Acoustic Music Camp, Summer 2012

2012 Kaufmann Kamp - where's Waldo?

Kamp Kaufmann - Where's Waldo?

Just back from Kamp Kaufmann, an acoustic music camp, held every year in Maryville, Tennessee (beware, locals pronounce it Murrville). I attended the flat-picking guitar sessions and it was a great week of music with seven different instructors including Beppe Gambetta, Andy Hatfield, Jeff Jenkins, Chris Jones, John Carlini, Adam Granger and Wayne Taylor. It was a fabulous week of total immersion with lots to work on.

Seven Minute Solution

One of big challenges after returning from such an intense experience is how to keep the momentum going. A strategy that I'm working on is to practice in bite-sized chunks of seven minutes. Think about it, there's always seven minutes to spare. The key is to zero in on a riff or a few bars of a song you are trying to learn, and play it over and over for seven minutes. It helps to set an alarm. When the alarm goes off, you can go for another seven or move on to some other task of the day. If you need to take care of some issue during your seven minute session, simply stop the clock and resume when you get back. After I've racked up one or more seven minute sessions, I type a 7 for each session in my iPhone Notes App for the day. That way I have a daily historical record of my practice times. Another advantage of the seven-minute solution is that good al dente pasta takes just about seven minutes, so instead of watching a pot of pasta boil, you can get out your instrument and get a unit or practice time. Studies have shown that spaced practice is more effective than one giant session, so try it, you'll like it.