Here is a complete history of Pickers Circles in 2021.
29 Dec — Open Circle
22 Dec — Songs for Christmas
Here is one reason we don’t get too many folks doing Christmas songs. Thanks Nigel.
8 Dec — Canadian Song Writers
The politics start with the Ballad of Edward Snowden at . https://youtu.be/oprNgEwlNxU?t=4071
24 Nov — Train Songs
11 Nov — Songs of Remembrance — Hosted by Graham Baldwin
27 Oct — “The long journey.“
13 Oct — I learned this at… Each picker tells a short story about how he came to learn this tune.
29 Sep Open Circle. Sing what you like, make a request, ask questions. Join the conversation about what is important to your musical progress.
22 Sep Tricks of the Trade . . some ideas from John Lyon. “Each of us has learned a trick or two that makes our playing sound better and more interesting. What were some of the most important breakthroughs we have learned that have taken our playing up to the next level?”, says John./
More Tricks from my presentation are use a metronome, a tuner and make a plan.
Gary Poole talked about creating a bridge for a song with a change to the relative minor. We are all interested in how to use scales to accompany a song. Alan mentioned that he has learned to start a major scale anywhere on the B string. This is useful because melody notes are most often found on the higher strings. This is something I need to practice as I have been using the four lower strings because the shape changes on the B string.
Alan also mentioned that the root of the relative minor can be found three frets lower for any major key. This is because one fret down finds you the 7th and two more frets the 6th. The Aeolian, minor, mode is the 6th mode of the major scale.
I could have said that the next higher or lower octave can always be played just starting where we left off going up or down. Maybe next time.
8 Sep That reminds me . . . a suggestion from Graham Baldwin. We start with a song. Each picker relates his choice to what has come before via a similar genre, a similar technique or just a story. This was a good exercise in creative thinking as well as fun to watch.
25 Aug Open Circle – Anything goes
11 Aug – Jazz it up
I’ll just say that jazz beginners are often pretty good blues players and we have a few of those at the circle but nobody needs to stay on this list. As usual, play what you like, just show up to play. Listeners and beginners welcome.
28 July – Train Songs . Sing or play one. Invite your friends and family. We answer questions and consider requests. If you are listening and have a question or a request – put it in the chat.
14 July Open Circle – Bring any music that you like. Bring your friends and family. We answer questions and consider requests. If you are listening and have a question or a request – put it in the chat. Video at
30 June Back to Basics – Simple songs for beginners with three chords. YouTube highlights at
23 June Live Long and Prosper – Sing the Old songs. Stretch your physical and mental capacity. Stay alive. Complete Youtube Video at
9 Jun – Lets Talk Tab. What are your favorite Tabs? How do you read them? Highlights Part 1 at https://youtu.be/ZW4UDxo92RE and Part II at https://youtu.be/2EHms97ydaQ
26 May – Bob Dylan’s Birthday . Play what you please or play Dylan. Over 500 songs to choose from. Session highlights here.
May 12 7:00 pm — Get on the Bus — We need volunteers to try Sonobus. This is a very well documented, easy to use program that will allow us to play in sync the way John and friends did at the last circle. New long format and Highlights.
Apr 28 Another approach to Online Jamming. Apr 28. An update from John Lyon. Video highlights are on You-Tube as usual.
Apr. 14 7:00 pm Double Tracks Can we play along with the material we recorded last circle? Can you create new material to play with?
Mar. 31 7:00 pm Blues Again . The page starts with a link to 8 bar blues. How many examples can we play in an evening? Highlights are here. A rare BANJO was sighted in the circle.
Mar 10 7 pm — Jazz it up. We can talk about ways to improve our simple 1 – 4 – 5 progressions and we can play any Jazz standards we may know. Highlights.
Feb 24 4pm Writing a Song What do you need to know to write your first song? Tell us how you found the way. Highlights at https://youtu.be/eFW-4KZatGw
Feb 10 — Back to the Blues — sing or play anything blue – or just about anything. Video Highlights.
Jan 13 — The Cat Came Back — another song and a circle. Session highlights https://youtu.be/LIgTrZUdWdg
Pickers Circle 