The FFOTM Young Jammers, A Brief History

The Young Jammers was originally conceived and developed by FFOTM member Christina Boyd in 2004 and co-directed with her husband, Lloyd Holdeman. The Young Jammers program has fostered and inspired many young musicians by giving the gift of learning music in a nurturing environment, and continues to do so for generations to come with the help of many devoted volunteers.

Currently the program is run by Co-Directors Paisley Boone & Rebekah Davenport. For more information, contact youngjammers@ffotm.org.

Classes

Classes are on a weekly basis every Thursday night from 5–6 pm at Pine Forest School. There is instruction and an opportunity to play music with other students. Classes are for one hour and parents are required to provide transportation and to remain on site while the Jammers participate.

Eligibility

Young folks from ages 9 to 15 (or close) start by learning to strum I, IV, and V chords on a ukulele in the keys of G, C, D, and A. We provide the ukuleles, show the Jammer how to make the chords, and when they can make the chord changes smoothly – they earn an “admissions pass.”

With this pass, the Jammer can then pick an instrument of choice from the Young Jammer stock – a guitar, a fiddle, a mandolin, or a banjo. Beginning and intermediate lessons on these instruments will be given on a weekly basis by volunteer FFOTM instructors. The last session of each month we will play tunes and sing songs from the bountiful heritage of Traditional music.

Instructors needed!

Would you like to give back to some eager to learn young people by teaching at our Young Jammer weekly sessions? We have an easy system for teaching that you can plug into and start sharing precious musical knowledge with our Young Jammer members. We are seeking willing, volunteer instructors to teach guitar, bass, fiddle, banjo and mandolin.