maeday - Posted - 08/17/2023:  22:40:27

I just had my first banjo lesson and my teacher suggested that I attend a camp. Since I’ve never been to one, I’m looking for feedback on how to choose a good one, pros and cons, and how to make the most of attending. TIA

Texasbanjo - Posted - 08/18/2023:  04:49:00

Since you are in Texas, my recommendation would be Camp Bluegrass at South Plains College in Levelland, TX. Go here for information: campbluegrass.com/. It's too late this year, but I'd check for next year's time and date.

I started going to Camp Bluegrass many years ago when I was just a beginner and their group classes helped me understand more about playing bluegrass. I came home with loads of information and tabs to work on. I continued to go to that camp off and on for 10 years and always learned something as I moved from beginner to intermediate to advanced.

They have daily class sessions, slow jams for beginners at night, a nightly faculty concert (which is worth the cost of the camp to my way of thinking). At one time you could take private lessons (at a price) from various instructors. Don't know if they still do that.

Pros: learn from some of the best pickers around. Meet others who are at your level and above. Get in a jam and learn how to play with others.
Cons: Dorm life will be noisy, no privacy and little sleep. Cost is somewhat steep (but worth it in the long run). My husband and I stayed in the RV and that made the cost somewhat less. We cooked our own meals so didn't have to worry about going to the cafeteria.

I haven't been to any of the other camps, but I'm sure people who have will chime in with their thoughts and suggestions.

Timothy Lindblom - Posted - 08/18/2023:  05:01:23

I would definitely check out Banjo Ben’s cabin camps. I know he has an all banjo camp coming up in Texas later this year

thisoldman - Posted - 08/18/2023:  06:03:18

There are a couple one-day Pete Wernick "Jam" classes for bluegrass players in Texas coming up in late September. Learn a few basic backup skills, like vamping and maybe a simple rolling pattern, as well as the moveable chord shapes (and positions on the fretboard) before you go.  And it would  be helpful to have a capo and learn how to use it, because someone may want to play a tune in something other than open G. Learn how to recognize the chords (visually or by ear) the guitar is playing so you can follow along. An easy relaxing way to get an introduction to playing with others (and other instruments). You can check the Wernick Method website for resources,

Edited by - thisoldman on 08/18/2023 06:11:57

Bob Buckingham - Posted - 08/18/2023:  06:11:25

I'd suggest this  The Appalachian Banjo Clinic.  It is two days and fairly intensive.

Ron Lacey - Posted - 08/18/2023:  07:18:20

I’ll second Sherry’s suggestion about Camp Bluegrass. I went this year and it was a great experience. They have moved to the newer dorms on campus and there was no problem with jamming interfering with my sleep even though my room was between a couple of jams. Take a blanket, the AC was on full blast. The slow jams held in the dorms each night are great for beginning to intermediate players. This year the banjo faculty was Alan Munde, Bill Evans, Scott Anderson, and Gerald Jones. Getting to interact with them was another plus. I’m definitely returning. There is something for everyone. I know this is a banjo list but hearing Anne Luna play the bass at the faculty concerts (another plus) revived my interest and I’ve started playing the doghouse again. The cost was around $800 for the camp plus room and board for the five days.

campbluegrass.com/

Gerald Jones runs a weekend Acoustic Music Camp in the Dallas area that occurs in the spring. I went years ago and may go back next spring. Kinda of a mini-Camp Bluegrass with some of the same instructors and a similar feel.

acousticmusiccamp.com/gerald-jones/.

I have also attended the Wernick Jam camp in Austin. It’s held twice a year on a Saturday and Sunday at a local condo community room. The Austin instructor is John David and he does a great job even if you are a raw beginner. The emphasis is on jamming without tab or chord sheets. The next camp is Sept 30 - Oct 1.

wernickmethod.org/teacher/john-david

Since you’re central to these you will meet some great folks with similar interests. At Camp Bluegrass I met a fellow traveler who lives about 3 miles from me and he invited me to jam at his house a couple of times. Since the local jam at Oskar Blues is outside only the real die hards are there while it’s been 100+ every day (110 F yesterday).

