LFM Sky - Our online space for making music
LFM Winter Sky, February 3 - 5, 2023
LFM Sky brings together adult amateur musicians and an exceptional faculty of professional musicians with a diverse range of talents. A shared music experience is created through a collection of online instructional workshops, most having limited enrolment to allow each participant individual attention from the coach. Read more about Sky in Ludwig van Toronto.
Unlike LFM Camp in Lakefield, LFM Sky exists only on the internet with coaches and participants in their own homes. The internet offers some challenges to making live music, mostly because we do not see and hear each other in real time. Consequently, LFM Sky will not include musical ensembles and choirs. Fortunately, Zoom software allows us to meet in a virtual conference with large and small groups. We can see everyone in the group, but only one person can speak at a time.
“Summer Sky was wonderful! You and your team pulled off an organizational miracle, both musically with so many different threads, and technologically with the Zoom gatherings. At Lake Field, even remotely, we can be with others who are having fun with music, whether dabbling in a sideline, studying for a retirement hobby, or making their living by doing what they love. Music opens minds. Thanks so much.” Participant, 2021 LFM Sky
Technical requirements:
Zoom software (it is free!) must be installed on a modern computer device with a camera, microphone, speakers, and internet upload/download bandwidths of at least 1.5Mbps. Your bandwidth can be measured at M-Lab, Bell or Rogers. If you already have Zoom installed, please update to the latest version.
Registration fee is $120 + 13% HST (Canadian dollars) per participant for a weekend of LFM Sky.
Registration (click here) starts January 7 at 7:00pm (All times EST, Toronto).
Workshops currently listed have been confirmed for 2023.
Friday 8:00pm – Introductions and first workshop meeting.
Saturday & Sunday
10:00 – 11:30am Workshop session
10 min Break
20 min Morning Stretch (open to all)
12:00 – 12:45 pm Lunch
12:45 – 1:45 pm Musical Inspirations (presentations, open to all)
15 min Break
2:00 – 3:30 Workshop session
Saturday 8:00 pm Open Mic concert
Sunday 3:30 pm Sky closing
Each participant may register for one of the following workshops (4 x 90 mins sessions) meeting on Saturday and Sunday.
Finding Your Classical Voice - Kevin Mulligan
Finding Your Jazz Voice - Ariel Shetzen
The Music of Working - Gillian Stecyk
A Folk Music Tour for Violin and Viola Players - Saskia Tomkins
Vivaldi's Sonatas for Cello - Sybil Shanahan
Masterclass for Woodwinds and Brass - Patrick Headley
Learning Guitar Through Music of the 60’s and 70’s - Mike Graham
Drum Set Technique & Snare Drum Studies - Larry Graves
Jamming Basics: Developing a Solo - Tien Yeung
Morning Stretch is also included in your registration and all participants are invited to attend.
Read more about the coaches by clicking on their names but please note the classes listed on their pages are not offered in LFM Sky, they relate to a prior LFM Camp.
Finding Your Classical Voice - Kevin Mulligan
Work toward better understanding your voice through practical exercises and performance tips! Participants should prepare in advance two songs of their choice (either classical art song, aria, musical theatre, or a choral part) to perform in class. One additional song with accompaniment will be provided for all participants to learn and work on.
Participants will take turns singing and receiving constructive feedback on performance, technique, musicianship, and interpretation. You will also learn by observing the performances and instruction provided to the other participants in the session.
It is preferable, but not mandatory, that songs be memorized. Due to online limitations, we are unable to provide live accompaniment during the session. If not singing acapella, it will be necessary to play your recorded accompaniment from a device other than the computer/mobile used for the Zoom session.
Is this workshop for you?
For intermediate/advanced singers with prior vocal instruction and some experience singing with an accompanist.
Finding Your Jazz Voice - Ariel Shetzen
Vocal phrasing relates to how the words are sung in the time or rhythm of a song and is one way of personalizing the song. This workshop will offer singers the opportunity to practice their phrasing and experiment with different stylistic (e.g., ballad, swing, bossa) approaches.
