Fritz Schuler is accepting a limited number of private students at the Golden Ring. Available Courses are:

About Instructor

 Fritz Schuler

 Called “The Walking Encyclopedia of Folk Music” by Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Simply Folk” Founder Tom Martin-Erickson, Fritz has been a performer and Teacher of Traditional Folk Music since the 1960’s.

                  TEACHING           BACKGROUND

Fritz is a former elementary School teacher and has has taught folk guitar, banjo and mountain dulcimer through the University of Wisconsin's Continuing Education program for over 30 years at UW - Fox Valley in Appleton.  He has also taught these courses at the UW Centers in Fond Du Lac, Sheboygan, Green Bay, West Bend and Manitowoc  passing along his joy of playing to over 2000 students. He has also taught a “Folk Instruments In the Classroom” Summer workshop for Teachers at Silver Lake College.

               He has taught mini-courses in the history of American Folk music at several high schools, in-service programs for teachers, and a master's class in the History of American Folk Music at the John Michael Kohler Art's Center in Sheboygan.

PERFORMING BACKGROUND

As a performer Schuler has performed all over the Midwest, at countless festivals, libraries, historical societies, colleges, museums, schools, banquets and coffeehouses. Taking American Folk Music across the ocean, he was a headline performer at the 1994 Seafest in Japan. Other notable performances include a Woody Guthrie tribute with Guthrie's sister, Mary Jo Edgmon. He has also been featured with the popular touring NPR radio show "Whad 'Ya Know" with Michael Feldman. A brief, and very incomplete performance listing include:

The North Country Folk Festival (Ironwood, Mi.);

The Clayville Folk Festival (Springfield, Ill.)

The Neville Museum (Green Bay, WI),

The Great River Traditional Folk Festival (LaCrosse, WI.);  The Alder House (Libertyville, Ill.)

The 19th Street Coffeehouse (Milwaukee, WI.)

 Prairie Grapevine Folklore Society Concert Series              (Springfield, Ill.)

The John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI.); The Cafe Carpe (Fort Atkinson, WI.)

 The Blue Whale Coffeehouse (Green Bay, WI.)

 The Illinois Railway Museum (Union, Ill.)

The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

and many more schools, libraries and colleges throughout the Midwest.

 

 For More Information see:

www.fritzschuler.org                      

CAMPFIRE GUITAR

Folk Guitar For The Absolute Beginner

Campfire Guitar is a fast paced introduction of Folk Guitar. It is aimed at the student who has had no guitar or music background who wants to play accompaniment to songs around the campfire, fireplace or kitchen table. We emphasize fun in learning and in this course and you’ll be playing a number of folk songs, blues and country songs -both old favorites and some new to you - before you know it. You will learn basic chords in the major guitar keys, how chords work, basic strums and fingerpicking patterns and a lot of extras to make your playing more fun and sound great. As you continue through this course and get the basics under your belt, the course moves into and includes the material in the American Roots Guitar course. No Music Reading Is needed to take this course.

“Americana” Guitar

 American Roots Guitar for the Early Intermediate Guitarist.

If you’ve been playing the guitar awhile and you know a number of chords and a strum or two, but everything you play sounds the same to you, or you feel like you’re at a plateau and can’t get yourself up to the next level - Well, this is the course you need to jumpstart both your interest and playing abilities. This course is a fun overview of all basic guitar folk styles, including Traditional Finger Picking Guitar, Old-time Country and Bluegrass Flatpicking and a good dose of Fingerpicking Country Blues.

Prerequisites: The beginning guitarist should have the knowledge of the following chords: A, Am, C, D, D7, E, Em, F, G, You should be able to tune your guitar and change chords quite easily. You should also have some understanding of traditional folk music and it’s various styles. No Music Reading Is needed to take this course.

CAMPFIRE BANJO

A fun banjo course to accompany songs around the campfire!

Campfire Banjo is aimed at the student who has had no banjo or music background who wants to play accompaniment to songs around the campfire, Fireplace or kitchen table. Basic banjo chords will be taught as well as several banjo tunings. You’ll learn how to play some basic fingerpicking and strums and a lot of extras to make your playing more fun and sound great. No Music Reading Is needed to take this course.

Beginning Old Time Mountain Banjo

 With it’s  roots in the Appalachian Mountains, this style, called Frailing or Clawhammer combines rhythm and melody to create a sound, perfect for the back porch or for playing in a group.  In this course you’ll learn all of the fundamental techniques of this style enabling you to play standards of the old-time repertoire and beyond. It is designed for beginners with little or no background in music reading or the banjo. The course includes several traditional banjo tunings as well as the basic chords in that tuning. You’ll learn the basic "frailing" strum and techniques to improve the sound of your playing - Slides, Hammers and Pull-offs while playing many fun traditional instrumentals. The lessons will also include some basic musical concepts including learning to make use of tablature, chord diagrams and other fundamental musical tools.

 No Music Reading Is needed to take this course.

Beginning Mountain Dulcimer

 The mountain dulcimer (also called the Appalachian or lap dulcimer) is a unique and versatile instrument. Used since pioneer times to play a body of traditional music including dance tunes, ballads and hymns this instrument remained in relative obscurity until Kentucky folk musician Jean Ritchie introduced it to the urban folk scene in the 1940's where it captured a whole new audience. In this fun course you’ll be introduced to a number of playing styles, from traditional noter playing to more contemporary chord style playing. You Will Learn several different traditional tunings, the “basic strum” and variations, how to read Dulcimer Tablature,Basic left hand fingering positions and many more advanced left hand techniques such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides. You’ll learn many of the traditional songs that have been played on the mountain dulcimer for generations: Ground Hog; Old Joe Clarke and many more.

Policies and pricing:

All lessons are 30 minutes in length and cost $15.00 per half hour. Lessons are booked on a 4 lesson basis and are paid for in advance ($60.00). This guarantees the selected time slot is reserved and ensures that the instructor is fairly compensated for his time.  Payments must be made on or before the last paid lesson to guarantee the next 4 lessons. CANCELLATIONS Students are allowed one cancellation (Called in before noon of the lesson) per three (3) month period.

Getting Started:

To schedule a lesson you may contact Fritz by phone during store hours or better yet stop in the store and speak to him in person.