Southcoast Lessons

71 8th Street
New Bedford, Massachusetts 02740

Our Booking PolicyWelcome to Southcoast Lessons . Payment is due at the time of booking or if paying by an alternative method , at the first class of the session. Classes are $75 per month, per class which will calculate in your cart. Thank you!

Private Lesson

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Group Lesson

Banding Together - Tuesday 5pm

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
Tuesday September 30th to Tuesday May 26th
Ending Saturday May 30th
$75 per month . Invoice sent through Square

Learn to play not one, but several different instruments! And that would be cool enough, but there’s so much more. This is the bridge program between my Play Party class and the Growing Tradition class, and as such it has all of the same super fun elements of both. Traditional dancing, singing, hambone body percussion, songwriting… we do them all! And this session we’re adding in a brand new visual art element too. All students will be making moving panoramas that play like an old fashioned movie tell the story of a tune they love.

Clawhammer Banjo - Wednesdays 6:30 pm

1 hr··Free

** this class will take place at 10 Martin ave Mattapoisett **
$75 per month October 1 to May 27th

Here’s a class for those who’ve already begun clawhammering, and want to explore possibilities. This class will encourage students to look at common tunes as an opportunity to explore variations and nuance while also adding a few less common pieces as well. We’ll be dropping thumbs, plucking, missing brushes, batting chords, and just generally having all the fun a body can have on four strings plus a drone. Available in person or digital.

Rising Fiddle- Saturdays 9:30 AM

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
Saturdays 9:30AM
Beginning Saturday October 4th
Ending Saturday May 30th
$75 per month . Invoice sent through Square

This is an exciting fiddle class for those who would like to delve into the nuance and detail of playing Old Time fiddle tunes with nuance and authenticity. We dig into right hand bow techniques, left hand variations, more obscure tunings, pulsing, creative droning, and other sophisticated elements of the style. Players enrolling in this class do not need to have significant experience playing Old Time music, but should already have the basic elements of technique, a knowledge of the notes in first position, and some level of comfort with eat learning. (And if your ear is already pretty developed, you might not even need that note knowledge so much)! All lessons are supplemented with complementary video and written materials.

Youth String Band- Sundays 10AM

1 hr··Free

** Please note this class will remain at 10 Martin Avenue , Mattapoisett**
2025-2026 Season
Beginning Sunday September 28th to Sunday May 31st
$75 per month. Invoice sent through Square

(Audition or invite only). Not for strings only, youth string band is an ensemble that plays traditional dance tunes and folk songs. And, we do some composing in the style as well. Open to a wide variety of acoustic and folk instruments. All tunes and techniques are taught in class by ear and supplemented with written, audio, and video materials by dropbox. Digital attendance is available for this class.

Growing Tradition- Tuesday

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
Tuesday September 30th to Tuesday May 26th
$75 per month. Invoice sent through Square

One of Southcoast Lessons flagship programs returns! Growing tradition is a super fun class that incorporates a complete system of music learning. All students will learn first and foremost to play fiddle ( violin) . They'll also learn to recognize the contour of melodies, how to play by ear, the connection between instrumental play and singing, how to create beats with traditional hambone body percussion and dance traditional squares , play parties and contras. This class teaches real living traditional music still played in our area today that have open playing possibilities for all ages as well as deep sociological and historical significance to our culture. Also its crazy fun! Did I mention that? This class is 100% based in what playing music should be! Joy ! Play ! Friends! Community!

Ear Learning Strategies & Applied Theory - Tuesdays 6PM

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
Tuesday September 30th to Tuesday May 26th

$75 per month . Invoice sent through Square.

