WORKSHOPS

Join us on Sunday, Feb. 21 for a DADGAD guitar workshop with Sarah McQuaid, who is coming all the way from Ireland for a U.S. tour! The workshop will last from 3:30 pm - 5:00, and will be followed by extra time for questions. Sarah McQuaid is the author of a guitar tutor, The Irish DADGAD Guitar Book, described by The Irish Times as “a godsend to aspiring traditional guitarists,” and has developed a 90-minute workshop entitled An Introduction To DADGAD, which she has presented at festivals, arts centres, private homes and other venues around the UK and Ireland. A comment from one attendee: “I really enjoyed your workshop and I liked the way you made sure there was something for everyone. Each one of us had come along with widely different expectations and experience but you overcame this by adapting to the way the flow was going. “As someone who has dabbled in open tunings, including DADGAD, for 35 years without really knowing what I was doing I certainly got a lot out of the session, which was also my first ‘guitar lesson’! "For me it was useful to have read your Irish DADGAD Guitar Book beforehand but this was by no means a necessary requirement for a participant to benefit from the workshop. I liked too the impromptu illustrations using guitar parts taken from songs and instrumentals on your CDs. Your insight into chord structures and scales cast a new light on the reason why an open tuning like DADGAD works, in contrast to my previous hit-and-miss, limited attempts at picking out chords that sound nice. "I’m sure I speak for other participants when I give a big thank you for an excellent workshop, which I would recommend to any guitarist.” —Adrian Vranch (Devon, UK)