Saturday, August 9, 2014

Guy & Sharrie George's Bio and Workshops



Guy George, from Cleveland, Ohio, is a rhythmic, melodic hammered dulcimer player with a definite jazz influence to his playing style. Guy comes from a background in jazz and performance on the saxophone, having studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston; honing his skills playing with many jazz influenced musicians in the Boston and New York area. He has settled outside Cleveland, Ohio and presently plays hammered dulcimer, tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, flute, steel drum and keyboard. He has made his name in the dulcimer world as a performer, instructor, author/publisher and recording artist.   

       He tours throughout the United States and Canada performing and recording and teaching workshops on the hammered dulcimer, steel drums, and penny whistle. His teaching style is relaxed and fun, as he teaches tunes of many different genres and styles.  In addition, he incorporates methods for more advanced practicing and playing techniques while simultaneously entertaining his students.  

       Guy has authored 13 books arranged for hammered dulcimer, steel drum, pennywhistle, and other instruments, which are distributed around the world through Gesani Publications, a company he and his wife, Sharrie, own and operate.  

In recent years, Sharrie George has emerged as a talented performer and instructor in her own right.  Her solid timing and clean rhythms have made her an important part of Guy's groove in more ways than one, plus she's fun and helps you work on what you need the most.


Guy’s Workshop Descriptions

1. Absolute Beginning Hammered Dulcimer - This is the class for you if you have never played a ham- mer dulcimer, but would like to try! Guy will show you step by step, the way to play beautiful music on this ex- citing, and timeless instrument. All the basics will be covered, from tuning and care of the dulcimer, to locating the notes and playing a simple melody. Don’t have a hammered dulcimer? A few free loaners will be available if you would like to “try before you buy”. (You may have to share)

2. Manatee Orchestra for HD - All levels - Learn parts and arrangements for our Manatee Orchestra with MD, PW, Ukes, Steel Drum, and other instruments!

3. Beginner HD - The Next Step - After you’ve learned the basics, learn some easy gospel tunes. Learn beau- tiful melodies and some simple harmonies.

4. HD - All Levels - Creating More Than a Melody - Part I - Find creative ways to spice up the melody using using basic skills like scales, harmonies, arpeggios, rhythmic patterns, and more. We’ll use a few jam tunes, waltzes, and other tunes to apply our magic. This is a 2 Part Class.

5. HD - All Levels - Creating More Than a Melody - Part II - Find creative ways to spice up the melody using using basic skills like scales, harmonies, arpeggios, rhythmic patterns, and more. We’ll use a few jam tunes, waltzes, and other tunes to apply our magic. This is a 2 Part Class.

6. HD - Intermediate Level - Hammered Dulcimer Meets the Ukulele; “Tin Pan Alley” - Learn a few Tin Pan Alley Greats, as we team up with the ukuleles for a fun way to sound great! We’ll learn arrangements of these tunes, and give the ukuleles some practice strumming and playing backup.

7. Manatee Orchestra for Hammered Dulcimer, Pennywhistle and Steel Drum! - Part I - All levels - Learn parts and arrangements for our Manatee Orchestra that will perform together with the ukuleles and mountain dulcimers for a great performance on Sat night! - This is a 2 part workshop.

8. Manatee Orchestra for Hammered Dulcimer, Pennywhistle and Steel Drum! - Part II - All levels - Learn parts and arrangements for our Manatee Orchestra that will perform together with the ukuleles and mountain dulcimers for a great performance on Sat night! - This is a 2 part workshop.

9. Steel Drum - Beginning Level - Learn how to play an authentic steel drum! We’ll have some Jumbie Jams available to try. Learn the basics and be playing melody and chords on this great island instrument! Great re- fresher if you haven’t played in a while.

10. Pennywhistle - Beginning Level - Learn how to play the easiest instrument to carry around! We’ll have you playing and sounding good in 2 keys in this first lesson! Inexpensive, great sounding “D” whistles will be available at our vending area.

11. Guy’s ‘Crazy’ Intermediate Pennywhistle - Not for Beginners! (But you are welcome to watch) Some review from last year, with new tunes and stuff! Chromatics, chords, technique, tone, breathing, tonguing, playing in different keys, different styles, tunes, and more! Jazz up your playing! Have a difficult tune? Squeaky notes? Bring it here! This class is designed to give you what you can’t get anywhere else!

Sharrie’s Workshop Descriptions

12. Beginning Ukulele - Join the Ukulele Craze and learn to play the Uke! Borrow a ukulele from us and learn a few great tunes, along with the basics, all in one workshop! We will have nice loaner ukuleles for you to try - and plenty to buy if you decide you can’t leave without one!

13. Manatee Orchestra - Part I - All Levels Ukulele - If you know the basic chords and strums, you’re ready to join the Manatee Orchestra! Parts for just past beginner and above - on any ukulele - baritones and U-basses welcome too!! We will learn melodies, strums and other accompaniment for several tunes to play in parts - with and without voices - and then we will join the rest of the Manatee Orchestra later for a GREAT perform- ance! A fun way to learn and have fun on the uke! This is a 2 part workshop.

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14. Ukulele Meets the Hammered Dulcimer - Beyond Beginner Ukulele and above - We will team up with the hammered dulcimer players and back them up as we all learn a few fun Tin Pan Alley tunes, with strums and singing and a few new chords. Good practice for smoother chord changes too!

15. Edelweiss - Chord-Melody strum style - Intermediate/Advanced - Learn the basics about playing chord- melody on the ukulele as we learn a beautiful version of this famous waltz. We will be learning chords up the neck on the uke, where our melody notes are, a few basic picking patterns, and much more!

16. Manatee Orchestra - Ukulele with other instruments - Part II Practice parts for our Manatee Orchestra that will perform together with the hammered and mountain dulcimers, steel drum and pennywhistles! - This is a 2 part workshop. 

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