This September, join Jon and 4-5 avid students of the harmonica for an intense and fun-as-hell vacation of jamming, feedback, instruction and breakthrough in world famous June Lake, a scenic jewell in California’s gorgeous Eastern Sierra Nevada.
Large harmonica seminars and workshops are great but, by necessity, you don’t get much individual attention, feedback, or jamming time. Small Group Camps solve this problem. You play get feedback, personalized instruction and encouragement from Jon again and again over the 3 1/2 days. You will jam with guitar to a variety of bluesy styles. I have done about 10 of these small group camps in my living room and results are amazing. You will learn and develop the techniques of great tone, vibrato, bending, improvisation, use of hands, understanding the blues, and you will get better and better as you engage in group practice and the application of muscle memory to break bad habits.
You will jam with Jon on guitar, learning how to phrase, how to use question and answer, how to bend, how to play 2nd, 3rd position. Jon is right there to give you feedback on what you are doing right, wrong, and ideas for improvement. You and fellow students will absorb and apply new techniques in harmonica, singing and defeating stage fright. You will get better and better.
The format is 90 minute classes meeting three times a day, at 10 am, 2 am, 7pm. In between you might take a nap, or…hike, fish, boat, drive the June Lake Loop, where there are 4 lakes and a waterfall in a 10 mile drive. June Lake is gorgeous. June Lake has several campgrounds, casual restaurants, and a motels. June Lake Motel is a short walk from the lakeside cabin where the classes are held. June Lake is 15 minutes north of Mammoth, California. It is a 6 hour drive from Los Angeles, a 2 hour drive from Reno.
You will get more playing time, more instruction, more feedback. It is also highly recommended that you prepare for the camp with a SKYPE lesson. They are $35 and will give you a chance to break habits, and to get the muscle memory for riffs and skills into your approach.
Bring Your Questions, Problems, Hopes & Hidden Talents and Dreams to an Encouraging Environment Where Dreams Come True
A few years ago a lucky star fell on my head and I took possession of a lakeside cabin on June Lake, one of a series of amazing lakes in the Eastern Sierra. It was a genuine dream come true, spending summer weeks 50 yards from the water, in a self-made musical world of mountain sunrises, sunsets, hikes, swims, walks… and this summer, casual small group Jam Camps, making music dreams come true.
It’s the kind of joy you want to share and I came up with the Small Group Jam Camp concept while sitting beside the lake playing my harp and guitar to the ducks. I’ve put on about five of these camps now, and they are fantastic.
Can you imagine how much you will learn in a small group of cool people also learning to blow the blues? You’ll get better at playing the harmonica including improved tone, bending, vibrato, riffing, improvisation, songs, singing, accompaniment, playing positions.
What and how I teach is very much determined by the campers. But I have goals for each of you. Your goals. As you might expect, the groups always coalesce into a supportive team of fellow jammers and learners. Harmonica is a very friendly instrument.
We meet in 90 minute classes three times a day, each class 90 minutes. After 90 minutes of edge-of-your-seat jamming, the group takes a break, a walk, a nap and a few hours later, we do it again. The pause helps. You will improve. How could you not?
FAQs
Here are some answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about my Jam Camp experiences.
Click on the + to learn more.
How Good Do I Need to Be?
You don’t have to be “good.” but please be dedicated. Even if you’ve only played a few months, you are welcome.
How Should I Prepare?
What's the Daily Itinerary?
- Monday Evening Meet and Greet 7 pm
- Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday — we have three 90 minute classes.
- Each day: 10am to 11:30 — 2 pm to 3:30 — 7 pm to 8:30 pm
What's the Cost?
It’s only $495 for 3-and-a-half days in a beautiful mountain paradise and lots of music!
How Do I Sign Up?
Where the &%^$! is June Lake???
In one of the most beautiful mountain areas in the world, June Lake is in the Eastern Sierra of California on the June Lake Loop, where there is a series of 4 lakes under the high mountain peaks and waterfalls. It’s a 6 hour drive from LAX and 2 hours from Reno Airport. It is 15 miles north of ski resort Mammoth and a 90 minute drive over the pass to Yosemite. There are many campgrounds and lodging, but they fill up fast, especiallty during fishing season. Plan now!