All participants can work on two standards, one will be the same for everyone and a second chosen from a selected list. Emphasis will be placed on discovering your unique voice and gaining confidence to use it in new ways.
Participants will take turns performing and receive constructive feedback about their own performance, technique, musicianship, and interpretation. You will also learn from the performances and instruction provided to the other participants in the session.
Due to online limitations, we are unable to provide live accompaniment during the session, but charts and piano accompaniments will be prepared for you in advance. It is preferable, but not mandatory, that songs be memorized. It will be necessary to play the recorded accompaniment from a device other than the computer/mobile used for the Zoom session.
Is this workshop for you?
For intermediate/advanced singers with prior vocal instruction and some experience singing with an accompanist.
The Music of Working - Gillian Stecyk
Music has served to energize, protect and coordinate working men and women across cultures. We will examine a variety of working songs including African American hollers and arwhoolies of the 19th century, Celtic waulking songs from Scotland and Cape Breton, Balkan field songs and more. We will discuss how music has been used culturally to support and uplift working men and women, and how we still use music today to support our working lives.
Session 1: The complicated need for music in the time of African American enslavement.
Enslaved people understood the need to communicate essential information to one another for their safety. Music was a key tool to communicate potential danger, to keep community members working at a pace that would ensure their safety, and to energize the community in positivity to face the long, arduous days of work demanded by white men and women. We will learn about some of the coding for these practices, found both in lyrics and in the construction of the music itself, and will begin to look at how these work songs formed the basis for spirituals and the blues.
Session 2: Wool, Women and Work Songs
Scottish women working with “the tweed” needed to spend significant time to beat long bolts of wool fabric to make it more pliable and comfortable to wear. Waulking required coordinated and rhythmic beating of the wool - a perfect activity to support the creation of music. We will listen to a variety of Gaelic waulking songs, listening for the beats and melodies, and the structures of the music that supported this work. We will examine the lyrics to better understand the stories and sensibilities of the women who did this work. We will learn a waulking song of The Hebrides in English.
Session 3: Balkan Field Songs
Women working in the fields of Eastern Europe famously attuned their voices to one another to create a distinctive sound that would carry across great distances, in order to unite groups of women in their work. We will listen to examples of field songs from Bulgaria and beyond, and will explore how our voices can be manipulated to create the kinds of sounds made in this powerful music.
Session 4: Mining, Rocks and Rhythms
From the songs of men working to remove rock for the railroad, to ballads about process men, to rhythmic South African gumboot dance codes, the work of moving and removing rock and metal has been fertile ground for music-making. Learn about how miners from various cultures have used songs to express their experiences working in the mines.
Is this workshop for you?
This workshop will include both lecture, discussion, and performance components.
Suitable for all levels of singing ability.
A Folk Music Tour for Violin and Viola Players - Saskia Tomkins
This workshop will explore music from Celtic, Balfolk and Arabic traditions. Participants will get an introduction to history and style of these genres and will have an opportunity to develop their playing technique.
Music and recordings from each genre will be provided to participants at least a week in advance. In the workshop, participants will learn through a combination of instructor-led exercises, demonstrations and playing individually for constructive feedback.
Is this workshop for you?
For intermediate to advanced violin and viola players.
Participants will not be expected to play fast but need to play 1/8th notes at about 90 bpm or more.
Participants must be able to read music OR play well by ear.
Vivaldi's Sonatas for Cello - Sybil Shanahan
The cello sonata became popular in the early 1700s. Vivaldi’s works include fast and slow movements typical of late Baroque sonatas. This repertoire is designed to be performed with basso continuo accompaniment, so playable with another cello, piano, or both!
This workshop will focus on Vivaldi's E minor cello sonata, No. 5. Participants will be assigned, and sent in advance, a segment of suitable difficulty to work on for "live" performance, and we will work through all four movements of this Baroque gem during our sessions.
Participants will take turns playing and receive constructive feedback. You will also learn from the playing and instruction provided to the other participants in the session. You will leave this workshop having at least one new solo cello piece to play, and more to work on!
