September and October Group Classes!

Hello to all,

Where does the time go? It’s been way too long since I’ve seen a lot you! As many of you know, I’m doing all of my classes (private and group) via Zoom these days. Still a little weird, but now it’s something that I genuinely look forward to.

If you’ve not attended a Zoom class but would like to, just email me personally and we can discuss your needs and fit you into the proper class for you. 

Here is a breakdown of my September / October workshops:

I’m hoping to start these classes the week of Labor Day, which is one week from tomorrow. Classes will meet weekly until October 29. That’s eight weeks for any class on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Monday classes will run seven weeks (and the prices reflect that) As has been the case, you can pay for them all at once or one month at a time.

I take personal checks (send to:

David Hodge
P.O. Box 211
South Egremont, MA  01258

and I also accept Paypal. My account number is this email address.

Each class will be offered on the ZOOM platform. It’s fairly easy to operate and I’ll send specific direction over the upcoming week. They will range from forty-five to ninety minutes in length. Again, you will also have the opportunity to work privately with me for 15 – 30 minutes as well during any given week.

Arranging Songs for Performance (Mondays 5:30 – 7:00)
(seven total classes  –  classes end October 26) – $140 ($70.00 per month)

The beauty of ZOOM is that, for it to work, only one person at a time can play. The rest of us (myself included) will listen and offer thoughts and observations that will hopefully allow the arranger to make improvements. Our focus for this class will be on specific songs and styles. We will start out discussing ideas and techniques, but I’m hoping that the class will soon turn into the basic format of the “Songwriting Workshop” (also back!) – one student playing his or her arrangement and everyone else pitching in on the critiques.

Songwriting Workshop (Mondays 7:00 – 8:30)
(seven total classes  –  classes end October 26) – $140 ($70.00 per month)

Incredibly pleased how this class has come together in this format. We discuss what songs are and how they’re made up, but the vast majority of the time is spent listening to the songs themselves and offering critiques of how they may be improved upon.

Music Theory for Fretted Instruments (Tuesdays 5:15 – 5:55)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 27) – $80 ($40.00 per month)

The purpose of this class is to understand how theory can help us as musicians and songwriters. These past months, this has been one of my favorites as the people taking it were keen to apply and explore the ideas of music theory to help their own writing.

Continuing Guitar (Tuesdays 6:00 – 7:00)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 27) – $100 ($50.00 per month)

Essentially, this class will be very much like the group class we had at the BCC, except that you won’t be able to hear everyone in the group play. It takes a little getting used to at first, but it will worth your while. Every week, we’ll look at one or two songs (and I’m open to requests) and explore the various ways of playing it.

Introduction to Classical / Spanish Guitar (Tuesdays 7:15 – 8:00)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 27) – $120 ($60.00 per month)

The cool thing about classical / Spanish guitar is that even the simplest exercises make very nice songs to impress both yourself and anyone who’s listening. You can also use the techniques you learn in your “every day” guitar playing.If you can read guitar tablature (and / or music notation) you can take this course. We’ll start out extremely basic and work our way up to more complicated pieces. As mentioned earlier, even if you’ve taken this course before, there will be new pieces to learn.

Bass Guitar Workshop (Wednesdays 5:15 – 5:55)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 28) – $80 ($40.00 per month)

Incredibly excited about these Wednesday classes! If you’ve always wanted to try out bass, here’s your chance. Every week, you’ll get recordings of two or three songs and then, come class time, you’ll present whatever bass part you’ve managed to concoct for it. We’ll start fairly, excuse the pun, basic, and then explore many of the wondrous ways to make out bass lines as interesting as possible. More importantly, we’ll explore the role of the bass player and how to make the most of that role in a way unique to you.This class will be an excellent way to prepare yourself for playing in the “Jam Prep Class,” which also starts this week.

Combining Rhythm Fundamentals (Wednesdays 6:00 – 6:45)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 28) – $80 ($40.00 per month)

Incredibly excited to be offering this – the major objective will be to combine basic strumming with picking in order to create wonderful rhythm parts. My plan is to use songs that everyone knows and to explore how to add more parts to them. As always, I’ll make a point to help you grow based on where you are. Every week we’ll also have exercises specifically designed to help you be a better player.  This course is good for ukulele players as well as guitar players.

Open Mic Prep Class: (Wednesdays 7:00 – 8:00)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 28) – $100 ($50.00 per month)

Exactly what it sounds like. People will get the chance to perform songs in an “open mic” setting. The rest of the class will be the audience and provide thoughtful, helpful, and (hopefully) encouraging feedback. These can be original songs or covers. The objective this time out, will be for each participant to be able to play a set of three songs, much like one would do at a real open mic.

Absolute Beginners’ Guitar (Part 2) Workshop (Thursdays 5:15 – 6:15)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 29) – $100 ($50.00 per month)

This is a continuation of the “Absolute Beginners’ Guitar Workshop” from July and August. If you didn’t take that because you felt that you didn’t need to start straight from scratch, you may find this more to your liking. Every week we look at (usually) least two songs in order to expand on our ever-increasing toolbox of skills. These upcoming sessions will focus on finger-style playing. We’ll start out very basically and then work our way up to more complex patterns. Discussion on stylistic goals will also be a big part of our decision making.

Jam Prep (for any instrument) (Thursdays 6:30 – 8:00)
(eight total classes  –  classes end October 29) – $150 ($75.00 per month)

Let’s be honest – we’re all ready to get back to playing with others. This class will be very much like the old “Jam Classes” we’ve had at the BCC and Crissey Farm. My plan is to use songs that everyone knows and to explore how to add more parts to them. As always, I’ll make a point to help you grow based on where you are.

Just how much you get out of this class will be up to you, as you won’t be able to hear anyone besides me when we play “as a group.” If you’d like to improve your group playing by working out parts that are different than what someone typically plays (and we’ve all been in groups where six or more guitarists are all playing the same thing!), you are more than welcome to do so. You can play an instrument that you “kind of” know without being embarrassed.

You can also work on developing harmony vocal lines…

Hopefully, this class will be an excellent way to prepare yourself for playing for real when the occasions arise (hopefully) in the near future.

Do let me know what you think about these. Class size initially will be limited to eight, but the cool thing about this is that we can start a second class should one get filled.

As always, I’m more than willing to answer any questions or entertain any suggestions you may have. Email me directly or call me on my cell (413 – 717 – 1996). Also, please feel free to share this with anyone you think may be interested.

I hope that everyone is doing well. I look forward to hearing from you and to sharing music with you all once more.

Stay well.

Peace