News
JUST OVER THREE WEEKS TO GO!
18th Mar 2025
SORE FINGERS MARCH 2025 NEWS UPDATE
Sore Fingers Week 2025 – 14th to 18th April, 2025
Arrive Sunday 13thpm - Depart Saturday 19tham
Please note this is the week RUNNING UP to Easter Sunday!
Don’t get caught out!
Kingham Hill School – Chipping Norton – Oxfordshire – OX7 6TH
Date: March 18th, 2025
HEADLINES:
NEW THINGS
SLOW JAM REVAMP
SCRATCHBAND REGISTRATION
JUST OVER THREE WEEKS TO GO!
Here at ”HogWirtz Headquarters the daffodils and primroses are setting our garden aglow with shimmering radiant yellow blooms telling us: Sore Fingers Week is just around the corner.
The Teams are beavering away frantically exchanging emails about all sorts of details to make sure we’re ready for you on April 13th, the day you descend on Kingham Hill School for the 28th Sore Fingers Week.
We believe we’ve got another stellar line up of Tutors from the US and the UK. Bookings – although still not as buoyant as pre-covid - have rallied a little. There are still plenty of places on selected courses. One can book right up until the last minute, but we’d appreciate if you could send us your bookings ASAP as soon as you know you intend to come because we really need to try and get our “ducks in a row” before it all starts.
NEW THINGS
For the first time in several years, we have tweaked the timetable to squeeze a little more teaching in and make some other improvements.
On arrivals day Sunday 13th April 3pm onwards ‘til 7pm(ish), there will be a general event induction principally for those who are attending for the first time. But it’s open to anyone and probably worth attending. You will be invited when you register, so please pick up a flyer about it at the reception desk.
Dan Watson will be telling you what to expect during your time at Sore Fingers Week and leading everyone around the school landmarks. It’s highly recommended.
At one time, Sore Fingers was well known for its silly side and perhaps the quest to be slick all the time has made us somewhat more serious. Well, that’s going to change! Recent Social Media recruit, Philippa Ogden (what a great job she is doing by the way) has devised the very first Sore Fingers Week Easter Egg Hunt! Well, more of a Treasure hunt and that means prizes are to be found.
All will be revealed but you might find sets of strings, fluffy toys, guitar picks, CD’s, and other valuable loot. We may even have a swap shop at the end for the lucky winners to trade prizes between each other.
SLOW JAM REVAMP
Over the last twelve months, we had a good look at the Slow Jam and following conversations with participants, we have realised there is a need for something more productive that helps people who are mystified by the whole session scene to acquire the skills to join a session with less trepidation.
Between 6 and 7pm every night, there will be an elective called “How to Play by ear”. If you are not trained in this skill, you will always find open sessions difficult. Believe me! it’s harder to join a session than it is to join a formal band.
The aim is to hold these sessions in a classroom and show you through a few minutes of theory followed by a moderately paced session to put the lessons into practice. You will be able to ask lots of questions and develop the necessary skills under the Teams’ supervision.
These sessions will be fun with you playing lots as well as developing your listening skills.
By the end of the week, you should know how to join a session without the need for chord charts and stand independently on your own two feet.
Whilst on this subject, we encourage all beginners to join the Non-performing scratch band stream where these skills will also become apparent. Small groups more akin to real band line ups will be mentored by members of the Scratchband Team to support you.
See below for scratchband sign up.
SCRATCHBAND REGISTRATION
Our super team of Scratchband Tutors are waiting to put you through the paces of prepping a couple of songs to entertain our appreciative audience in the school theatre on Thursday Night.
PLEASE NOTE: advance registration is advisable as it fills up REALLY FAST - instructions are below.
Advance registration closes one week ahead - at midnight on Sunday 6th April 2025.
After this, you will need to sign up on arrival after you register at main reception, but your application will be subject to space being available. No applications will be accepted after Sunday 13th April 2025.
Use this link:
https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/Scratchbands/sbregform.php
Login: is as follows:
User: musician
Password: sbands2025
FINAL TUTOR LINE UP REMINDER:
Here’s a reminder of the classes for Easter 2025:
AUTOHARP – HEATHER FARRELL-ROBERTS/LYN JONES
BANJO – JEFF SCROGGINS
BANJO – LEON HUNT
BASS - ELEANOR WILKIE
DOBRO – SALLY VAN METER
BLUEGRASS FIDDLE – TRENT FREEMAN
GUITAR – JAKE WORKMAN
GUITAR – JOHN MOORE
MANDOLIN 1 – MATT FLINNER
MANDOLIN 2 – ANDREW COLLINS
MUSIC DEVELOPMENT – ANDY MACKENZIE/MIKE PRYOR
OLD TIME BANJO – MITCH DEPEW
OLD TIME FIDDLE – JOE DECOSIMO
OLD TIME FIDDLE – SAMMY LIND
SINGING – CHRIS SANDERS
UKULELE – PERCY COPLEY
BEGINNERS (ALL INSTRUMENTS) – ED HICKS/PETER EARLE
Check out the course page and read the tutor bios. We can look forward to another series of wonderful evening showcases, and I’m certain well see some musical fireworks again.
As well as the daily teaching and the evening showcases, Sore Fingers Week is one of the best experiences of the year. The event has become firmly established in the line-up of great Bluegrass and Old-Time camps.
USEFUL WEBSITE LINKS
Here are some useful information links to the website. You might like to read the following pages for insight:
For a Booking form use this link: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/booking.php?id=26
The “Experience” page describes both the classroom experience and all the extra-curricular activities. It also includes a comprehensive section about the Scratch Band Activities: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/experience.php
The “What Course Should I Go On” if you are a little confused as to which class would best suit your musical needs: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/whatcourse.php
Check the “FAQ’s” page for answers to general and practical questions such as “What should I bring?”, etc: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/faq.php
Follow this link to get a daily schedule of activities: https://www.sorefingers.co.uk/docs/Master%20Daily%20Programme%20Easter.pdf
We and the support team look forward to seeing you at Kingham Next Month.
John, Moira and the Team