An Amazing Experience That Is Suitable For All Levels
It is difficult to do justice to just how good this experience was.
To start, Johnny Thirkell did an exceptional job at organising the week. He responded quickly to questions well in advance of the camp, and with the uncertainties around Covid-19 kept us all up to date with relevant news and updates. Flying out and liaising with the other bassists wasn't a bother in the slightest as we were quickly swept up at the airport and transported to the villa.
Johnny was an exceptional host throughout the week, and he ensured all on the camp were suitably looked after. If anything additional was needed, you'd only need to ask Johnny before he would immediately try to sort something out for you.
Experience and ability are completely irrelevant and the group sessions are set up to encourage everybody to contribute as best as they can in a non-competitive manner. With respect to the individual tutoring, Paul was an excellent teacher. No matter your level, he seems to have a knack of identifying areas to work and improve on. He patiently showed me through various exercises I can go away and practice, and encouraged me to expand on my playing in a positive, fun way. He is also adaptable to your suggestions if there is something specific you would like to improve on.
Both Paul and Johnny have unending stories and anecdotes about their time in the music industry. They are wonderful people with wit, humour and a friendly down-to-earth nature that really put us all at ease and helped us to fully enjoy ourselves and learn. The evenings were spent with talks ranging from cognitive learning tips to various experiences of the music industry. This downtime was just as valuable as the formal lessons.
The additional activities, whether that be hiking in the Sierra Nevada mountains, or dining in view of the Alhambra, were excellently organised and would be worth a visit for their own sake.
At its core, the camp is about musicians sharing knowledge, improving as players, and having a good time. It really is a phenomenal experience.
Date of experience: November 15, 2021
Reply from Elite Music Camps Ltd
Thanks so much for such a great review, Ollie - particularly the stuff about feeling at ease and the non-competitive environment. When we set out to create these Camps that's exactly what we were aiming for so it's very gratifying to get that kind of feedback. Rather than a 'course' where a teacher talks at students we wanted to create a week where a handful of us live together and get to know each other so that the tutor properly understands the student and their wants and needs and can better provide them. And we get to meet such great people to boot!