Is this workshop for you?
The repertoire is varied, but most suited to an intermediate player, with some selections being geared towards a more advanced player. Familiarity with reading in the tenor clef is an asset.
Masterclass for Woodwinds and Brass - Patrick Headley
Participants must prepare in advance two pieces (or excerpts) of music and will take turns performing in the workshop. You will receive constructive feedback about your own performance, technique, musicianship, and interpretation. You will also learn from the performances and instruction provided to the other participants in the workshop. In addition, we will devote time to breathing techniques for instrumentalists, which would also be beneficial for singing.
Due to online limitations, we are unable to provide live accompaniment during the session but let us know in advance if one is required and we will try to accommodate.
Is this workshop for you?
For intermediate/advanced players of flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, trombone, and tuba.
Learning Guitar through music of the 60’s and 70’s - Mike Graham
This workshop will consist of guitar lessons using songs to learn about strumming, fingerpicking, soloing and song structure. Music will include classic songs from the likes of Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bruce Cockburn, Bob Dylan and the Guess Who.
Music will be provided at least one week in advance so participants can review and note sections of interest or difficulty. Each participant will have the chance to interact and demonstrate their technique in every session. Participants will gain a deeper knowledge of the guitar and learn to perform songs. This format allows each participant to approach the music at their own level and learn from instruction provided to others in the workshop.
Is this workshop for you?
Participants must be able to tune their guitar and have a basic working knowledge of guitar chords.
Each lesson will have different levels to accommodate varying participant abilities, for example, beginners may learn an A minor chord in basic open position while an intermediate player could learn inversions of the chord.
Drum Set Technique & Snare Drum Studies - Larry Graves
This series of workshops will be divided into two parts:
1. Drum set technique: Explorations into a series of common drum-set related topics, with the goal of developing skills suitable for a variety of performance environments on the instrument. Topics include but are not limited to hand/foot techniques, rudimental applications to the drum set, time-keeping/rhythm development, independence work, common styles (e.g. swing, rock, funk, 'world-rhythms', mixed-metres), phrasing ideas for fills/soloing, and applied reading/notation.
2. Snare drum studies: Investigating a variety of compositions, etudes and solos designed for snare drum performance. We will discuss applied rudiments, ornamentations, sticking patterns, various techniques and notation/reading.
Downloadable reading materials and online video links will be provided as needed for personal use and reference. Participants will learn through a combination of instructor-led exercises, demonstrations and playing individually for constructive feedback.
Is this workshop for you?
For players of intermediate to advanced level (not suitable for beginner/novice level). Participants must have a working knowledge of basic stick technique and basic timekeeping (swing and 'straight' timing).
Participants must have a drum set (acoustic or electric) and sticks (good to also have brushes). If necessary, a practice pad and sticks can be used during the classes, but a drum set is required for the assignments.
Jamming Basics: Developing a Solo - Tien Yeung
You're able to grab your instrument and jam with a group without sheet music, but how do you 'take a solo'? This workshop explores concepts and ideas on how to construct a solo over popular chord progressions. Through thoughtful analysis, demonstration, and discussion, we will study, practice, and develop material to use for soloing purposes in improvised music. You will learn how to navigate chord changes and problem solve your way through tricky situations. You will be shown a variety of tools that improvisers use when expressing themselves on the spot.
Is this workshop for you?
For musicians of any instrument. Participants should have a good understanding of chords (major, minor, 7th chords) and scales (major and minor) and a healthy attitude towards risk-taking!
Morning Stretch - Alice Bond
Our Morning Stretch class is a great way to get your body moving between classes. This twenty-minute class is inspired by yoga and dance to give a gentle full-body stretch leaving you relaxed and refreshed each day! The class will be tailored to the abilities of the participants and will incorporate stretches that are beneficial to musicians. No previous experience is required. A yoga mat or folded blanket is suggested for parts of the class that are on the floor, and some adaptations can be made for sitting on a chair.