GUITAR Workshop – Valentin Lallart
Biography:
Passionate about traditional American music, Valentin has been playing the mandolin, the guitar and the bass with many groups for the last ten years. A session musician, especially when the music played is old-time, he has greatly developed his performance on the guitar, an instrument he finds the most gratifying in the different acoustic ensembles.
Description:
The workshop concentrates on the following elements:
- We contextualize the role of the guitar in Old-Time music – its appearance, as a third instrument, after the fiddle and the banjo, in string bands.
- The use of the guitar, as a rhythmic pillar, in smaller groups (duets or a trios) that don’t have a bass, or in larger groups (foursomes or quintets), that do have a bass. • We initiate the right hand technique, choose an adequate plectrum, define the notions of « stroke », « chop », « snap » and whatever word could designate the way to feel at ease with your right hand, whether you’re playing in a high or a low volume. • To develop the notion of change of chords and degrees, the universal language, and an essential tool to accompany songs and fiddle tunes, especially during sessions.
- We initiate the left hand technique, to change chords via voicing and connect different chords.
- We see how to vary the intensity between a part A and a part B. We will touch on some subtleties to enable you to accompany yourselves. We will begin to go up and down on the guitar neck, on the road to bluegrass…
Please bring along:
- Your guitar
- An audio or video or smartphone recorder
- A tuner
- One or several plectrums
- A capo
Prerequisites:
This workshop is for beginners or people in an intermediate level. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you have any questions.
10 students maximum