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Date: November 7 & 8
Times: 1-4pm
Level: All
Membership Price: $100 (Members can use code MEMBERS10 upon checkout to receive 10% off)
1) **If you don’t have a banjo but want to participate sign up for the class promptly and reach out to education@mendocinoartcenter.org** The Instructor has offered to bring banjos for students but supplies are limited!
2) It is requested that students familiarize themselves with the African roots of the banjo prior to attending the class. Hannah recommends checking out:
The work of Daniel Lamou Jatta as well as other American musical resources such as:
What did the Black Bird Say to the Crow an album by Rhiannon Giddens and Justin Robinson who are playing in a traditional style learned from elders who have passed on, the Thompson Family from North Carolina.
This film The Life and Times of Joe Thompson is also a resource for understanding the Old Time music tradition in the so-called US.
Workshop Description:
Gather in community while advancing skills on the banjo with Hannah Mayree. This class is suited for people who have basic knowledge of playing the instrument and want to learn songs, some of the related history and engage in thoughtful conversation about the nature of playing banjo through a liberatory lens.
About the Instructor:
Hannah Mayree is a cultural worker and radical arts administrator as the founder and executive director of the California based and nationally renowned Black Banjo Reclamation Project. A professional recording artist, musician, producer and crafter, Hannah has dedicated their existence to understanding the modern implications of earth-based folk traditions in Black and African diasporic communities and is creating opportunities for the development of community based on these ideals. Hannah uses oral tradition and in person workshops as a way to transmit information about sound and musical techniques of playing the banjo. As a banjoist for over 15 years and still learning, Hannah works with students from beginners to more advanced musicians covering repertoire that comes mostly from African-American traditions but also those of European descent in an attempt to bridge and educate populations about the complex origins of the instrument and its music.
Hannah has guided and mentored people of all ages on their journeys exploring the banjo as a way to bring balance to the centuries old racism that has persisted through the colonization of the banjo and is committed to seeing these cultural aspects thrive in the hands of Black peoples, as well as how folk traditions enhance the lives of all people from around the world.
Required Materials: A banjo that works, 5 string preferred. If you don’t have one Hannah can arrange to bring some for certain students who need that. Limited supply.
Optional Materials: Tuner, notebook