Teachers-Old

We are in the process of updating this page. Would you like to be listed? If so, please fill out the teacher listing form.

INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTION

This is a list of instructors who have no connection to this website. For information, please contact them rather than this website.

The concentration here is old-time music. The listed musicians are active in Portland’s traditional music circles. They are the style setters.

See the bottom of the page for cajun, honky-tonk, bluegrass and blues.

FIDDLE

BANJO

  • John Adams – Clawhammer banjo, email (mostly Salem and mid-valley area)
  • Curt Alsobrook  – 503-206-1097 – email – Beginning to advanced clawhammer banjo, tablature and learning by ear, heavy focus on timing and drive
  • Daryl Juckett – 503-636-1741 – email – Frailing, Seeger-style, bluegrass
  • Jane Keefer – Clawhammer banjo & old-time stringband workshops email
  • Maggie Lind – 503-331-1911 email – Clawhammer banjo – specializes in teaching children
  • Gabrielle Macrae (The Horsenecks/The Macrae Sisters) – 503-407-0073 email
  • Alan Ransenberg – Clawhammer banjo email
  • Lauren Sheehan –  503-227-4259 email – Banjo, country blues
  • Martha Stone – email – Clawhammer banjo

PIANO

GUITAR

UKULELE

MANDOLIN

  • Zak Borden – 206-930-7425 wide range of styles bluegrass to Brazillian chorro email
  • Lauren Sheehan –  503-227-4259 – email – Jug band / country blues mandolin

GROUP CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

The details below are often out of date, but the classes and the teachers are ongoing. Use the links to get up to date info.

NEIGHBORLY MUSIC STRING BAND CLASS

The Neighborly Music String Band Class is a real anchor (in a positive way!) of the old time music instruction scene in Portland. For fiddle, banjo, and guitar players who have basic proficiency on their instruments and are ready to begin meeting and playing old time music with others, this class offers the perfect opportunity. Classes meet on Tuesday evenings in 8 week sessions 3 times a year (fall, winter, and spring) at the Pacific Crest Community School in NE Portland. The Fall 2016 session runs September 13 – November 15. Check their web site for details.

ARTICHOKE SCHOOL OF MUSIC

The Artichoke School of Music offers individual instruction, monthly workshops, and group classes for a wide variety of acoustic instruments and music styles.  Classes are offered for all ages and abilities.  Artichoke Music is located at 3130 SE Hawthorne Blvd in Portland.

TABORGRASS

A weekly group lesson and jam session for beginning and intermediate Bluegrass players in Portland, Oregon.

    • Every Saturday September – May.  Fall 2016 resumes in September.
    • For all instruments.
    • No registration required, drop-ins welcome, cost is $10 per session.
    • Beginning class is from 10am-1pm
    • Intermediate class is from 1pm-4pm
    • St. David of Wales Episcopal Church, 2800 SE Harrison, Portland OR 97214
    • For more information call Greg Stone at 971-207-3195

Lisa Ornstein ~ PRIVATE LESSONS

Styles: Old-Time, Quebecois, Acadian and Cajun, New England and Contradance
Levels Taught: all
Ages Taught: all
Contact Phone: call Lisa at 503-236-8277 or email

Lisa’s masterful playing has inspired a generation of old-time, contradance, and Quebecois musicians. She began playing music in Ohio as a youngster and was mentored in her teens by fiddling greats such as Tommy Jarrell, Dewey Balfa, and Louis Beaudoin. At 20, she was invited by Mike Seeger to record an old-time album (Ship in the Clouds, on the Smithsonian/Folkways label). Lisa’s passion for French-Canadian music eventually led her to to Quebec, where she spent 12 years and was a member of the super-star trad group, La Bottine Souriante. Lisa has also produced award-winning documentary recordings of elder master musicians, and her own rich and unique repertory of old standards and off-the-beaten track musical treasures reflects a lifetime of being a ‘’tune catcher.”

Lisa is an experienced and inspiring teacher who likes working with fiddlers at every level and every age and from a variety of musical backgrounds. She has a gift for putting students at ease while connecting them with the power and joy of playing. She has a solid understanding of violin technique is very good at helping beginning and intermediate fiddlers get “unstuck” and improve their bowing, fingering, tone production, ornamentation, and ease in playing up to speed.

Lisa generally teaches by ear, but will happily supply sheet music–there are many paths to playing! And because she’s an Oberlin Conservatory graduate, Lisa understands how classical musicians think and learn, and can help classically-trained folks who want to “make the leap” into traditional fiddle or hone their learning-by-ear skills.

BLUEGRASS TEACHERS IN PORTLAND

  • Greg Stone – 971-207-3195 – Bluegrass guitar
  • Jack Dwyer – 503-360-3496  – email –  mandolin, lead and rhythm guitar, fiddle, banjo, plus music theory for the traditional musician.
  • Peter Schwimmer – (503) 282-0344 email – banjo, mandolin, fiddle, guitar, electric bass
  • Matthew Snook – 541.805.5133 email  Scruggs style banjo and bluegrass dobro

ACOUSTIC BLUES TEACHERS IN PORTLAND

  • Steve Cheseborough -757-880-3239 – email – old style acoustic guitar blues and rags
  • Mary Flower -503-232-9998 – email – fingerstyle, blues, ragtime, open tunings, lap slide. Private lessons and via Skype.
  • Michael McCabe -360-693-5402 – email –  acoustic, electric, classic, Spanish, folk, rock, jazz, blues, funk, bossa, Celtic, fingerstyle, bass, music theory, composition, improvisation, performance skills, recording skills.
  • David Mullany -503-757-7522 – email – Acoustic, Electric & Bottleneck Guitar Styles Blues & Slide Guitar.
  • Terry Robb – 503-234-7807 – email – NW School of Acoustic Guitar, 811 SE Main St.
  • Lauren Sheehan – 503-227-4259 – email  Finger and flat picking guitar,  Jug band/country blues mandolin, Banjo, Vocals.  Performance and general musical coaching.  Mostly roots based and includes backup, solo, and ensemble skills.
  • Anne Weiss –  503-232-1720 – email – blues guitar, voice.