, coaches chamber music and classes in general musicianship,has tutored at Bath Guitar Festival, West Dean Summer School and many workshops in UK and abroad and has given master-classes for Royal Academy of Music, Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Birmingham Conservatoire and Colchester Institute.

Nigel Gatherer is much in demand around Scotland as a teacher of mandolin classes and mixed instrument groups. He has played with various bands, is in a mandolin and guitar duo and 4-piece folk group and also plays guitar, ukulele, penny whistle and Anglo concertina. Nigel’s most recent venture has been to form a mandolin and guitar ensemble in Edinburgh. He won acclaim in late 1980s for his first book, a collection of folksongs from Dundee area and since then has published several books, including mandolin chord book and books of session tunes. Nigel’s website www.nigelgatherer.com is visited by vast amounts of people each day who discover the wealth of tunes, tutorials, information and related topics. His own compositions have begun to excite interest, with artists from Canada, Scotland, US and Germany having recorded his works. One of Britain's foremost mandolin players Alison Stephens published his tune "East Parkside" in her arrangement for three mandolins, while outstanding German mandolinist Jochen Ross features the same tune as focus for his latest release.

Elias Sibley is studying classical guitar with Gary Ryan at Royal College of Music having previously been a Department of Education scholarship student at Purcell School of Music 1998- 2004 studying guitar with Roland Gallery. Additionally Elias has established himself as one of the finest young exponents of the Classical Banjo today, having studied the instrument from age 10 with James Allgrove until his acceptance at Purcell School, and he is a leading young player of the ukulele. Elias made his first commercial recording in 2000 “The Millennium Classical Banjo Collection” and continues to give regular guest appearances at concerts and festivals throughout UK.

Dave Griffiths has played and recorded blues and ragtime mandolin and toured both Europe and the USA since buying his first mandolin in an antique shop in 1967. In 1999 he performed Beethoven’s Mandolin Sonatas with pianist John Stein at Ashton Court Festival. As a jazz bassist he has given concerts, recorded live sessions for Radio 3 and performed at jazz festivals leading his own septet Mingus Fingers, tribute band to the late, great Charles Mingus. For seven years Dave tutored and led courses at Bristol Jazz Workshops. In 2003 he formed his first mandolin quartet 'Mandolin Express' and is currently promoting his Brazilian Choro band 'Brejeiro'. Dave plays mandolin and bass in duo ‘Smile’ and bass with jazz group 'Hot Strings'. He teaches mandolin and bass and runs a Mandolin Ensemble for beginners to advanced players.