The Old Timer - Posted - 08/18/2023:  07:54:14

If you're still looking by next May, consider Banjo Camp North in Charlton Mass. They kind of specialize in getting Novices started, with classes marked Novice to distinguish them from Beginners. Usually have lots of Novice students, so you won't be alone. Excellent, PATIENT teachers with proven track records getting Novices started. It's a Friday-Saturday-Sunday camp.

Also plenty of Intermediates and a few Advanced students, in both clawhammer and bluegrass. Excellent mix of local, regional and national banjo playing instructors, plus usually a banjo luthier on site to handle set up issues and minor repairs.

They have a Facebook page and a website.

Old Hickory - Posted - 08/18/2023:  08:04:53

Welcome to the Hangout and to banjo.

Pros of banjo camp:

2-1/2 to 4 (or more) days of intense banjo instruction geared to players at your level of ability. (Typically two 75-minute sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon). Exposure to the thinking and sharing of legendary players, contemporary emerging stars, and little-known but excellent teachers in moderately sized groups. Opportunity to ask specific questions about technique to get you past obstacles hindering your progress. Opportunity to learn-by-doing in jams organized by ability and led by the faculty. Nightly faculty concerts featuring some of the best live music you'll ever hear. Meeting banjo lovers from all over, making new friends, having fun. Going home with new ideas to think about and excitement to become a better player.

Cons of banjo camp:

A month's worth of lessons every day with not much time to practice what was taught before moving on the next can be a bit much for some learners. (There's no time at all between the two morning sessions and two afternoon sessions, so your daily practice might be between the second afternoon session and dinner -- unless that's jam time.) If you're a total novice even the beginner/intro-level track can be above your level. (Here, it's great that some camps publish their actual program so you can see exactly what the sessions will be about)  Occasionally, some great players aren't such great teachers.  (But mostly the ones you see listed at multiple camps year-after-year are probably going to be really good)

Once you get to the intermediate and advanced level, it becomes tricky. You may have already scratched the surface of a variety of techniques and so a lot of sessions might cover things you somewhat already know. In my case, I had been playing for over 40 years when I went to my first camp, but I did come away with ideas that elevated my playing even though I was a bit disappointed that many novice players (who couldn't yet jam or improvise) self-selected themselves into the advanced track so they could take lessons from Tony Trischka. As a result, he ended up lowering the level of instruction to accommodate less-skilled players who should have been in the introductory track. Note: This was an atypical week-long music and arts camp with one session of advanced banjo every day for five days (Monday-Friday).  In the past 10 years, I've attended two in-person camps and three online/virtual camps and learned something at all of them. Sometimes the take-away isn't immediate and the new ideas creep into my playing over time.

Another pro of camps: You get lots of lesson tabs to take home and study forever. And you can record all the sessions (audio or video or both) as well as faculty concerts.

How soon do you want to go? Here's the program schedule of American Banjo Camp just a few weeks form now in Oregon. Similar programs are offered at Midwest Banjo Camp, Banjo Camp North, and Suwannee.

Good luck.

Ron Lacey - Posted - 08/18/2023:  09:51:40

Ken makes a great point. I didn’t come away from Camp Bluegrass any better than I was when I got there. But I have well over a years worth of stuff to work on. Also, you didn’t indicate if you are more interested in three-finger Scruggs style or more clawhammer/old-time style. The camps I mentioned are all bluegrass so they are focused on Scruggs style of playing. The banjo camps mentioned appear to have options for clawhammer style but I have no experience with these and will defer to those with first hand knowledge on these.

Edited by - Ron Lacey on 08/18/2023 09:54:18

Fathand - Posted - 08/18/2023:  11:15:49

I would ask your teacher for a camp recommendation since they, presumably, understand your goals and skill level.

If you are a beginner, then beginner level instruction would be important to you, unless you mostly want to just observe, which is not a bad thing.

Cost, distance, accommodations, meals and music styles are all other things to consider.

maeday - Posted - 08/18/2023:  11:28:18

Thank you all for your responses- keep them coming! I didn’t realize there was so much going on in Texas. I assumed most everything in the bluegrass world happened on the east coast, with few exceptions.

I forgot to mention that I’m interested in Clawgrass.