Welles Park original map

Mental | Physical | Spiritual

Goals and Education

Grateful Deadhead Ensemble – Music Class at FUSION

Thank’s for visiting! Jason, the class instructor, will be adding more to this page on Monday, May 26, 2025. Here’s some FAQ info about the class. If you have other questions and/or concerns. Jason would love to hear from you. Feel free to contact him at 773-369-8268 (phone/text) or jason@knowingtrees.com Grateful Deadhead Ensemble Tuesdays, June 25 to August 12, 6:30 to 8:30 Eight classes, plus one gig (nine meetings total) We’ll have classt at FUSION 700 – 708 1st St. NW , Albuquerque, NM https://www.fusionnm.org/ +1.505.766.9412  $350 (This works out to $20 an hour.) All Instruments/singers welcome! Guitar players – Acoustic guitars are HIGHLY recommended. We’ll figure out amplification needs as the class rolls along. Drummers – There won’t be a back line at our practice space. Hand percussion instruments are HIGHLY recommended. Keyboardists – Jason will be providing a keyboard for the band to use. Obviously, should we have more than one keyboard player, there could potentially be some challenges. But, nothing that I think will hold us back.  Please contact Jason at 773-369-8268 (phone/text) or jason@knowingtrees.com if you plan on playing keyboards. Worried that you’re not good enough to play? Worried that you’re too good? This will be a multi-level class. Everyone will be asked to go to the edge of their abilities. Now, that edge will be very individual, as some folks are just beginnng and some folks have a lot of experience. Jason is confident that, no matter your experience level, you’ll walk out of class with a) something to work on, musically and b) a spring in your step from sharing music with such an positive community. This summers’ session will culminate with a gig in the second week of August. Details are still being worked out. Thank you for your patience.

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For Beginning Improvisers – Chan Chan from Buena Vista Social Club

A student has been working on this awesome song and learning to both improvise on her own, and to transcribe the improvisations of others.  I made a simple recording that she could upload to an app that we use to slow down, and repeat certain parts of a recording. If you load the recording I made into such an app, the changes of the song play over and over. That is a great way to practice your improvising!  This song is in D minor, and for this exercise we’re using just the notes of the D minor pentatonic scale.   D F G A C The accompanying graphic shows one location of those notes on the guitar, bu those notes are all over the guitar, too. Find those notes anywhere and improvise a new melody over these very fun changes. Enjoy! https://youtu.be/tGbRZ73NvlY?si=E7sPwIFjrEnMV6OA This is my simple recording. This is the app we use to make the track repeat over and over. I really like it, but there are a lot of different similar apps. I’m sure you’ll find one you like.  Tempo SloMo

Jason McInnes and Frank Hamilton outside playing banjos.
Banjo

Little Birdie with Jason and Frank Hamilton

In the previous post I wrote a about recording recording Little Birdie with puja and maria.  That got me thinking about Frank Hamilton who taught me that song when I went to visit him in 2010.

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