Benefit Mandolin Workshop for Butch Baldassari

[Gretchen Priest-May]

There will be a Benefit Mandolin Workshop for Butch Baldassari, hosted by Matt Flinner on October 11th, 2008 from 1-4 pm, at Fiddle & Pick, home of the Musical Heritage Center of Middle Tennessee at 456 Highway 70 in Pegram, TN (615-646-9131).. There is a suggested donation of $50 (additional donations are welcome). All levels of ability and interest are encouraged to attend.

Tunes and topics covered in this workshop will include:

Tater Patch: creating variations on a melody
Drunken Hiccups and Down to the River to Pray: alternate tunings
Wayfaring Stranger: the coolest mandolin version of this, EVER
Muddy Roads: creating a harmony part

We'll also look at some more general topics, such as right hand exercises for improving tone, accuracy and speed, and ways of incorporating double stops into your playing.

The tunes we'll be focusing on are from Butch's new books, "Mandolin Hymns" and "Appalachian Mandolin." We'll also listen to the CDs that accompany these books to try to get some insight into how Butch does what he does!

Copies of both books will be available for purchase. All proceeds from book sales, workshop admission fees and donations will go toward the Butch Baldassari Medical Fund.

[Stan Lawrence]

Sign me up! As one of Butch's grateful students, and a longtime admirer of Matt Flinner's playing, I'm happy to participate. See you all Oct. 12th!