News
NEWS UPDATE 12/01/2024
12th Jan 2024
Sore Fingers Week 2024 – 8th to 12th April, 2024
Sunday 7th - Depart Saturday 13th
Kingham Hill School – Chipping Norton – Oxfordshire – OX7 6TH
January 12, 2024
A quick update to bring you the latest development for Sore Fingers Week Easter 2024.
HEADLINES
• TUTOR AND COURSE NEWS
• SCRATCHBAND PRE-REGISTRATION
Tutor and Course News
Old Time banjo is now over subscribed and Allison’s class is full. At this stage we’d like to consider staging a second class as there is still time to get enough students to justify booking a tutor.
So, we have a total of twenty three and that means three towards a second class. We need to get at least thirteen to make a second class work so if Old Time Banjo is your thing, please send booking your in. We will not take any payments until we are sure we have enough student and appointed a tutor. We’re already searching for a candidate.
UKULELE: We are offering a UKULELE beginners class as we had received some interest from students. But so far no one has come forward and booked. We will give it a little more time but unless we see a decent intake of students over the next three to four weeks, this class will be cancelled.
Guitar bookings are a little slower than expected and there are rumours that Sash Wyslouch may not be traditional enough!
This might be viewed as a little short sighted.
Many of the best players master the Bluegrass repertoire very early in their careers and it is obvious that by their early twenties, they will explore other styles, different approaches to playing and sometimes get involved in quite progressive projects that seem to have little to do with Bluegrass.
Several great players who did this come to mind, Bela Fleck, Leon Hunt, Matt Flinner, etc.
Yes one could be put off by that and viewing recent videos. But, in just about all cases, these players haven’t lost their roots and can play traditional tunes as well and if not better than anyone.
Innovative banjo player, Bela Fleck is soon to tour Europe with a pretty traditional line up of players and their material is as Bluegrass as you want to get.
Experimentation produces more rounded musicians and it’s much more rewarding being taught by someone who has spread his wings and has wide experience. David Grier spent some time playing electric guitar, so did Doc Watson!
I can re-assure you that all these musicians will be able to help you with your basic Boom/Chick rhythm.
When I first set eyes on Stash, he was playing with The Deadly Gentlemen who introduced Rap to the Bluegrass repertoire and as the artistic director for the Didmarton Festival at the time, I was convinced I was going to book them for the festival after just three bars of their first number on stage. Sadly, we couldn’t work out the scheduling.
So, just have faith and go and get some of that Stash magic!
Scratchband Registration
We aim to close registration by tea break on the first Monday of Sore Fingers Week. So, we encourage you to get registered using the online form. You can always withdraw later if you change your mind.
Here’s the link:
login and password below to access the protected form.
https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/Scratchbands/sbregform.php
Login: is as follows:
User: “musician”
Password: “sbands2024”
TUTOR AND CLASS REMINDER
Michael Poole AUTOHARP
Jeff Scroggins BANJO
Ron Block BANJO
Sam Quintana BASS
Peter Earle BEGINNERS
Ed Hicks BEGINNERS
Heather Farrell-Roberts BEGINNERS AUTOHARP
Percy Copley BEGINNERS UKULELE
Ivan Rosenberg DOBRO
Brian Wicklund FIDDLE
Stash Wyslouch GUITAR
Tristan Scroggins MANDOLIN
Andy Mackenzie MUSIC DEVELOPEMENT
Mike Pryor MUSIC DEVELOPMENT
Allison DeGroot O T BANJO
Sami Braman OT FIDDLE
Dede Wyland SINGING
Sue Pomeroy SONGWRITING
Phil Doleman UKULELE
Places are available on all these classes with banjo classes nearing full as indicated above.
Useful website links
We have loads of useful information on the website and you might like to read the following web pages for insight:
Check out your Easter 2024 tutors and their bios:
https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/tutors.php?id=25
The “Experience” page describes both the classroom experience and all the extra-curricular activities. It also includes a comprehensive section about the
Scratch Band Activities: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/experience.php
The “What Course Should I Go On” if you are a little confused as to which class would best suit your musical needs: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/whatcourse.php
Check the “FAQ’s” page for answers to general and practical questions such as “What should I bring?”, etc: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/faq.php
Follow this link to get a daily schedule of activities: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/docs/Master%20Daily%20Programme%20Easter.pdf
To Register to Participate in the Scratch Band activity:
Link, login and password below to access the protected form.
https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/Scratchbands/sbregform.php
Login: is as follows:
User: “musician”
Password: “sbands2024”