Strum Bowing Workshops can be anything from a one-hour Zoom meeting with a small group or a school orchestra to a weeklong residency culminating with a concert. Workshops are based loosely on my book, The Strum Bowing Method: How to Groove on Strings. With school or youth orchestras, it’s often effective to have a zoom session a month or two before a live workshop or residency so the group can start working on some of the Groove Studies ahead of time. I also encourage the instructor to take a lesson with me if they can, to familiarize themselves with the techniques.

I work with players of all ages and abilities, from elementary school beginners to conservatory pre-professionals to adult learners. I also do pedagogy sessions and lessons with string teachers. I have lots of improvisation games that are effective for younger players (and great for breaking through inhibitions for older players) and the simplicity of the Strum Bowing method is accessible across age ranges.

For school orchestras, I have a collection of 22 Groove Studies for Strings which are an effective way to apply and reinforce the concepts of Strum Bowing and to practice techniques like Ghosting, Chopping, Subdividing, and developing the 3-D Strum. A favorite format is to work with the orchestra in rehearsals/workshops and then present a shared concert which usually consists of a solo program that I play using my live looping and electric 6-string violin, and then a collaboration with the orchestra on several pieces, which could be from the 22 Groove Studies for Strings or any piece that the orchestra is working on.

What We’ll Cover

• Grooving — awakening our inner sense of rhythm using Strum Bowing, essential to rock, jazz, hip hop, etc. 

• The Chop — non-pitched percussion sounds. Also the Compound Chop and the 3-D Strum

• Ghost Notes — muted notes within a groove

• Improvising — cultivating our natural curiosity and playfulness with fun improv games 

• Call and Response — ear training, rhythm training, style training

• GPS for Strings (Groove Proficiency System) — my 4 step formula for finding your way to any groove

• Blues scale and the blues
  

Other Workshop Topics

​​Lecture/Demonstration – Performance and explanations about technique, equipment, career, composing and arranging, looping, inspiration, etc. Questions from the audience are encouraged. This could be for string players, for other music students or for a general audience of non-musicians.

​Improvisation for Strings – Call and response; the basics of chords and simple scales like the minor pentatonic and blues scale; an overview of the blues; approaches for first-time improvisers. This is a hands-on workshop for string players with instruments.