The Barn

with Janie Rothfield

This class is for people who can already play at a medium tempo at a jam and are looking to “jumpstart” their playing to the next level.  Janie will show you techniques and strategies for adding more intricate bowing rhythms and patterns and speed to your playing.  She will teach several of her favorite old time tunes including a couple from the playing of “Uncle” Norm Edmunds from Hillsville VA and a few other faves.  

For more information on Janie, please visit her website: janierothfield.com

with Allan Carr

Advanced Back Up Guitar/Alternative Chords and Bass Runs-For people who are able to play in a variety of keys in a jam at a medium speed, and who are looking to “up the ante” with their chord and bass run choices in old time music.  This class will go deep into how to play alternative chords “up the neck” as well as rhythm and melody driven bass runs to a fiddle tune. Required: Capo and Flat pick required (we suggest a larger hard pick).

with Alan Kaufman and Jerry Dallal

Jerry and I are going to present an hour of oldtime music to reflect the weekly jams that I have led in the Boston area for close to 20 years. There will be plenty of traditional  tunes and songs with harmonies. The instrumentation will be guitar, mandolin and fiddle.

It is our hope that by attending this jam you can learn about and experience the fun and joy of oldtime music in the Boston area.

We plan to have the words to the the songs in the chat so that you can join us and sing along.

with Alan Kaufman and Ann Downey

This is an introduction to yodeling; the how, who, when and where of it. Why? Because it’s a blast! We’ll teach the basics and get you started, sing and yodel a bunch and have a grand old time.

with Ben Wetherbee

Source recordings! They’re often scratchy, funky, and frequently intimidating to learn from! But with a little work and some deep listening, they can be an incredible and indispensable learning tool. In this workshop we’ll talk about tips for learning and growing from these recordings and we’ll listen to a recording and go through the process of learning parts of it on the fiddle together. This workshop will be geared towards intermediate fiddlers with some tunes in their repertoire. Folks who are new to learning by ear are welcome!

We’ll be playing in Cross G (from the lowest string to the highest, that’s GDGD, with the A and E strings both tuned down a whole step to G and D). If you want to tune your fiddle to GDGD before the workshop, that would be easiest, though I’ll give folks a moment to tune in the workshop too!

Ben Wetherbee is a fiddler, singer, and multi-instrumentalist from Boston, currently based in Western Massachusetts. Growing up in a musical family with his mom, Ruth Rappaport, his earliest musical memories are of fiddlers playing all night long. Inspired by the fiddling he heard at parties, dances, bars, and festivals, Ben was soon “taken” by the fiddle, learning both from older sources and modern players. Now, he plays in a duo with Ruth, in a contra dance band, and as a solo act, mixing original songs, tunes, and experimental music.

Our workshop will be a combination of teaching and performing. We will teach two old-time fiddle tunes and a child ballad, and participants are encouraged to play along on mute throughout the workshop. Please join us for a fun hour!

The Young Tradition Youth Commission is one of Young Tradition Vermont’s numerous programs. Each year, a young artist is chosen to lead a group charged with putting together a program of music to be played at events representing Young Tradition Vermont, and also completing a final project. We are currently preparing to record an EP in June with Colin McCaffrey, and are starting to perform again as the Covid-19 situation allows. The 2020/2021 commission is led by fiddle and flute player Maeve Fairfax. The group includes fiddler Hadley Stockwell, flute and fiddle player Anya Hardy-Mittel, guitar, fiddle, and mandolin player Emerson Zelis, and piano and accordion player Ben Munkres. We will be joined by fiddle player Romy Munkres, the leader of the 2019/2020 youth commission. We are thrilled to be participating in this festival! The Youth Commission project has been made possible in part by support from the Nelson Family Foundation, as well as support from Young Tradition Vermont, family, neighbors and mentors.