Greenbank Folk Club Presents: Rethinking Accompaniment for Traditional Songs - A Workshop with Nick Hart Who's it for? A workshop for those who already accompany themselves (or others) singing folk songs, as well as those who would like to start. The course is open to players of all pitched instruments. Singers who do not play an instrument may still benefit from some of the discussions and are welcome to attend with or without their own accompanists, but may not be able to participate fully in all of the activities. Some knowledge of music theory will be helpful but not necessary, and the ability to read music is not a requirement. When booking, please mention what instrument you play and whether or not you accompany your own singing. The Premise In their traditional contexts, the folk song traditions of Britain and Ireland have been, almost without exception, unaccompanied. Approaches to the accompaniment of folk songs from the early 20th century onwards have borrowed heavily from the conventions of classical and popular musics, often to the detriment of some of the subtleties and nuances of the traditional material. In this workshop, participants will be guided through some of the particular sensitivities required when accompanying this material, explore different relationships between instruments and voices, and examine approaches to accompaniment in other singing traditions to see what inspiration can be taken from them. Schedule The workshop will be divided into two sections with a 45 minute break in between. Midday-2pm - Session 1: The nuances of unaccompanied song, the history of folk song accompaniment, functional harmony and its limitations, approaches to rhythm and metre. 2:45pm-4:30pm - Session 2: Taking inspiration from other traditions, implementing what we 've learned. A bit about Nick: Nick Hart is a singer and multi-instrumentalist whose work with traditional song forms has seen him called “probably the finest interpreter of traditional English folk songs this generation has produced.” (tradfolk.co). He has released four studio albums, all to widespread critical acclaim, has performed extensively at home and abroad and is much sought-after as a teacher and workshop leader. His residential Ballad School has sold out every year since its inception and attracts students from all over the world. Originally from East Anglia, he has lived in Bristol since 2016 and is one of the hosts and founders of the George and Dragon singing session in Redfield. Greenbank Folk Club is committed to developing our access & inclusion in every aspect of what we do. Please get in touch if you have any particular access needs or would like to make a suggestion for how we can do things better in the future. We encourage you to fill out our survey after each event so we can hear your thoughts - QR code available in the venue. This event takes place upstairs at The Greenbank Pub, Easton, Bristol BS5 6DP - unfortunately there is currently no wheelchair access to this space as it's accessed by stairs. £20 tickets are available in advance - tickets on the door will also be £20. We strongly advise that you book in advance if you'd like to attend as we cannot guarantee there will be door tickets available if the workshop sells out. Please tell your friends and share this event - live music, storytelling and dancing only takes place with the support of the community around us. We would like to thank our partner projects, The Greenbank, EFDSS (English Folk Dance and Song Society) and Arts Council England for their support in this project. https://www.instagram.com/greenbankfolkclub/ linktr.ee/greenbankfolkclub greenbankfolkclub.co.uk

Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio) — Read more — Read less