Join us "at" Menucha via Zoom for a tasty feast for your eyes, ears and hearts.

We'll bring Menucha to you using Zoom video meetings as a way to gather around art or faith or music.

Menucha is a place where people gather for learning, reflection and renewal. Come experience the joy of learning with outstanding teachers. Zoom makes it possible for us to gather in between times we would gather at Menucha! Give yourself (or someone you know) the gift of an hour a week devoted to connecting to something as life-giving as making music.

What is a Lunch & Learn? 

It's a series of 1-hour lessons on a specific topic, with outstanding teachers. Topics, length of series, cost, and teachers will vary.

How much does it cost? 

The pandemic has been tough for everyone in different ways and we do not want money to be the only reason someone doesn't attend one of these series of classes. If money's tight, choose Tier 1 for the series you want to attend. If you are of a mind to be extra supportive, choose Tier 3.

We're offering 3-Tier pricing so you can choose what you want to pay. No matter what you pay - you are a full participant, receive access to handouts and the recordings of each sessions.

We set the price at $20 per session, so a 5-session series would cost $100. Choose what you are able to pay:

  • Tier 1: $80
  • Tier 2: $100
  • Tier 3: $120

If you are able to choose $120, you'll be helping not only the teacher and Menucha, but a fellow participant.

What if I can't come to all of them? 

We'll record each session and make them available to you for a year! If you miss it, you'll be able to watch it later. If you missed something in class, you can go back and find it. You will have access to the recordings for a year, as well as any materials used during the class.

Purchase Access to a Past Series Archives

Descriptions of the classes are below. $20 per series - each series contains 3 1-hour recorded sessions. We do offer Tiered pricing ($15, $20, $25) and will split the proceeds with the instructor.

Pay to access December Archives

Groov-Etudes with Matt Weiner & Nova Devonie

The grooviest lunch hour of your week!

Learn short groovy etudes from the aged neophyte ukulele brains of Matt and Nova. After you quickly master these little nuggets of rhythm and melody that took us years to perfect, we will resume our familiar duties on bass and accordion, accompanying YOU as you float along on the happy world of groovy mastery and relaxation.

Matt Weiner

 

Nova Devonie

Creating Your Own Guitar Arrangements

with Mary Flower

Mondays, December 7, 14, 21 at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time

Guitar players, feeling stuck after playing the same songs the same way for years? It’s time to move beyond and learn how to embellish your favorite tunes and write new ones.
Mary will introduce a plethora of different musical ideas to make your guitar playing your own. Class will explore bass runs, right hand picking, adding melodies and harmonies, open tunings, fills and more.
Simple songs will guide us  and song ideas from class participants will be welcome.

Recordings Archive

 

Blues Building Blocks

 with Mary Flower

Mondays, January 18, 25, February 1, 8, 15, 22  (we added 2 weeks!)  at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time 

Guitarists will come away from this class with a wider understanding of what makes the blues authentic and playable.

Mary will demonstrate 8 and 12 bar forms and players will learn tunes in the Delta and Piedmont styles. Delta uses a monotonic bass (also called “dead thumb”) and Piedmont styles uses alternating bass. Mary will touch on turn arounds, shuffle patterns and discuss how to get around in different keys and open tunings.

This is an ambitious class description! We shall attempt to cover all the bases and give players a wide understanding of what’s under the blues umbrella--all in four weeks!

 

Recordings Archive

Guitar Licks and Styles of the Blues Greats 

with Pat Donohue

Wednesdays, December 2, 9, 16 at 11:00am Pacific Time

In these three one hour online guitar lessons Pat will discuss, demonstrate and teach the stylistic elements of several of the giants of blues guitar. Look closely at Robert Johnson’s turnarounds, B.B. King’s signature soloing phrases and Blind Blake’s raggy blues fingerpicking. Pat will take a couple of these legends per session and dissect their characteristic guitar moves with an eye toward adding them to your own playing, thereby increasing range and depth to your guitar style. Other blues greats featured will include Big Bill Broonzy, Lightnin’ Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, Mississippi John Hurt and more.

Recordings Archive

Fingerstyle Blues Guitar by Key

with Pat Donohue

Wednesdays, January 27, February 3, 10 at 11:00am Pacific Time 

In this course we will study the many useful and fun things to know about the different keys we play in when we play the blues, and guitar in general.

As guitarists we tend to play the keys of E, A, G, D, and C and each of these keys has a particular sound and “personality” of its own. Learn to see, hear and play these types of easy, great-sounding blues guitar riffs that will make your playing sound professional and natural. 

 

Recordings Archive

Progressing with Progressions

with Pat Donohue

Wednesdays, 11am Pacific Time, March 24, 31 & April 7

A twelve bar blues is more than just 1, 4 and 5 chords!

All the songs we play have some sort of chord progression. In fact, most songs are made up of combinations of very common mini-progressions which, when identified, can make our playing, arranging and composing much more unified and professional sounding.

In this course we will study several of the most common mini-progressions and how to use them to add a whole new dimension to the songs we play on guitar, blues and otherwise. While all are welcome, this course will be geared toward the intermediate player.

