Guitar Workshops, schools

[JWGroovin]

For the past few months I've been picking up various British-based guitar magazines to supplement my paid subscriptions to a couple US-based guitar magazines. One thing I noticed about advertisements is that Great Britain seems to hold host to tons of guitar schools. I don't see similar advertising for US-based workshops or schools other than the National Guitar Workshop (which I hope to attend summer 2005 with my 16 year old).

 

Are there any others that can be considered? I'm mostly interested in blues, rock and jazz in that order....

 

John

[adamsj]

John,

Don't know where in the U.S. you are, but there are other options, though possibly not appropriate, that choice is yours.

In Hollywood, California, the Musician's Institute of Technology is a phenomenal school with some of the best teachers in the world. http://www.mi.edu/

In Boston there's Berklee College of Music, likewise one of the best music schools in the world. http://www.berklee.edu/

In Chicago check out the Old Town School of Folk Music (which teaches plenty of blues, rock, and jazz guitar as well) http://www.oldtownschool.org/

Also, many of the major blues festivals include workshops with the performers, so check out the sites of any festivals you might attend and see what they have to offer.

[JWGroovin]

Thanks for the reply. I'm on the East Coast in Maryland and I'll inquire about the programs you mention. The first two sound like institutions of higher learning, so my 11th grader will be VERY interested. I know he's interested in formal music training and the thought of doing so away from home will be VERY appealing. If I could quit my job and still pay the bills I'd do it in a heartbeat myself, even at my age.

I'm looking for the 1-2 week "training camps". The National Guitar Workshop keeps getting raves--maybe I should try one or two of those out first.

The Old Town School of Folk Music is a new one to me to. Thanks--I'll inquire there as well.

John

[adamsj]

Yes, MI and Berklee are accredited colleges, but I'm pretty sure both also offer summer camps, week-long sessions, one-nighters with celebs, and all that kind of stuff. You'd have to read more on their sites to find out what each offers.

Old Town is less formal but has many excellent courses.

If you're potentially looking at a college music experience, I know the University of Miami has a respected program (several famous jazz guitarists went there), and I think North Texas State also is well known for it's music program.

I'm sure there are many other major universities with excellent programs, but Musician's Institute and Berklee are the two biggies.

Good luck and have fun. I wish I could drop the responsibilities and go too!

[nylon rock]

Yorma from Hot Tuna offers a guitar camp near you in Virginia, or something.

[adamsj]

Yer right Nylon, I forgot about that one:

Jorma Kaukonen's Fur Peace Ranch, in Ohio:

http://www.furpeaceranch.com/