There are 3 spots left in the Winter Songbirds Session! This is a weekly vocal group that will focus on the music of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Sabrina Carpenter. The session runs from January 26th to March 16th, culminating in a performance at our Spring Student Showcase.
If you have a young singer who wants to join the group, reach out to the front desk for more information!
It’s never too early to start planning your summer! We will be offering 4 sessions of Camp Woodshed this year, and for the first time, our first two sessions of the summer will include vocal groups taught by Monica Nelson and Vivian Slade. Registration is already open, so if you’re ready to sign up for camp, head over to our website and register!
| June 9-13 – Bands & Vocal Group |
| June 23-27 – Bands & Vocal Group |
| July 7-11 – Bands |
| July 14-18 – Bands |
If your child was in camp here last year, you will soon receive a link for $50 off registration for 2025! As always, the front desk is ready to answer any questions you might have, so don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything you want to discuss before signing up.
Keep Shedding!
After a 4 year hiatus, Jaminals is back and in person! Join us every Saturday morning in November (except Thanksgiving weekend) for our early childhood music class with Mr. Parker. Now enrolling students ages 1-3. Register online at guitarshedatl.com to guarantee your spot!
Classes are from 9:30-10:00 on Saturday mornings and can be attended as an entire session or a la carte. This is a mommy/daddy and me class, so parents must stay in the room.
Meet some of Mr. Parker’s musical puppet friends, read books, sing songs, play new instruments, dance around, and take some power naps. What more can you ask for?!
One of the best ways to learn how to improvise is to start by transcribing solos. Learning by ear is the preferred method, and while it is not necessary to actually write down the solo with rhythmic notation that helps as well. It can be a painstaking process, but it will strengthen your rhythmic foundation and give you greater insight into the creative choices the soloist makes.
A student of mine came to a lesson several months ago wanting to learn ‘Dead Flowers’ by Townes Van Zandt. Originally performed by The Rolling Stones, the TVZ version is a whole step lower in the key of C and fully acoustic. It is hard at times to tell the guitars apart, but I managed to pick out the notes for the solo and transcribed them in the video below. You can also click here for the transcription on Soundslice. There are some great double-stops, slides, cross-picking, and rhythmic variety throughout.
Keep Shedding!
Parker
We had a great first week at camp this year. I am always surprised by how quickly songs come together, and it seemed like these groups had the tunes together by Wednesday. After that, it was just finishing touches and cleaning up some trouble spots. We had several multi-instrumentalists this week, and campers were very flexible depending on what the band and/or the song needed. Zach and Sean are both veteran Camp Woodshed Counselors, and they were able to maintain a safe, fun environment throughout the week. Special shout-out to our CIT Kaj for helping out as well.
As usual, we started Monday with a one-minute meditation on the patio and gradually increased to five minutes by Friday. These were good meditators! I didn’t have to keep anyone from goofing off or making noises. It takes a lot of patience to be comfortable with silence, an important skill for musicians. On day 2, we tried something new with a guess-the-riff challenge. We had so much fun doing this on Tuesday that I kept it going the next couple of days and created a playlist here of all the riffs for the campers. The kids did pretty well, but they must listen to Tom Petty and Eric Clapton more!
By the time the performance rolled around on Friday, these kids were fast friends. Goofing off, taking band photos, going on a shopping spree at Poppacorn’s, and getting ready for soundcheck. The performances went off without a hitch, and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves on stage in Studio A. We’ve got 3 weeks left of camp this summer, and I can’t wait to see what is in store. Looking forward to more tunes, more laughs, and more meditation 🤫
-Parker
https://youtu.be/KFUxpOYIqHM?si=n5OEGNcPRddPwyKx
The next tune will be “Shucking the Brush” via Earl White, a Floyd-county-VA based farmer, baker, and clogger.
Sunday April 28th
11:15 – 12:15
“By-ear” instruction, no sheet music
For Mandolin, Clawhammer Banjo, Fiddle, and Flatpicking Guitar
Intended for intermediate students who are new to learning by ear
If you want to keep your toes in the water until then, here are some old time events going on in the next few weeks:
—Jake Blount (who wrote Sunday’s tune) @ Eddie’s Attic tonight!
—Bear On the Square , Dahlonega, April 20-21 Jamming, concerts and workshops of all kinds! (Maggie and I are teaching two saturday workshops)
—3rd Sunday Old Time Jam @ Waller’s Coffee Shop, Decatur, Sunday April 21, 2 PM to 4 PM. Consider coming this month to check things out, listen, and join in if you feel comfortable. You might not be able to pick up all the tunes, but you’ll probably surprise yourself and pick out more than you expected. Start by identifying the chords, since lots of the melody notes are in the chords. You’ll probably also come away with some good questions for the workshop the following Sunday.
