Blue Bear Summer Camps

Truly Cool Music School!

Also check out our Youth All-Star Band Program for a great year-long rock band experience for middle school and early high school musicians!

SF Camps :: Marin Camps :: Suggested Guidelines :: Sign-ups :: Teacher Bios

Save $50 on Tuition!

Sign up for a second camp, or sign up a second child in a camp, and you'll receive $50 off on tuition!

Please note: this does not apply to students receiving sliding scale tuition.

Summer Camps Director and acclaimed music educator Bonnie Hayes knows rock 'n' roll and she knows education. She has written songs for Bonnie Raitt, Cher, Bette Midler, David Crosby and Robert Cray, among others, and has many years of professional stage and touring experience. She's also been a teacher for more than 36 years. Bonnie has put together a team of dynamic and experienced rock practitioners and educators to lead the Blue Bear Summer Camps, which are further distinguished by unmatched student-teacher ratios.

Expect a week of intense learning and serious fun!

Camps run from 10am-3pm Monday through Friday and include a concert on Friday, which typically starts between 4-5pm.

Post-camp activities available!
For families that need later pick-up, and for kids who just want more music, Blue Bear offers supervised after-camp activities Monday to Thursday from 3-4pm.

Tuition
Fort Mason Center Camps: $75 - $525
Marin Summer Camps: $100 - $595
Add after-camp activities: $80
(Individual slots are $25/hr.)

Payment in advance by VISA, MasterCard or personal check is required for enrollment.
Click here for sliding scale information.

Register online - it's easy!

Auditions: Drummers and bass players for all camps except Rock U 1 and Get Ready to Rock will need to audition. Guitarists also need to audition for Rock U 3. For more info, see the camp descriptions and suggested guidelines below.

NOTE: Grade levels indicated below are for the Fall 2013 school year.

San Francisco Camps @ Fort Mason Center

Rock U 1
June 17-21
This workshop offers musicians going into Grades 7-10 (Fall 2013) an opportunity to play the music they like with their peers. A minimum of one year of lessons is required. Repertoire is selected by the group, which rehearses every day. A typical day includes group lessons in the morning, a lunchtime jam with staff, and band rehearsals in the afternoon. The week culminates with a show on late Friday afternoon. More on suggested guidelines below.
Tuition: $75 - $525 sliding scale  

Songwriting 1
June 24-28
This workshop is for kids going into Grades 6-9 (Fall 2013) who write songs or want to, and for musicians who want to play original music instead of cover songs. Students will write, arrange and perform their songs, and receive a CD of the show. Learn the techniques that the bands you love use to create the songs you listen to through workshops on lyrics, form, arranging and more.
Tuition: $75 - $525 sliding scale  

Rock U 2
July 8-12
This workshop offers musicians going into Grades 8-11 (Fall 2013) an opportunity to play the music they like with their peers. A minimum of one year of lessons is required. Repertoire is selected by the group, which rehearses every day. A typical day includes group lessons in the morning, a lunchtime jam with staff, and band rehearsals in the afternoon. The week culminates with a show on late Friday afternoon. More on suggested guidelines below.
Tuition: $75 - $525 sliding scale  

Get Ready To Rock
July 15-19
This is a low-key camp for beginning musicians going into Grades 5-8 (Fall 2013) who have some previous instruction - six months of lessons on an instrument is recommended. Activities include trying different instruments, playing easy songs, songwriting, singing, jamming and other musical games! Drum circles help kids get in the groove, singing teaches ear-training and performance skills, and basic keyboard and guitar classes get everyone playing in a band. There will be a performance on Friday afternoon. More on suggested guidelines below.
Tuition: $75 - $525 sliding scale  

Rock U 1
July 22-26
This workshop offers musicians going into Grades 7-10 (Fall 2013) an opportunity to play the music they like with their peers. A minimum of one year of lessons is required. Repertoire is selected by the group, which rehearses every day. A typical day includes group lessons in the morning, a lunchtime jam with staff, and band rehearsals in the afternoon. The week culminates with a show on late Friday afternoon. More on suggested guidelines below.
Tuition: $75 - $525 sliding scale  

Rock U 2
August 5-9
This workshop offers musicians going into Grades 8-11 (Fall 2013) an opportunity to play the music they like with their peers. A minimum of one year of lessons is required. Repertoire is selected by the group, which rehearses every day. A typical day includes group lessons in the morning, a lunchtime jam with staff, and band rehearsals in the afternoon. The week culminates with a show on late Friday afternoon. More on suggested guidelines below.
Tuition: $75 - $525 sliding scale  

Back to Top

Marin Camps @ Harmonia
(at the former Record Plant, 2200 Bridgeway Ave. in Sausalito)

Girls Rock!!
June 24-28
This camp is for girls going into Grades 4-7 (Fall 2013) who want to learn to rock. Campers will learn to play simple pop and rock songs and perform at the end of the week. Some musical experience is helpful, but is not a requirement - girls will learn to play parts at whatever level of musicianship they bring with them.
Tuition: $95 - $465 sliding scale  

Rock U 1
July 8-12
This workshop offers musicians going into Grades 7-10 (Fall 2013) an opportunity to play the music they like with their peers. A minimum of one year of lessons is required. Repertoire is selected by the group, which rehearses every day. A typical day includes group lessons in the morning, a lunchtime jam with staff, and band rehearsals in the afternoon. The week culminates with a show on late Friday afternoon. More on suggested guidelines below.
Tuition: $95 - $595 sliding scale  

Rock U 2
July 15-19
This workshop offers musicians going into Grades 8-11 (Fall 2013) an opportunity to play the music they like with their peers. A minimum of one year of lessons is required. Repertoire is selected by the group, which rehearses every day. A typical day includes group lessons in the morning, a lunchtime jam with staff, and band rehearsals in the afternoon. The week culminates with a show on late Friday afternoon. More on suggested guidelines below.
Tuition: $95 - $595 sliding scale  

Back to Top

Skill Level Guidelines

We strongly suggest the following skill levels for each Summer Camp.

