teaching: instruction & materials

Ashbory Bass

• Large Sound is the best source of information about Ashbory basses; forums and resources.
• This Wikipedia article is a good introduction to many aspects about the Ashbory bass.

Guitar

• Want to know a little about every aspect of the guitar? Try the Wikibooks guitar textbook.
• Acoustic Guitar Magazine is a great resource for players.
• There's a lot of guitar info available on Woody Mann's Guitar Seminars website.

Mandolin

• Want to know a little about every aspect of the Mandolin? Try the Wikibooks mandolin textbook.
• All things Mando can be found on Mandolin Cafe.

Ukulele

• Wikipedia's article about the Ukulele will tell you a little about every aspect of the instrument.
• Ukulele Review features ukulele articles and reviews.
• Ukulele Tonya is a ukulele blog; uke forums, info, and fun.
• The Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz - wonderful fun!
• The San Jose Ukulele Club "invites all those who play or want to learn to play the ukulele."
  

Lutherie

• Frets.com is Frank Ford's amazing site about guitar care and repair.
• The Guild of American Luthiers is a non-profit, educational membership organization whose purpose is to facilitate learning about the art, craft and science of lutherie.

Computer Programs

• Audacity is a free digital audio editing program.
• Adobe Audition is a full-featured professional product for digital audio recording, mixing, editing, and mastering. This is what I use.
• PowerTracks Pro Audio from Pgmusic is a lower cost digital audio editing program with lots of MIDI capability.
• Finale offers a line of tab & score editing programs, and there's a free version available. I use an older version called "Guitar."
• Band In a Box from PGMusic is a great program for practicing. It provides a backup band with control of tempo, key, style, and much more. (More fun than a metronome too!)
• Slow down music without changing the pitch using Amazing Slowdowner from Roni Music.
• TableEdit is a program for creating, editing, printing and listening to tablature and sheet music (standard notation) for guitar and other fretted, stringed instruments, including mandolin and bass.

Songs/Songwriting

• Find lyrics for songs on Lyrics Freak.
• RhymeZone provides a rhyming dictionary.
• Band In a Box from PGMusic is a very useful program for songwriters and singers - try chord progressions, and command a backup band with control of tempo, key, style, and much more.

Music Camps and Workshops

• California Coast Music Camp, in July, located about 3 hours East of San Francisco, 40 minutes NorthEast of Sacramento, CA
• Rocky Mountain Fiddle Camp, in July, NothWest of Denver CO
• California Bluegrass Association Music Camp, summer in Grass Valley CA, winter near Bodega Bay CA
• Fiddlestar Camps are near Nashville TN. Separate camps for youths and adults
• Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle Camps, CA
• British Columbia Swing Camp, Sorrento BC, Canada
• Festival of American Fiddle Tunes (and other workshops) Port Townsend WA
• Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Bremerton WA
• RiverTunes music camp, Pinecrest CA
• Walker Creek Music Camp, near Petaluma, CA

SF Bay Area Organizations

• California Bluegrass Association
• North Bay Contra Dance Society
• Northern California Bluegrass Society
• Bay Area Contra Dance Society
• Santa Clara Valley Fiddlers Association

Miscellaneous

• Print out blank Tab and staff paper for free on BlankSheetMusic.
• Harmony Central offers lots of musical stuff on many topics.
• YouTube is a terrific resource for instruction and performance research.