Our Guitar Shed Sunday Teen Band is excited to play the main stage at The Atlanta Dogwood Festival this Saturday. The band has been working hard to put together a special set of music led by their instructor, Sean McMorris. Stick around after the show to catch Parker Smith and the Bandwith featuring several Guitar Shed teachers.
We have five different teen bands at Guitar Shed. Specifically, we have 2 ‘tween bands’ and 3 ‘teen bands.’ The Tween Bands consists of an Americana Band and a Rock Band, and the Teen Bands are all Rock Bands. All five groups are led by different instructors, and they will be playing together for our first Summer Shindig on 5/18 at Lake Claire Land Trust. Doors open at 5 pm for this event, and music will start at 6 pm.
With the opening of our additional studio space, Studio A, earlier this year, we have been able to offer more bands and ensembles. These bands are a great way for students to get used to playing with their peers and rehearsing in a top-of-the-line studio setting. By providing students with customized instruction in a professional, laid-back environment, we aim to prepare students for gigging in the real world. Our bands build their way up from performing mini-sets of 2-3 songs, to eventually performing a full set of music. In this case, the Sunday Teen Band will perform an entire 45 minute set.
The Dogwood Festival has a rich history in Atlanta, and here is a brief overview of the first festival…
On April 19, 1936, Atlanta invites the world to attend her first Dogwood Festival. Walter Rich, president of ADF and founder of Rich’s department store, seeks to make Atlanta internationally known for the blooming of the dogwood trees during the week-long event. Trees are planted in all parts of Atlanta under the sponsorship of the garden clubs and public spirited citizens interested in the beautification of the city. Pageants, parades and carnivals sponsored by the Junior League, along with performances by the Metropolitan Opera, Philadelphia Symphony, and choruses from local colleges, are featured.
The Coca-Cola Main Stage features music in a variety of genres for three tune-filled days. The International Stage programming features hundreds of performers representing Atlanta’s global communities, this year appearing on the Main Stage. With entertainment ranging from dancing to singing and several additional varieties, the International Stage programming celebrates Atlanta’s diversity.
Performers and times are subject to change.
Reminder NO outside food or beverages may be brought into Piedmont Park during the festival. Thanks for your cooperation.
Here is some information from the Dogwood Festival’s website about parking and getting there!
We always encourage attendees to take MARTA to the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, but this year, it’s more important than ever! Give your MARTA Breeze Card a workout!
The Atlanta Police Department will be heavily enforcing all illegal parking around Piedmont Park the weekend of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. Residential Parking fines have substantially increased and vehicles parked within tow zones will be impounded. We encourage everyone to utilize MARTA or park in authorized parking lots in the area.
The easiest way to get to the Atlanta Dogwood Festival is by taking MARTA to the Arts Center or Midtown station.
22 14th St NW – parking garage (entrance on 13th St)
22 14th St NW Suite C – parking garage (entrance on Spring St & 13th St)
1138 Peachtree St NE – surface lot
674 Spring St NW – surface lot
80 13th St NE – surface lot
887 Peachtree St NE – surface lot
800 Peachtree St NE – surface lot
860 Peachtree St NE – parking garage
855 Peachtree St NE – parking garage
Due to a city ordinance, no dogs (other than service dogs) will be allowed in Piedmont Park during the festival.
There is a City of Atlanta ban on smoking in outdoor parks and recreational facilities including Piedmont Park where the Atlanta Dogwood Festival is located. This means no tobacco products including cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco will be permitted.
🎨 At its core, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival is an arts festival, and the juried Artist Market welcomes 250+ fine artists from throughout the country each spring. Selected from more than 1,000 entries, participating artists working in metal, oil, mixed media, photography, sculpture and more bring their best new work to the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, nationally, one of the first in the annual art festival season.
☀️ Among this year’s booths, you’ll find fine artists working in a variety of mediums, styles and price ranges. Take your time, peruse and enjoy this opportunity to browse, talk with the artists, admire their creativity and purchase one-of-a-kind works of art.
Max is teaching a weekend Old Time Music Workshop for students interested in learning old-time festival tunes by ear in a group setting. This is a great “stepping stone” towards participating in jam sessions like the 3rd Sunday Waller’s jam or summer festivals like Clifftop, Mount Airy, Bear on the Square, etc., where you have to pick up tunes on the fly.
Students will learn one or two tunes over the course of an hour using a call-and-response teaching method. Max will demonstrate a phrase on the fiddle, and students will attempt to play the phrase back on their instruments. Instruments will also be on hand to demonstrate how to “translate” a phrase from fiddle to banjo, mandolin, etc. Once the tunes are learned, students jam on it for a while and have fun with it.
Register today in the Student Portal!
We are excited to announce our two newest groups at Guitar Shed! Reach out to the front desk or check out our group pages for more info.
