Richard Ash's Bio and Workshops

Richard is the owner of Folkcraft Instruments, which is one of the oldest and most respected musical instrument manufacturers in the country. Folkcraft makes a variety of stringed and fretted instruments, including Appalachian dulcimer,hammered dulcimer, bowed psaltery, kantele, dulcilele, and ukulele.

Richard is a teacher, and holds a music education degree from The Ohio State University. Formerly a school band director, now he's an active dulcimer instructor.

Richard is also the organizer of three music festivals: The Dulcimer Gathering (for hammered dulcimer players); Indiana Dulcimer Festival (for Appalachian dulcimer players); and Midwest Uke Fest (for ukulele players).

And finally, Richard is a performer. You can hear him playing the dulcimer at events all over the country. From NAMM shows to dulcimer festivals, old-time music events to demonstration concerts in the Folkcraft concert hall, he's performed pretty much everywhere.

Don't Take This Class, It Will Make You Vomit (a.k.a. "Performance Techniques"): Sharing your music with an audience can be nervewracking, or it can be the highlight of your week. This class will help you share your music in a positive way. You'll get practical tips on how to overcome your stage fright, how to prepare for a performance, and how to have a good time while you're performing. Ideal for any skill level, and open to all instruments, this session won't make you sick to your stomach, really! It will make you into a better, more prepared performer, though! Bring your instrument - we'll be doing a bit of playing...

How Dulcimers And Ukuleles Are Made: Complete with videos to watch (instrument builders in action!), parts to see, and a comprehensive overview of modern instrument building. If you're a player, you'll enjoy seeing the work that goes into making a premium instrument. If you're a builder, you might get a few ideas that will help with your next project.

Traditional Tunes From The Hills Of Appalachia: We'll work on a variety of songs, a few you've heard of, and a few that will be new to you. Mostly in the noter drone style, these melodies are an important part of the history of the Appalachian dulcimer.

Playing "D"Tunes In G and in A: We'll work on changing the key of a tune - practically any tune - that you already know into another key. Without using a capo, you'll learn to take a song into two different tunings. This will give variety to your performances, add life to your set lists, and even make a vocal piece fit your range "just right".

Adding Variety To Your Right-Hand Strumming: Here's a chance to add some pizazz to the tunes you already know. Forget the bum-diddy pattern, lets go crazy and add some new life to your right hand strums. We'll work mostly with standard fiddle tunes, but we'll make them sound like new additions to your repertoire. This class is ideal for players with a steady (but perhaps dull?) right hand strum technique.

Popular Songs That Are In The Public Domain: Songs that are out of copyright, but performed by big-name, popular artists? Artists like Paul McCartney, Olivia Newton-John, Burl Ives, Barbra Streisand, The Animals, Elvis Presley, Metallica,
Led Zeppelin Johnny Cash, and more? Sure, no problem! Lots of handouts, lots of fun.

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Guy & Sharrie George's Bio and Workshops

Guy George, from Cleveland, Ohio, is a rhythmic, melodic hammered dulcimer player with a definite jazz influence to his playing style. Guy comes from a background in jazz and performance on the saxophone, having studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston; honing his skills playing with many jazz influenced musicians in the Boston and New York area. He has settled outside Cleveland, Ohio and presently plays hammered dulcimer, tenor, alto and soprano saxophones, flute, steel drum and keyboard. He has made his name in the dulcimer world as a performer, instructor, author/publisher and recording artist.   

       He tours throughout the United States and Canada performing and recording and teaching workshops on the hammered dulcimer, steel drums, and penny whistle. His teaching style is relaxed and fun, as he teaches tunes of many different genres and styles.  In addition, he incorporates methods for more advanced practicing and playing techniques while simultaneously entertaining his students.  

       Guy has authored 13 books arranged for hammered dulcimer, steel drum, pennywhistle, and other instruments, which are distributed around the world through Gesani Publications, a company he and his wife, Sharrie, own and operate.  

In recent years, Sharrie George has emerged as a talented performer and instructor in her own right.  Her solid timing and clean rhythms have made her an important part of Guy's groove in more ways than one, plus she's fun and helps you work on what you need the most.