 

Bass Line Connectors for Fingerstyle Guitar

with Pat Donohue

February 17, 24, March 3 

11:00am Pacific Time

In this course we will study the many ways the chords in our songs can be connected by way of a few well chosen bass notes, creating smooth and interesting chord movement in any song. From the easiest “cowboy” chords to blues classics and even a few pop and jazz standards, bass lines will make the songs MOVE! We will look at the various strategies for creating bass lines and put them to use on recognizable tunes, giving the student the ability to apply these great sounding chord connectors in their own music. 

 

Recordings Archive

Guitar Solo-ing for People Who Have No Clue

with Kristina Olsen

Fridays, December 4, 11, 18 at 11:00am Pacific Time

Do you freeze up when someone says 'take it!'  Do you have no clue how to go from playing chords to playing single note leads?  Do you worry that your guitar playing friends will start to talk behind your back?  Come to this class and learn how to dazzle those same nay-sayers with your new skills.  We'll start with building a solo out of just a few notes in a safe and un-terrifying way with just enough theory to have some comprehension but not too much to confuse.  And there will be downloadable tracks to practice over since we can’t really jam in real life right now.

Recordings Archive & Resources

Friday Learning to Play Solos Club

with Kristina Olsen

Fridays, February 5, 12, 19, 26 at 11:00am Pacific Time

Back by popular demand - a continuation of the December & January series! (Don't worry if you weren't there - this is something you can jump into) Do you freeze up when someone says 'take it!'  Do you have no clue how to go from playing chords to playing single note leads?  Do you worry that your guitar playing friends will start to talk behind your back?  Come to this class and learn how to dazzle those same nay-sayers with your new skills.  We'll start with building a solo out of just a few notes in a safe and un-terrifying way with just enough theory to have some comprehension but not too much to confuse.  And there will be downloadable tracks to practice over since we can’t really jam in real life right now.

 

Recordings Archive

Ukulele for Absolute Beginners

with Kate Power

Also called the "Ukalaliens" (like ukulele + alien) class

Select one: February 2, 9, 16, 23 or March 2 at 12 Noon Pacific Time

Play uke and sing songs from first strum. All you need is a ukulele and the will. This one-session, one-hour class is designed to get adults off to a great start with a fun, accessible instrument. Longtime Portland favorites Kate Power and Steve Einhorn have taught thousands of people to play with this lighthearted method. Give it a try! (If you like it, you'll have the option of taking more lessons with Kate through Lunch & Learn in March.) Unlike other Lunch & Learn courses, this class has a separate registration page.

For more info and to register, go to
menucha.org/programs/ukalaliens

 

Did you miss the live class? We recorded them for you - register to receive access to the recordings!

"The Beatles for Fingerstyle Guitar"

Everyone loves the Beatles, and why not? Such memorable tunes and strong chord progressions! In this class we will dive into some Fab Four faves and how to adapt them to fingerstyle guitar. We’ll discover all kinds of good guitar tricks and common, useful chord progression moves as we build some fun guitar arrangements of great songs. We’ll also look at some of the iconic intros and signature Beatles licks that will turn heads at your next jam.

Register for The Beatles with Pat Donohue

 

"The Beatles for Fingerstyle Guitar"

Lap Style Slide in open G high bass (GBDGBD low to high)

with Orville Johnson

Thursdays, March 11 and 18 at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time

3/11 Class #1— Understanding open G
We’ll look at the construction of the tuning, how it compares to low bass open G (DGDGBD), how to locate some chords and scales, learn a simple tune to illustrate the concepts and finish up with a look, specifically, at the location and construction of the minor pentatonic blues scales.
3/18 Class # 2 — Blues in open G
We’ll go over the blues scales, look at how use them expressively, and learn a version of the classic blues tune Come On In My Kitchen to apply them.

Lap Style Slide in open D (DADF#AD low to high)

with Orville Johnson

Thursdays, February 25 and March 4 at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time

2/25 Class #1— Understanding open D
We’ll look at the construction of the tuning, how to locate some chords and scales, learn a simple tune to illustrate the concepts and finish up with a look, specifically, at the location and construction of the minor pentatonic blues scales.
3/4 Class # 2 — Blues in open D
We’ll go over the blues scales, look at how use them expressively, and learn a version of the classic blues tune Trouble In Mind to apply them.

Bottleneck Guitar for the Slide Curious

with Orville Johnson

Thursdays, March 25 and April 1 at 12:00 Noon Pacific Time

3/25 Class #1— Basics of Bottleneck Technique
I’ve designed this for folks who are beginners or even just curious about how to play bottleneck slide, so this class will be about the fundamental techniques of the style—how to hold the slide, how to develop a good tone, damping and muting techniques for both hands, and the proper angles to use with the slide to produce a clear sound. Both classes will be using standard guitar tuning (EADGBE) but I will talk about using the slide in open tunings as well.
4/1 Class # 2 — More basics plus a song
We’ll continue to explore the basic concepts and introduce a version of the classic blues You Got To Move to apply these ideas.