About the Workshops: There are no designated instructors, nor workshops decided in advance. At the beginning of the weekend we cooperatively develop a schedule of workshops for the following days. Any individual may suggest a workshop subject that they would like to either learn or teach, and from those subjects for which we find both "teachers" and "students" -- or "seminar participants" -- we work up a schedule to accomodate as many as possible. But spontaneous, unscheduled "workshops", jams, discussions, etc. are not forbidden. In fact, they're common. Those present do what they wish when they wish, and they're welcome to change their minds whenever they want. (The exceptions are arrival, departure, and meal times. Even meals are optional, but I don't recall anyone choosing to miss one.) Advance input Some folks have said that they learn more readily with a more structured format and would be more comfortable if there were advance materials to study. Well, the main concept of the Squeeze-In is that the structure is improvised, but we've introduced a feature that I hope might let us "have it both ways": Instead of waiting until we all gather on Friday evening to even take suggestions for workshops, we're asking those who have definite ideas of what they would like -- to either learn, teach, or share -- to let us know in advance (by email). Then we'll use this page to keep everyone up to date on the suggestions and any responses to them. If there's enough interest in a particular subject or skill and one or more interested in teaching it, and if the prospective teacher(s) would like to provide materials in advance, then we would gladly assist in the distribution of those materials to the interested parties. Once again, to "prime the pump", we're providing a few workshop suggestions (below). But if you have your own ideas of what you'd like to either see or share, please let us know. Don't be shy. If you're submitting a suggestion, please say whether it's something you'd like to lead or something you'd like to learn. If it's something you'd like to lead and you'd like to make materials (e.g., notation for tunes) avaiable in advance, I could also post them here. That might be a good way to attract support and participants for "your" workshop(s). I'll also post any relevant comments then made by others. (Sorry, no "Like" buttons. If you want to comment, you'll have to actually say something in an email.) To send an email with either suggestions or comments, click here. The ultimate scheduling of workshops will still be done cooperatively on Friday evening. Additional workshop suggestions -- both requests for subjects and offers to host -- will still be accepted at that time. Materials to hand out are definitely not a requirement. And it's even possible that a workshop for which materials are provided in advance won't make it into the final schedule, though that seems unlikely if there was strong advance interest. |
Some suggestions from "the management" and others: These are just a few suggestions from myself (Jim Lucas) and other former participants, to "prime the pump", as it were. Several of them have been done before, but are certainly worth doing again if there's interest. If you have other ideas -- and we hope you do, -- please send them to me using the above email link, and I'll include them here. That will give everyone a chance to think them over before the SSI starts. Note that some of these suggested "workshops" would work well as "seminars", i.e., with a "panel" of experienced individuals sharing and comparing their experiences. Others would work better with a single "teacher". And some could be done either way, depending on the needs and resources on hand when we develop our schedule.
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Past workshops: Some (but hardly all) of the topics dealt with in past workshops have been: ... Swedish tunes ... jazz chords and harmonies ... comparing Crane duet styles ... English tunes ... beginning song accompaniment ... variety in accompaniment styles ... chords for beginners ... Danish tunes ... comparing ways of holding and controlling your concertina ... basic instrument maintenance and repair ... Northumbrian tunes ... comparing anglo styles ("Irish", "English", etc.) ... playing Irish on the English ... basic Swedish dance (not just tunes, but steps) ... different types of tunes for different types of dance ... early history of the concertina ... tunes from Jämtland ... one-row tunes (obviously for those who play anglo or melodeon/durspel) ... and many more, over the years Of course, it should be possible to do any of these again, if there's sufficient interest. |