Guy’s Workshop Descriptions

1. Absolute Beginning Hammered Dulcimer - This is the class for you if you have never played a ham- mer dulcimer, but would like to try! Guy will show you step by step, the way to play beautiful music on this ex- citing, and timeless instrument. All the basics will be covered, from tuning and care of the dulcimer, to locating the notes and playing a simple melody. Don’t have a hammered dulcimer? A few free loaners will be available if you would like to “try before you buy”. (You may have to share)

2. Manatee Orchestra for HD - All levels - Learn parts and arrangements for our Manatee Orchestra with MD, PW, Ukes, Steel Drum, and other instruments!

3. Beginner HD - The Next Step - After you’ve learned the basics, learn some easy gospel tunes. Learn beau- tiful melodies and some simple harmonies.

4. HD - All Levels - Creating More Than a Melody - Part I - Find creative ways to spice up the melody using using basic skills like scales, harmonies, arpeggios, rhythmic patterns, and more. We’ll use a few jam tunes, waltzes, and other tunes to apply our magic. This is a 2 Part Class.

5. HD - All Levels - Creating More Than a Melody - Part II - Find creative ways to spice up the melody using using basic skills like scales, harmonies, arpeggios, rhythmic patterns, and more. We’ll use a few jam tunes, waltzes, and other tunes to apply our magic. This is a 2 Part Class.

6. HD - Intermediate Level - Hammered Dulcimer Meets the Ukulele; “Tin Pan Alley” - Learn a few Tin Pan Alley Greats, as we team up with the ukuleles for a fun way to sound great! We’ll learn arrangements of these tunes, and give the ukuleles some practice strumming and playing backup.

7. Manatee Orchestra for Hammered Dulcimer, Pennywhistle and Steel Drum! - Part I - All levels - Learn parts and arrangements for our Manatee Orchestra that will perform together with the ukuleles and mountain dulcimers for a great performance on Sat night! - This is a 2 part workshop.

8. Manatee Orchestra for Hammered Dulcimer, Pennywhistle and Steel Drum! - Part II - All levels - Learn parts and arrangements for our Manatee Orchestra that will perform together with the ukuleles and mountain dulcimers for a great performance on Sat night! - This is a 2 part workshop.

9. Steel Drum - Beginning Level - Learn how to play an authentic steel drum! We’ll have some Jumbie Jams available to try. Learn the basics and be playing melody and chords on this great island instrument! Great re- fresher if you haven’t played in a while.

10. Pennywhistle - Beginning Level - Learn how to play the easiest instrument to carry around! We’ll have you playing and sounding good in 2 keys in this first lesson! Inexpensive, great sounding “D” whistles will be available at our vending area.

11. Guy’s ‘Crazy’ Intermediate Pennywhistle - Not for Beginners! (But you are welcome to watch) Some review from last year, with new tunes and stuff! Chromatics, chords, technique, tone, breathing, tonguing, playing in different keys, different styles, tunes, and more! Jazz up your playing! Have a difficult tune? Squeaky notes? Bring it here! This class is designed to give you what you can’t get anywhere else!

Sharrie’s Workshop Descriptions

12. Beginning Ukulele - Join the Ukulele Craze and learn to play the Uke! Borrow a ukulele from us and learn a few great tunes, along with the basics, all in one workshop! We will have nice loaner ukuleles for you to try - and plenty to buy if you decide you can’t leave without one!

13. Manatee Orchestra - Part I - All Levels Ukulele - If you know the basic chords and strums, you’re ready to join the Manatee Orchestra! Parts for just past beginner and above - on any ukulele - baritones and U-basses welcome too!! We will learn melodies, strums and other accompaniment for several tunes to play in parts - with and without voices - and then we will join the rest of the Manatee Orchestra later for a GREAT perform- ance! A fun way to learn and have fun on the uke! This is a 2 part workshop.

14. Ukulele Meets the Hammered Dulcimer - Beyond Beginner Ukulele and above - We will team up with the hammered dulcimer players and back them up as we all learn a few fun Tin Pan Alley tunes, with strums and singing and a few new chords. Good practice for smoother chord changes too!

15. Edelweiss - Chord-Melody strum style - Intermediate/Advanced - Learn the basics about playing chord- melody on the ukulele as we learn a beautiful version of this famous waltz. We will be learning chords up the neck on the uke, where our melody notes are, a few basic picking patterns, and much more!

16. Manatee Orchestra - Ukulele with other instruments - Part II Practice parts for our Manatee Orchestra that will perform together with the hammered and mountain dulcimers, steel drum and pennywhistles! - This is a 2 part workshop.