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Fishken & Groves Teach!



Performance Skills Workshop

Whether you are considering “playing out” for the first time, or you are a “seasoned” open mic performer, or a regularly performing musician, developing, maintaining and refreshing your performance skills is both a necessity and a source of personal inspiration.  Our approach is simple.  Our job is to help you express your motivations for performing while entertaining your audience.

We conduct performance skills classes, and offer private, individual coaching.
 
We address the needs of all levels of performers, those just starting out, those wishing to move up, and those who need a career refresher.  Your goals are always the starting point.  The process begins by monitoring what you are doing onstage and assessing its effectiveness. This is the time for honesty and supportive recommendations.  You’ll perform repeatedly in order to experience the progress.  We’ll focus on the basics, such as dealing with microphones, the sound check and your appearance.  We'll cover critical issues such as communication with the audience, stage fright, and even facial expressions!  You can achieve a year of progress in a matter of six weeks!

For those who want to fine-tune their developing act and for those taking the next step up to feature-level performance and beyond, he next level of work is about the development of your act; your repertoire, the subtleties of your stage presence, the requirements for moving from good, occasional player to solid performer in every move you make, from the moment you walk into the venue!  It's about making the audience comfortable, putting on an actual show, being a “pro,“ and a mature player.  We’ll touch on topics such as how to get the gig, press kits, CD production, marketing, and how to get paid. 

Performance skills classes are presented at The Sit'n Bull Pub  (www.sitnbull.com), where we utilize the stage and house PA system and digital video recording.  Alternatively, private classes are available for groups or individuals.  Let us know how we can best meet your schedule needs.

Here are some comments from our students.

I found this class to be informative, helpful, supporting, encouraging, and one I would highly recommend to anyone interested in getting onto stage. You certainly saved me a lot of time in trying to literally get my act together.   Al D.

Insightful, honest and professional advice in a relaxed and supportive environment. In just 4 weeks a friend commented on my improvement. They helped me deal with issues such as stage fright and overall presentation and they can do the same for you.   Bob Morse

The first time I saw and heard Fishken and Groves perform, the thing that impressed me most was their stage presence. I've been performing for many, many years, both solo and with groups (rock, folk, contemporary, comedy) and never felt as home on stage as they appeared. When the chance came to take their Performance Class, I signed up immediately...and I knew after the first class that I'd made the correct decision. Every person in the class is made to feel that the class is aimed at each of them specifically. Unlike some who teach, Fishken and Groves are not out to make carbon copies of themselves. Their goal, I believe, is to show each performer how to fine tune, to polish, to make the strengths stronger and eliminate the weaknesses. I have seen it work with every person in the class.  Success is different for every person..they can't make you better than you can be, but they can help you make yourself the best you can be.   Jon Swenson

The performance class set me on the fast track. David and Buffie certainly know how to shape you into becoming the entertainer you always wanted to be! It's well worth the time and investment (small in comparison to the growth that occurs). I highly recommend it.   Marylou Ferrante

The Fishken and Groves performance course is outstanding.  In a very short time I've improved my own performance skills significantly. As highly accomplished professional performers, David and Buffy are eminently well qualified to present this course. Moreover, they're both superb teachers: perceptive, specific, and candid in their comments, but always supportive, sensitive, and encouraging towards the course participants. David and Buffie's comments and suggestions, both to me and to the other participants, have been consistently valuable and illuminating. If you want to become a better performer, take this course.  Rating: Five Stars.   Bill Kehoe Concord, Massachusetts

 

It was a great class. How? Well, there were:

Fun folks in the class, many of whom were as scared as I was, but all of whom were serious about improving their acts.

Excellent suggestions for improvement, which seemed "obvious" after I got them, but somehow in six years of open mikes never occurred to me, and what a difference they made!

A chance to see my performance at beginning and at the end of the classes. What a difference!

My classmates provided a friendly, but informative audience. It was easy to tell from the response when something worked and when it didn't.

A lot of individual focus from Fishken & Groves - they were working with folks at various levels of expertise and varying levels of nervousness, and juggled all of us really well. In fact I plan to take the class again to refine my act and work with some of my more challenging songs.   Grace Ackerman

This class was one of the best investments I have made in my music career.  It was especially helpful to me as I had been playing in the band format for so long and needed to learn how to better perform as a solo act.  I walked away with about 10 important insights about my performances which I still use today to tweak my shows for the better.  By taking this class your performances will probably improve a years worth in six weeks!
 
Rich Schroder
Singer Songwriter
www.richschroder.com
Whether you're a novice contemplating live performance or a cagy veteranhoping to improve your act, consider treating yourself to a Fishken & Groves performance workshop. In a professional yet relaxed environment you will be the beneficiary of on the spot evaluation and feedback bytwo gifted and experienced performers (Buffie and David). In the companyof other talented students like yourself you will be entertained as well as enlightened. Try one soon, you and your future audiences will be glad you did!    Rick Demers (Dark & Stormy)

 
Buffie and David's class is worth every minute and every penny. Most importantly, the two of them begin by establishing a safe environment forfolks who are either nervously contemplating entering the risky world of public performance or trying to figure out how to get more successfully involved. Within this safe space class students are encouraged, critiqued,and challenged to broaden and improve the specific talents each of them
brings with them.  Both instructors offer plenty of specific advice every week, so everyone goes home with compliments on things well done, specific suggestions on how to do other things better, and useful suggestions of new musical places to explore.  Week after week you return to perform in a public atmosphere and every week you get to see, hear, and feel your concrete, steady improvement.  Six weeks of getting better because of directed focus, specific analysis, and great support from both instructors and classmates.  And it's fun!  If you want to get better fast, take this course.  John MacLean
 

Professional Coaching

The best singers in the world have coaches, as do the best athletes.  Full-time professional performers develop bad habits, like everyone else.  But who is going to tell them?  Full-time pros can lose the edge once in a while, or fall into a pattern of malaise.  The evidence is all around us; careers that bloom and blossom continuously versus those that stumble and falter.  Our coaching is based on attending gigs and assessing your performance and the audience response.  As in our courses, the issue is not criticism, it is feedback about what you are doing and whether or not those behaviors help you to accomplish your performance goals.  Is it possible your act needs some work?


Harmony Singing

Singing harmony is one of the most pleasant experiences you can have.  If you can sing a melody, you can sing harmony.  (Trust us.  If Fishken can sing harmony, you can!)  Ms. Buffie (Groves) is the finest of harmony singers in these parts.  She will show you the rules and the exercises that will quickly get you singing harmony.  You'll learn two- and three-part harmony and gain a basic understanding of the rules of harmony.  You'll acquire a skill for life!

This is a very popular course.  It is best for groups of 6-12 singers.  If you have a group of folks who wish to learn to sing harmony, we'll create a schedule just for you.