Tag Archives: musicamp

Early Bird Discount at MusiCamp

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OUR ORIGINAL MAY 1st EARLY BIRD EXTENSION
HAS COME & GONE BUT WE’RE A LITTLE LAX…

which means you can still get a 15% – $40-$50 – discount!
Use “early bird” as the promo code when registering

Sign up for multiple weeks and GET $105-$125 OFF!

Additional siblings & referrals gets you even more discounts.

And don’t forget that the fee listed is the price you pay.
There are no other additional fees or taxes charged!

 

IN CASE YOU DON’T KNOW, MusiCamp is an excellent summer day camp experience for kids (8-14 years) that explores music making in a positive environment, filled with activities that build your child’s musical skills and challenges their creativity in intuitive and fun ways.
The activities are designed to supplement traditional formal musical training but also be accessible to the less experienced… read more

 

THIS YEAR’S WEEKLY THEMES
The Blues

All the greats – from the Rolling Stones and Daft Punk to Beyonce and Katy Perry –  know the blues. So should you!

Composition & Song

Appeals to aspiring song writers and singers, with practical and fun hands on experience at composing and arranging!

Roots Music

Call on fiddlers, guitarists, ukulele and banjo players and others who just love to sing and harmonize. Special guest this week is acclaimed roots musician Hannah Naiman. (Rental of instruments can be arranged.)

West African Drumming

It’s all about polyrhythms and the GROOVE. No need for a drum, guest mast drummer, Anna Melnikoff is bringing her chorus of dunks and djembes.

More about our camps themes and registration can be accessed here.

 

 

visit our Flickr Gallery – click on the images below

MusiCamp at a glance

6-week Georgian Singing Workshop

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A 6 Week Workshop led by Shalva Makharashvili and Andrea Kuzmich
MONDAYS 7 – 9 PM April 11 – May 16 2016
at the MusiCamp studio
$240 for new participants; $200 for repeat students
More info or register by email through our contact page

The picture above is of workshop leader Shalva with his children singing with Basiani, one of Georgia’s acclaimed state folk ensembles. Have a listen to them here.

IMG_1558Take part in a Georgian singing workshop and join the thousands of voices before you that have contributed to this millennia-old folk tradition. Georgia, is located in the mountainous region of the Caucasus, the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Its ancient singing tradition, known for its distinctive and haunting harmonies, was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible masterpiece of humanity in 2001. The 3-part form defies Western conventions and comes in a plethora of musical dialects, reflecting the diverse geographical and cultural makeup of the land.

Canada’s foremost experts in Georgian polyphony, Georgian-born singer/multi-instrumentalist Shalva Makharashvili and Andrea Kuzmich, will be leading the workshop. In this series, we’ll take a look a variety of regional styles and song-types (work/travel/table/love songs and chants). At the end of the 6 weeks we’ll have a little performance for friends and family… and a little toast – to keep it in the Georgian tradition…

For some samples of Georgian songs have a listen to Shalva’s and Andrea’s trio soundcloud playlist

To register for the workshop send us an email through the contact us page.

 

Early Bird Discount at MusiCamp

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Before April 15 2016 GET $40-$50 OFF!

Sign up for multiple weeks and GET $105-$125 OFF!

Additional siblings & referrals get you even more discounts.

And don’t forget that the fee listed is the price you pay.
There are no other additional fees or taxes charged!

 

IN CASE YOU DON’T KNOW, MusiCamp is an excellent summer day camp experience for kids (8-14 years) that explores music making in a positive environment, filled with activities that build your child’s musical skills and challenges their creativity in intuitive and fun ways.
The activities are designed to supplement traditional formal musical training but also be accessible to the less experienced… read more


THIS YEAR’S WEEKLY THEMES
  • WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING with guest instructor AnnA Melnikof
  • ROOTS MUSIC with guest instructor Hannah Naiman
  • THE BLUES – From Shouts to 12 Bars
  • COMPOSITION & SONG
More about our camps themes and registration can be accessed here.

 

 
 
 

visit our Flickr Gallery – click on the images below

MusiCamp at a glance

2016 MusiCamp Themes & Fees

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15% EARLY BIRD registration discount before April 15!
$25 discount for additional weeks, siblings and referrals!
No additional fees or taxes charged!

 

July 4-8 ~ THE BLUES: FROM SHOUTS TO 12 BARS ~ $275 … more info →
July 11-15 ~ COMPOSITION & SONG ~ $275 … more info →
Aug 8-12 ~ ROOTS MUSIC (guest artist!) ~ $325 ….  more info →
Aug 22-26 ~ WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING (guest artist!) ~ $325 … more info →

 

  • Class sizes are small.
  • All-day (9am-4pm) programming with extended care available from 8am-6pm.
  • No formal training is required. No instrument required – just an enjoyment of music
  • Our intuitive approach to exploring sound, music, composition, the voice, and the weekly themes also functions as a great supplement to conventional music lessons
  • We also integrate crafts (instrument and mask making), backyard games, Pizza-making Wednesdays in Dufferin Grove park and other outdoor fun
  • Limited financial assistance is available on a per person basis. (Contact MusiCamp for more info)
  • 2016 Registration can be accessed here

 

visit our Flickr Gallery – click on the images below

MusiCamp at a glance

REGISTRATION 2016

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REGISTRATION FOR 2017 SUMMER CAMPS WILL OPEN MARCH 1st!

15% EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION before April 15

$25 DISCOUNT
for registering more than one child, for each additional week,* and for referrals.

AND DON’T FORGET THE FEE LISTED IS THE FEE YOU PAY
THERE ARE NO ADDITIONAL FEES OR TAXES CHARGED!

 

SECURED ONLINE 2016 REGISTRATION

or

DOWNLOAD 2016 REGISTRATION FORM

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* additional-week discount override $25 sibling discount. In other words, sibling discounts only apply to the first week. For example, a family with 2 children may register both for the first week and $25 discount is applied to that week. If they both register for an additional week, then the $25 additional-week discount is applied to each child, for a total discount of $50.
note: camp weeks with guest artists require a minimum number of registrants for specialized programming. Please contact for more details.

Instrument Making at MusiCamp

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Yes, these are real, playable instruments. They aren’t toys or kids’ versions. They are still played today and have an interesting social history worth telling. But best of all, they are fun to play and are excellent pedagogical tools for teaching musical concepts of tonality and harmony.

 

The Diddley Bow

The diddley bow is the instrument featured in the picture above on the left. As you can hear and see in the video below, the diddley bow is played with the neck of a glass bottle and a stick (though at MusiCamp we replace the glass bottle with a copper washer, it’s a little less dangerous). The result is very bluesy! No wonder the diddley bow is considered the precursor to the slide blues guitar.

The diddley bow is related to many different instruments found around the world (like the andibidi from the Congo, the umakweyana of West Africa, the dan bau of Vietnam, the gobichand of India). But this particular set up, a metal string expanded over wooden 2X4 (it used to be the wall or beam of house) with a metal or glass resonator, is of African American origin and emerged out of  the ugly social and economic conditions of slavery in the Southern United States.

More pictures of the diddley bow construction at MusiCamp can be found here.

The Bucket Bass

The featured image at the top of this post show three campers building/painting their bucket basses.

Below is a video of Andrea, MusiCamp’s director, and her son performing In The Highways Of The Hedges with the bucket bass. NOTE, you need headphones or good speakers to hear the bass because laptops and mobile devices tend to cut out the bottom end.

The bucket bass, closely related to the washtub or tea-chest bass, is not so different from the diddley bow. Both are one-stringed instruments and vary the tension on the string to alter pitch. The emergence and use of either the bucket, the washtub or the chest as a resonator is similarly linked to conditions of economic hardship.

For more information about the construction of the bucket bass visit our earlier post about making a washtub bass.

Cigar Box Diddley Bow

In 2015 we started making cigar box diddley bows as well (picture below).

cigarbox diddleybow

6-week Georgian Singing Workshop

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A 6 Week Workshop led by Shalva Makharashvili and Andrea Kuzmich
THURSDAY 7-9 PM February 4 – March 10 2016
at the MusiCamp studio
$240 for new participants; $200 for repeat students
Register by email through our contact page

IMG_1558Take part in a Georgian singing workshop and join the thousands of voices before you that have contributed to this millennia-old folk tradition. Georgia, is located in the mountainous region of the Caucasus, the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Its ancient singing tradition, known for its distinctive and haunting harmonies, was recognized by UNESCO as an intangible masterpiece of humanity in 2001. The 3-part form defies Western conventions and comes in a plethora of musical dialects, reflecting the diverse geographical and cultural makeup of the land.
Canada’s foremost experts in Georgian polyphony, Georgian-born singer/multi-instrumentalist Shalva Makharashvili and Andrea Kuzmich, will be leading the workshop. In this series, we’ll take a look a variety of regional styles and song-types (work/travel/table/love songs and chants). At the end of the 6 weeks we’ll have a little performance for friends and family… and a little toast – to keep it in the Georgian tradition…

* If you are interested, let us know what evening works best for you and we’ll try to best accommodate your availability.For some samples of Georgian songs have a listen to Shalva’s and Andrea’s trio soundcloud playlist

To register for the workshop send us an email through the contact us page.

 

Diddley Bow Song

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Must Hear! Especially the ending!!
Diddley Bow Song from the Rhythm & Stuff week at MusiCamp 2015.

 

A large part of MusiCamp is making instruments and the tin-can-2X4 diddley bow featured in this post is just one type of instrument campers can choose to make during their week at MusiCamp. This past week, these three campers decided to really explore the playing of the instrument and in particular drew from the instrument’s African origins. They based this song off of a Malawian song we heard from another Youtube video that discusses the history of the diddley bow – and it was so much fun to figure out and then play – and these guys did a great job getting the groove! Have a listen to them and make sure you listen to the end to hear their singing!

 

Malawi was probably used as an example in “The History of the Diddley Bow” video because Malawians were and are so successful at using recycled containers as resonators for homemade instruments and then creating music that is exciting and fun yet distinctly Malawian. I spent a few years in Malawi in the 1990s and especially recall the Malawian Chibuku beer box guitar!

