Workshop Offerings, Andrew McKnight & Beyond Borders
"From Seeds to Songs"
For adults or Grades 1-12: classroom program, workshop or residency (30 minutes to 2 hours)
Consisting of demonstration and interactive exercises, “From Seeds to Songs” helps participants develop a lyrical or musical idea into a finished musical structure. Inherent in the workshop is a demonstration of cooperative learning.
Most of Andrew McKnight & Beyond Borders’s songs draw on history and geography as well as human relationships with the natural world and thus can also integrate well with school curricula if desired. Each of the four members are talented songwriters with different styles and backgrounds, and participating in an interactive group writing session with them is both stimulating and exciting. The band provides a highly nurturing environment for collaborative creativity. Writing exercises and tips help distill hooks and sharpen details.
Resources required include a white board or easel, and paper and writing utensils for the participants.
"Four Legs of the Musical Chair" Arranging Workshop
For musical ensembles age 12 and up: classroom program, workshop or residency
Consisting of demonstration and interactive exercises, “Four Legs of the Musical Chair” demonstrates Andrew McKnight & Beyond Border's approach to arranging their music from the ground up – melodies, harmonies, rhythms and more. The quartet's musical instincts are widely varied, and their judicious use of their vocal and instrumental talents to fit within the desired soundscape for the individual song is a tasteful hallmark of their style.
Using both sounds and space, the foursome create arrangements where every part is integral. They utilize dynamics, redundancies, and the palette of tones from their instruments to weave simple and complex musical tapestries. In this workshop they share their eclectic approach to arranging a traditional folk song (“Worried Man Blues”) as well as their world music-influenced “Beyond Borders”.
Workshops are suitable for intermediate and advanced musicians and ensembles.