Get Ready to Rock
• Campers will do best if they have been playing an instrument or singing in an organized setting for at least six months.

Rock U 1
• Suggested minimum of one year of lessons for all instruments.
• Drummers should be able to play a simple rock beat for one minute.
• Bassists should know names of notes and be able to play one song through to the end.
• Guitarists should know open position chords and E form barre chords.
• Keyboardists should know major triads in root position.

Rock U 2
• Suggested minimum of two years of lessons for all instruments.
• Drummers should be able to fill without losing time, and be able to hold three minutes of a simple rock beat.
• Bassists should know names of notes and how to read chord charts, and be able to play 1/8th notes through changes.
• Guitarists should know open chords and E and A form barre chords, and know minor pentatonic scales.
• Keyboardists should know major and minor triads, and know the blues scale.

Rock U 3
• Suggested minimum of three years of lessons for all instruments.
• Drummers should know syncopated kick drum patterns, shuffle and 6/8 beats.
• Bassists should know syncopated bass lines.
• Guitarists should know syncopated guitar rhythms (i.e., AC/DC) and riff songs (i.e., Led Zeppelin).

Songwriting 1 and 2
• Suggested minimum of one year of lessons for Songwriting 1, and two years of lessons for Songwriting 2.

Back to Top

Meet the Summer Camps Teachers

Blue Bear Summer Camps Director Bonnie Hayes is a platinum-selling songwriter, with songs on records by Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, Robert Cray, Huey Lewis, Robben Ford, David Crosby, Cher and Booker T. and the MGs. She plays guitar and keyboards, and has released five CDs of her own music on various record labels. She also has produced seven records, one of which was nominated for a Grammy. In 2003, she designed and implemented the Blue Bear Summer Camp Program and has taught songwriting, music theory, and performance skills at Blue Bear, Cal State LA, and the Stanford Jazz Workshop. More at bonniehayes.com.

Cole Odin Berggren is a Summer Camps drum instructor, Beats program lead teacher and general camps facilitator. Cole is a prominent local DJ who spins vinyl and the occasional CD in locations city and country wide. In the realm of writing and performing music, he plays drums for the electronic dance-rock band TIGERcat and is the songwriter/singer/multi-instrumentalist for his own band, a pulsing, psychedelic, electronic rock band aptly called oWNERSHIP.

Susie Davis is a respected music educator, as well as professional vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, guitarist and accordionist. She has been a music professional for 22 years, touring and recording with some of the top names in the music world including Van Morrison, Prince, Sheila E., Billy Idol, Melissa Etheridge, Sinead O'Connor, Pat Benatar and Mick Jagger. She has worked extensively as a solo artist in the Bay Area and Los Angeles and currently tours and records with Those Darn Accordions, Rhythmtown Jive, and the Rubinoos. In 2000, Susie opened the Alleycats Music School in Fairfax, California. She currently teaches at her private studio in the Point Richmond area. More at susiedavis.com.

Nils Erickson graduated from the Berklee College of Music in 1994 with a major in Arranging. Since then he has played guitar in many bands, including 20 Minute Loop, the New Morty Show, Brad Brooks, The Mad CattleEnsemble, and many others. He has also composed and arranged music for various products and advertisements, and a short film. Nils has taught guitar privately for 12 years; this is his fourth summer teaching Summer Camps at Blue Bear School of Music.

Josh Graves has a Master's degree in Guitar Performance from Chico State University, and has been teaching music for more than a decade. He has studied, recorded and performed on drums, bass, piano and as a vocalist, and loves all genres from pop to punk, reggae to country, rock and roll, and everything in-between.

Janak Ramachandran teaches voice, guitar, bass, vocal styling, and acting principles for the stage musician. His acoustic, electric, and bass guitar instruction is designed to concretely guide your progress from one level to the next with an emphasis on playing songs today and a goal of making music forever. A graduate of SFSU's Music and Recording Industry Program, Janak regularly works on original material and is currently fronting the classic and hard rock cover band Bottoms Up!

Erik Schramm is a Bay Area guitarist who for the last several years has been touring the U.S. with the band Super Diamond. He performs often in San Francisco with artists Brandi Shearer, Clay Bell, Matt Verba and Strip Club. He also does sessions for songwriters, commercials and independent films. His playing is a mix of pop, blues, funk, rock and a taste of country for good measure.

Karen Segal, Girls Rock!! camp teacher, has been teaching bands in the Bay Area since 2000 and has been rocking out since she was 11 years old. She has performed at the Hard Rock Cafe, Bottom of the Hill, Yoshi's SF, the Jazzschool, Savanna Jazz, Rassela's, the Elbo Room and Cafe Du Nord. Karen teaches band at Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco and at Nea Community Learning Center in Alameda. She has a diploma from the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, a Master's of Education from UCLA, and a California State Teaching Certificate.

Bob Tatum, a graduate of PIT (Percussion Institute of Technology), has been teaching drums and performing in the Bay Area for the past 15 years. In addition to being the house drummer for the Blue Lamp in San Francisco, Bob has played with bands and artists such as Jimmy Two Times, Noelle Hampton, Storm Large, Bonnie Hayes and Heather Combs. He is very excited to be involved with Blue Bear's Summer Camps program again because, well, it's just plain cool.