music camp | MusiCamp

THE BLUES: From Shouts to 12 Bars $225

July 15 – July 19 2013 9 am – 4 pm

Besides the musical games listed on the “about page”, the week will also include exploring the roots of the blues through the pentatonic scale, African American shouts from which the blues came, and a host musical stories. Campers will also:

make their own drone instruments (and explore some ideas about acoustics)
vocalize rhythms and chord progressions of the blues
compose, improvise and sing over 12-bar blues.

WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING $275

July 22 – July 26 2013 9 am – 4 pm & Aug 12 – Aug 16 2013 9 am – 4 pm

…. Special guest artist for the week includes AnnA Melnikoff and her orchestra of drums!

NO DRUM NEEDED! Special guest artist AnnA Melnikoff (along with her orchestra of drums!) will be co-hosting this week. Campers will have a chance to play the polyrhythmic accompaniment on 3 bass drums (known as dunun) and develop riffs and patterns on djembes. Focusing on rhythms that accompany rights of passage, participants will build masks and also explore the meaning of the drums and the rhythms from the very ancient Mande tradition. A drum will be made available to every camper.

COMPOSITION AND SONG $225

July 29 – Aug 2 2013 9 am – 4 pm

Have a song you want to sing? A story you want to tell? This week will help aspiring songwriters put their ideas to music. The week’s musical activities introduce campers to aspects of songwriting – like hooks, riffs, harmony, and rhythmic accompaniment. Other aspects – like chorus-verse format, basic chord progressions, intros and outros, rhyming and storytelling – will also be explored. By the end of the week campers will have written and/or collaborated on the creation of an original song. Kids who already have basic guitar chording are encouraged to bring their guitars. The week ends with world premiere performances of our songwriter’s compositions!

: African Dununs

: Body percussion

MusiCamp is a summer day camp experience that explores music making in a positive environment, filled with activities that build your child’s musical skills in an intuitive and fun way. The activities are designed to supplement traditional formal musical training but also be accessible to the less experienced music enthusiasts. Weekly themes like The Blues, Singer-Songwriter or West African Drumming provide musical direction to the week, which is further supplemented with craft making (instruments and masks) and stories that broaden the child’s cultural and historical understandings of music and society. It all culminates in a end of week performance to which parents and friends are welcomed to attend.

No instrument needed. No formal musical training. All that’s need is a love for music, the willingness to explore the voice in all its beauty and rawness, and the readiness to be a part of an exciting and affirmative team!