Beatles and Barre Chords workshop wrap up
15th July 2024
By Peter Grace
It was a fun afternoon at Geebung Bowls Club last Saturday 13 July for the Beatles and Barre Chords workshops. We had a good turnout with 20 registered participants and 5 others turning up to pay on the day. Your reporter forgot to take any photos, so you’ll have to check out Salli’s post on Facebook.
Caroline Haig ably (very ably!) assisted by her daughter Jenny, took us through some fun exercises, quizzes, and anecdotes about The Beatles. It was only afterwards that we realised that we were learning as well as having fun. She provided excellent handouts - a revised copy of Julian Lennon's Saltwater is available on the website (listed under Song Library).
Adrian’s session on barre chords was deceptively simple and an absolutely ahah moment for many of the participants. Now, we have to practice so we can build up the strength and toughness of our fingers and make this knowledge practical. The handouts were excellent and a great reference source.
Some comments from participants.
From Kerren. Loved the content of both workshops … paced at mid Uke playing level… both giving challenges and reassurance that with practise all is achievable. Also, the handouts gave you visual reminders of content and a good resource for practise. Which I certainly will be doing.
From Lea. Gold star to teacher Caroline and Jenny, her assistant, too. Broken chords/fingerpicking The Beatles' "Imagine" song was great - as was the whole afternoon.
From Kerren. As for barre chords. I have been using them for a while without understanding the concept of how they relate to scales, and it was definitely an ahhh moment for me yesterday to realise the sense of it all .. like a meerkat SIMPLES .. when explained.
From Kerren. Caroline, Jenny and Adrian were enthusiastic, well prepared and very knowledgeable about their workshops. Thank you all for your time! Loved it … am in awe of your energy and expertise.
The bowls club was a good venue for space, parking, bar and kitchen, but it was noisy over lunchtime. We may have to vary the time we run workshops there to avoid the busy periods.
