2010 New England Flatpicking Championship
Saturday, July 24, 2010

2010 New England Flatpicking Championship Winners:

1st Place: Scott Fore, Virginia 
2nd Place: Roy Curry, Chattanooga, TN    
3rd Place: Tony Watt, Schenectady, NY

 Check out Scott Fore at  http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Fore/1021576431  http://www.myspace.com/thehillbillyhotclub and Roy Curry at http://www.myspace.com/roycurry    

 

2009 Winners left to right Tony Watt, Scott Fore, Bryan McDowell and Roy Curry.

Prizes for this years competition:

Collings Dreadnaught
1972 Martin D-28
Taylor Baritone 8

Flatpicking Rules:

  1. Contestants will play only unamplified instruments.
  2. Contestants may play original, traditional, or contemporary selections.
  3. Contestants may use one instrument and it must have 6-strings.
  4. Contestants will receive extra consideration for demonstrating proficiency in more than one style.
  5. Contestants may have one accompanying rhythm instrument if they choose.
  6. Alternative tunings are allowed.
  7. Contestants must not exceed the total allotted time for their performance.The time allowed is 7 minutes and includes the changing of tunings.
  8. All contestants must play with a flat pick. No finger picking or combination finger picking and flatpicking will be allowed.
  9. Standard and traditional style capos as well as partial capos may be used.
Contest winners are not allowed to enter the competition for 5 years after the year in which they have won. Second and third place finishers may compete as often as they like.

Contestants will be judged according to the following:

Arrangement and Repertiore 40 Pts
Technique, Tuning, Execution and Timing 40 Pts
Overall Impression and Artistic Quality 10 Pts
Versatility 10 Pts

Registration for the competition ends 30 minutes before the beginning. Contestants must be present no less then 30 minutes before the beginning of the contest to be eligible.

  1. There will be a limit of 25 contestants for each competition and all contestants must have a valid ticket to the Ossipee Valley Music Festival.
  2. The order of contestants will be decided by a lottery before the competition.
  3. No less then three judges will decide the winner and judges names will be made public.

Flatpicking Judging Guidelines:

40 pts. Arrangement and Repertiore Contestants should be rewarded for playing interesting music, and playing good arrangements and good music. It is not enough to merely play all the notes well. They should be notes worth playing. Is the contestant doing something new or original or is it just something that was learned from a recording and directly derivative of a common style or a well name players style?
40 pts. Technique, Tuning, Execution and Timing Contestants should maintain a steady pulse and rhythm and properly execute all the notes they attempt to play. Attack, speed, tone, phrasing, etc. all enter into this technical expertise area.
10 pts. Overall Impression and Artistic Quality Is it good music? Is it pleasant to listen to and evocative of more than just the skill of the player? Is it played with feeling and taste?
10 pts. Versatility Players who demonstrate proficiency in more than one style will be rated higher than those who only play one style, and likewise points should be given for playing different kinds of music in one style.

Please print out a copy of the entry form (click here) and send to:

Ossipee Valley Bluegrass Association
PO BOX 593
Cornish, ME 04020

This application must be accompanied by a check made out to OVBA for the appropriate festival entrance fee and a SASE please.

Weekend Advance Tickets
3-Day Weekend Ticket: Fri Sat Sun....$65  Purchase online or send SASE before June 29, 2010.
4-Day Weekend Ticket: Thur Fri Sat Sun....$75  Purchase online or send SASE before June 29, 2010.

Weekend and Daily Tickets
3-Day Weekend Ticket: Fri Sat Sun....$75 at the gate.
4-Day Weekend Ticket: Thur Fri Sat Sun....$85 at the gate.
Thursday all day...$10
Friday or Sunday all day...$25
Saturday all day...$35
Children 17 and under free with adult!

 

Each contest limited to 25 contestants.

Prizes provided by:
Deering Banjo - Collings Guitars
Conley Guitars - Ome Banjos - Taylor Guitars

 

Tyler Grant 2008 New England Flatpicking Champion