July 10 session notes
there is a common theme in the stories I hear from those who have attended the monday session's at the american legion community center over the last few weeks.
I hear a story about how they can play some chords on an instrument or two, but are looking for other musicians in the community to play along with.
the good news is, they came to the right place!
the "come as you are, play what you can" attitude is what I hope we can all come to expect at the group session's. we all have something to learn from each other and benefit from playing in a group.
I was pretty nervous planing the first of the sessions and am admittedly still figuring out the details (which is why this is being posted five days later than was intended) but if the kind of people keep showing up that came in these first few weeks, I'm excited about the music we will make together!
here's a recap, in addition to who could now be considered a regular, we were joined by a few new musicians and instruments.
the songs we played from the book were
take me home, country roads
the wellerman
wagon wheel
with plans to learn away we go next week.
up for discussion were ideas for future entries into the book (a member even brought their own book, which is encouraged) and also a place we can convene and communicate online.
we agreed to begin with a phone group message.
song and communication ideas you can share in the comments.
thanks for joining me in this adventure, and I look forward to seeing you in a future session!
until next time,
kitt bender
the session master
the first poster
while there may be many iterations of this poster, there does have to be a first
this is it
welcome to the session master
hello, and welcome to the session master, I'm kitt bender.
first, I want to answer the questions,
why did I start the session master website?
what is a session, anyway?
who is it for?
where do we meet?
why? a few years ago, I had a collection of original, popular and traditional tunes I wanted to play with my friends so we began getting together in each other's living rooms
we all found a few things to be true.
we learned best and had the most fun when we met regularly, had a list of songs we all were working on, and knew a performance was coming up even if it was living room concert for our friends, or an open mic.
I found myself leading our weekly gatherings enjoying the process of facilitating the jam sessions, making the chord charts, and recording all the parts.
whenever I perform on anderson island, someone inevitably asks me if I teach lessons of any kind and I have spoken with a number of musicians (and aspiring musicians) who are hungry for opportunities to meet with others in the community and play music.
that's why I created the session master.
to catalog and make available to my community the resources I have been creating and curating.
which brings us to WHAT IS A SESSION?
a session is just what I call when we get together to play music.
a PRIVATE SESSION, is where we work together directly to fast-track your relationship with your craft. you will learn how to maximize the tools you'll find here for your own long-term benefit, and also to prepare you for an OPEN SESSION where we meet together and actually play together. more on those later.
so WHO is this for?
let me start by saying that our focus will be on music we can play using ACOUSTIC instruments. there is a time and place to rock out on an electric guitar, but that's not what you should expect at a session.
if you are a brand new baby beginner, show up to an open session, sit in the back and listen! we will hand you a chord chart and you will know what to practice for next time and you can participate in each song at whatever level you are comfortable.
if you are a seasoned professional, listen to the songs so you know our vibe and arrangements and enjoy playing alongside people from your community!
private and open sessions are also great places to work on recording/music technology, and on basic songwriting.
this all brings us to the WHERE. to get sessions started in the anderson island community, I will be leading a session at the american legion community center at 6pm beginning MONDAY JUNE 12th.
there will be separate posts here about private and open group sessions.
until then, I hope to see you soon!
kitt bender