 

The diddley bow, as seen in the above video, with tin resonator attached to wooden 2X4, is believed to be an African American origins, though it is related to many different instruments found around the world, like the andibidi from the Congo, the umakweyana of West Africa, the dan bau of Vietnam, the gobichand of India. More information on instrument making at MusiCamp can be accessed here.

 

By the way, in case you are wondering, the Rhythm & Stuff week was originally scheduled as West African Drumming Camp; however, because we didn’t have enough registrants (we needed 7 registrants to run the drumming) we ran an alternative program that involved lots of rhythm fun, including lots of body percussion as well as beatboxing, rhythm games and some hand drumming and singing.

 

The Kids’ Stage at the 2015 Dundas West Festival

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The 2015 Dundas West Festival Kids’ Stage featured a fabulous array of performances and workshops for and by kids, including some MusiCampers.

It was the 2nd year of the Kids’ Stage at the Dundas West Festival but the first for MusiCamp’s curatorial role which programmed a drumming workshop and performance, dancers, pop singers, singer-songwriters, full-out bands, a cappella groups and more – all of which featured kids as performers, some as young as 7 years old! The stage was set up just outside of St Helens Church at Dundas and St Clarens Ave. This page is an ongoing work in progress, so check back to learn more about the courageous and talented young performers at the Dundas West Fest.

 

Early morning workshop!
It started early, at 10 am with a West African Drum workshop hosted by MusiCamp’s own Anna Melnikoff. Parents and their children joined MusiCampers from West African Drumming week to explore the wonders of the Mande drumming tradition. Anna covered some basic rudiments and then taught some accompaniment patterns to the song “Aboro Ma.” She also taught some licks in a call & response fashion, as can be seen and heard at the end of this video.
 

  

 

Drum & Song @ Midday
We also learned the chorus to the song “Aboro Ma” so everyone could also sing along. Those who stuck around joined us for the mid-day all-acoustic performance, which you can view in this video.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BrighidFry At DuWestFest

Singer Songwriters
The official stage launched at 11am with the amazing original compositions by the duo Capturing Roses. Another great songster was Brighid Fry (image on left), who not only performed a variety of great original tune but was gracious to go with the flow and split her set in two in order to accommodate others’ time constraints. Other youthful performers were The Overtones, The Tollar and Moir Girls and of course some MusiCampers.

 
 

MusiCampers Below
On the left is a video of campers from Blues week singing the 1970 funky tune “Hand Clapping Song” by the Meters and the video on the right features Luca, a MusiCamp mainstay, performing Pharrell Williams‘ “Happy”.

 
Hipsters Close the Show
Burn Apollo
The Kids’Stage officially ended with the very smooth sounds of Burn Apollo a group of grade 8 hipsters from the neighbourhood.

 

AND THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO MADE IT A SUCCESS!!
It was a wonderful day of music for and by young musicians but it could not have happened without all the help of wonderful and tireless parents and music teachers who inspired and encouraged these kids to make music. Specific acknowledgement must be made to: Robin Mordasiewicz and family who initiated the first Kids’ Stage at the DuWest Fest in 2014; Helder Ramos, whose inspiration and tenacity magically puts form and order to the entire DuWest Fest; and Helder Pereira, who engineered the stage all day!

 

SHARE YOUR PICTURES, VIDEOS & EXPERIENCES!!
It would be great to fill in the missing detail of the day with more pictures, videos and experiences. Reach us through our Contact Page or the “Post A Question or Comment” listed below. All comments and pictures or videos will be reviewed and posted only with the parents/guardians permission

FREE West African Traditional Drumming Workshop Jun 6 10-11 AM

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West African Drumming Workshop
open to kids and their parents!
June 6 2015 10am-11am at the KIDS’s STAGE, Dundas West Festival

 
MusiCamp is hosting a free hands-on drumming workshop at the Dundas West Festival this Saturday, June 6 2015. Taught by AnnA Melnikoff, one of Canada’s foremost experts in the Mande drumming tradition, a tradition which predates the division of West Africa into the current political regions and arguably represents the roots of African American music, including the Blues, Rock & Roll, R&B, Mowtown, Funk, Soul, and many forms of pop music!

 

The video to your left is from MusiCamp’s West African Drumming week in 2013. (Note: If you want to hear the groovy bass you’ll have to wear headphones.)

Mande drumming is based on three stand-up drums called the dunun that play three interlocking rhythms often thought of as the melody. The djembes play accompanying patterns on top of this and are also used for soloing. To learn more about the Mande drumming tradition follow this link or if you are interested in our West African Drumming summer camp click here.
 
In this workshop kids will:

  • learn the difference between 3 basic slaps (slap, tone & bass) on the djembe
  • have a chance to practice these on the drum with a fun etude that develops these rudiments
  • have a chance to play the dunun
  • learn a basic accompaniment pattern
  • have a chance to solo

Location:
St Helens Church, 1680 Dundas St W, Toronto, ON, on the North-West corner of Dundas St W and St Clarens Ave

Kids who are really interested can join us on stage for the performance at 1pm!