Learn It. Hear It. Play It Together.
Bluegrass is a conversation—and camp gives us time to listen, ask questions, and find our place in it. Whether you’re building confidence, returning to an instrument, or digging deeper into music you’ve played for years, there’s something here to work on and someone to share it with.
Bill Monroe’s musical language will always be the foundation of Monroe Mandolin Camp. Through instrument classes, harmony singing, special presentations, and jams, we explore how that language works—and how to make it speak through our own playing. Players of different ages and experiences come together around the same tunes, bringing their own ears, questions, and ideas. Everyone has something to learn, and everyone brings something to the conversation.
During camp, you can:
- Strengthen your playing: Work on technique, timing, tone, and repertoire, with ideas you can take home and keep developing.
- Hear how the parts fit: Explore how mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar, bass, and voices support, answer, and blend with one another.
- Put learning into practice: Carry ideas from class into jams and ensemble playing, building confidence through making music with others.
- Make musical connections: Learn alongside people of different generations, exchange ideas, and find new picking friends.
For 2027, Find Your Lonesome: When Voices Find Their Harmony brings that conversation into focus. We’ll explore using our voices as instruments and our instruments as voices—listening, weaving, and discovering how individual sounds become something together.
How Classes Work
Camp begins Wednesday with opportunities to settle in, meet fellow players, and start making music. Introductory sessions and our Opening Night Party Jam help get the conversation going before the full class schedule begins Thursday.
There are three 75-minute class periods each day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and one on Sunday. Choose classes according to your interests, experience, and what you’d like to explore. We encourage you to learn from different instructors: sometimes hearing an idea explained another way is what makes it click.
Class descriptions and levels are clearly identified in the schedule so you can plan your days. You might focus on your primary instrument, explore harmony singing, or take a class that helps you better understand another instrument’s role in the band.
Instruments & Class Levels
Classes include mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar, upright bass, and voice/harmony singing, with additional topics reflected in the annual schedule.
Your playing level is about your experience with the instrument and the material—not your age. A younger musician may be an experienced player, while an older participant may be starting a new musical chapter.
Most instruction begins beyond the absolute novice stage, but you don’t need to know everything before you arrive. Our skill-level guidelines and individual class descriptions will help you find a useful starting point. Look for material that gives you something to build on and something to reach toward.
Beyond the Classroom
Special Presentations
Gather for a closer look at the music, its stories, and the people who carry it forward. Led by invited guests and instructors, these sessions connect what we’re playing with what we’re hearing and learning.
Instructor-Led & Open Jams
Evening jams give you time to put new ideas to work, practice listening, and enjoy making music with others. Organized instructor-led sessions are followed by open jamming for those who want to keep playing.
Student Ensemble Showcase
Bring the classroom experience into a group performance. Instructors select a class to prepare something together for the showcase—a chance to work on listening, supporting one another, and sharing the music. Details are provided at camp.
Instructor Concert
Hear the people you’ve been learning from make music together. It’s another opportunity to listen for the timing, phrasing, harmony, and musical conversation you’ve been exploring throughout the week.
A Typical Camp Day
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:00–9:00 a.m. | Breakfast |
| 9:30–10:45 a.m. | Class 1 |
| 10:45–11:15 a.m. | Break |
| 11:15 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Class 2 |
| 12:30–2:00 p.m. | Lunch |
| 2:00–3:15 p.m. | Class 3 |
| 3:15–3:30 p.m. | Break |
| 3:30–5:30/6:30 p.m. | Special presentations and other activities |
| 6:30–7:30 p.m. | Dinner |
| 7:45–9:15 p.m. | Instructor-led jams |
| 9:15 p.m. onward | Open jamming |
This sample a typical Thursday/Friday/Saturday schedule. Wednesday and Sunday follow different schedules.
Recording & Photography
Permission to make personal audio or video recordings of a class is at the instructor’s discretion. Please ask your instructor before recording.
By registering for and attending MMC, participants consent to MMC’s use of photographs and video clips taken by camp staff during camp, without financial compensation.