Open to all instruments. Here’s a class designed to demystify the process of learning melodies by ear and hear the chord changes to a song without a lengthy and strenuous trial and error process. And make no mistake about it, if you play a predominantly or exclusively melody instrument, chords are important for you too because they shape the melody and predict where it’s going! And strummers- it’s the same situation, the melody will tell you what’s happening both now… and next. In addition to a range of ear techniques, we’ll learn the necessary bits of practical and directly applied theory that will get you where you want to be. Ear learning, “hearing the changes,” and the ability to communicate ideas in the language of other musicians opens all the doors to social music. And these are the skills needed to find your next level of playing in every common genre. That said, though, we’ll be focused primarily on traditional melodies & folk songs in this class. They’re the roots of all else, and the very best place to start!

Not Strictly Bluegrass - Tuesdays 8PM

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
Tuesday September 30th to Tuesday May 26th
$75 per month. Invoice sent through Square.

A class for exploring riffs, rhythm, improvisation and beyond on guitar, mandolin, or banjo. All lessons will be built around the practical idea of playing familiar songs together. And- all songs will be presented in a way that makes new ideas and techniques achievable and able to be put into immediate use! Our material? Bluegrass standards, acoustic rock covers, neighboring areas of folk, and the tangential places just past the border of those genres, all explored in a fun social setting.

Tuesday String Band - Tuesdays 7PM

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
Tuesday September 30th to Tuesday May 26th

$75 per month
Pause any time with 14 days notice prior to the start of the next month
Start up again by giving notice before the 1st of the month

Play as a big fun social group, learn new tunes and techniques. Get jam ready on fiddle, banjo, mando, guitar, or bass. In the analog we make a big sound. We build the elements needed to play jam ready songs. Kicks, tags, walks, tip offs… we’ll cover all of that. We play follow the leader, just like any tight group does in any playing setting. And, we learn the ways our instruments communicate in a group setting. In person as well as a digital options available.

Youth Rock Band - Monday 5PM

1 hr··Free

**Please note this class will take place at 10 Martin Avenue, Mattapoisett **
2025-2026 Season

Monday September 29th to Monday June 1st

$75 per month . Invoice sent through Square

In SC Lessons rock band class students not only learn how to play covers of fun rock songs… they also write new songs as a band. And, at the end of the session, when they have their material rehearsed they record those songs using professional recording equipment & software. Every student gets a high quality recording of their music that can be shared freely with friends & family! Rock band class is capped with a smaller number of participants than most ensembles and a limit on the number of players on each instrument. Open to guitar, bass, drums, keys, ukulele, vocals, horns.

Wednesday String Band - Wednesday 10AM

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
October 1st to May 27th
$75 per month . Invoice sent through Square

Do you know a tune or two but need to build repertoire? Have you been studying on your own but want to learn to play with others? Have you played a different style but now want to branch out? Do you have some of the fundamentals of your instrument, but want to learn to use them in a group setting? Here’s a class for people at the beginning and early intermediate stage of their journey towards playing string band music. Come help us build something together and be a part of a living tradition! Open to fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass, mandolin, ukulele, and other traditional lead instruments.

Rising Ukulele & Guitar - Wednesdays 11AM

1 hr··Free

2025-2026 Season
October 1st to May 27th
$75 per month . Invoice sent through Square

A mixed ability group exploring the ukulele or guitar’s capabilities. Whether it's some really advanced moves or just a few more chords you're after, this is where you want to be! Playing and learning ukulele or guitar in a large group is equal parts social activity, brain builder, and outlet for creative expression. Maybe you’ve been playing for a bit and you already know that. Come join me to find out what else there is to know on those strings. Available in person or digital.

Rhythm , Chords , Keyboards- Saturday, 10:30 AM

1 hr··Free

2025 2026 Season
October 4th to May 30th

$75 per month . Invoice sent through Square

Not your traditional piano class! This is an introduction to piano & keyboard family instruments Southcoast Lessons-style. Which is to say… keys with an emphasis on playing with others, centered in the styles you're most interested in, and presented with an emphasis on fun. Students get the basics of how to play along socially to rock, folk, blues, contradance & other popular music styles within a single session of class in addition to the building blocks to explore beyond.