What is Bluescamp all about?

Bluescamp is a weekend experience of blues rock and even jazz, specifically for vocalists, drummers, keyboard players, guitarists and bassists. You will find this to be a unique opportunity to live eat and breath music in the company of like minded people, playing and chilling out, but ultimately having a great time

Whilst we may have use of the excellent facilities at Cranbrook School in Kent, it's not eyes down for a day of boredom. We have structured the days to be very much 'hands on' We know from experience there is no substitute for playing in a band, and there will be plenty of that.

How good do you have to be to join in? It's open to all, whether you are a complete beginner or an expert. We will assess your standard of playing to ensure you gain the most from your time at Bluescamp.

For guitarists the course is intended to cover everthing from an introduction to simple and easy 12 bar blues chord progressions to playing riffs in the style of Eric Clapton, BB King, Carlos Santana and more. On the theory side, we shall build up a practical use of pentatonic minor and blues scales, use of dominant chords, and extended chords for those 'jazz' moments.

For Keyboard players, beginners with no musical training can follow the easy to understand tuition. Our Blues Piano lessons can include: Basic 12 Bar Blues Introduction, 7th Chord Theory, Chords in left hand, improvisation in right hand, Introduction to Swing Rhythms, Melody and Chords in right hand & Walking Bass in left hand, etc.

Drum tuition will cover such areas as practice tips, note values, shuffle patterns, slow blues patterns, alternate cymbal patterns, hi hat exercises, bass drum variations and more.

 

Bassists are often the unsung heroes in bands, but their job is working alongside the drummer in the 'engine room' keeping everthing tight. We will show your how to keep a simple rhythm together using root and 5th, use of appropriate scales for walking bass patterns and improvising, understanding harmonics and chord theory.

Vocalists. Vocal Techniques including: Breathing & phrasing, vocal warm up.
Learning to master the "passage" articulation, pronunciation, harmonics and tone.
Refine pitch tuning, individual style and vocal interpretation of songs.
Working towards performance. Putting into practice techniques within a song structure.

The important thing to remember is this is not a definitive list of areas we cover, and nothing is written in stone! We wish to be flexible to cater for your needs, and are only too pleased to structure the days to your pace to make it as relaxed and enjoyable as possible. This is the blues after all!