Here in the Yew Ess of Aye, workshops in folk festivals are only ocassionaly "workshops." They are either song swaps with an agreed upon subject, or instrumental showcases. The workshops I've participated in that have been closest to an actual workshop are the songwriters workshops. Songswaps with an agreed upon subject are fine, and I enjoy participating in, and attending them. Bu they aren't really "work" shops.

Guitar workshops rarely start from the perspective of someone who knows some basic rhythms and chords, who is looking for picking patterns, rhythms or harmonies. The kind of wrokshop that Jeri would find most helpful is the kind of guitar workshop I'd like to be a part of. Sometimes, just to make my point of using guitar for accompaniment, I'll do a song that has no chord changes, and a basic rhythm, showing how you can use that rhythm to make the song more interesting and melodic. I do both The Farmer's Curst Wife and John Henry in one chord (a 7th chord in both instances) and I think the accompaniment provides a rich framework to really savor the words and the humor in the songs.. particularly Farmer's Curst Wife. (I really like a version of John Henry done by Wade Mainer and His Mountaineers that is done with one chord.)

Jerry