10 Minute Tune-Ups

Come join us on Tuesday nights, 7:00 pm Central Standard Time, as we are led on a mini-tune-up session by one of our world class instructors.

This LIVE broadcast will be on FACEBOOK: MONROE MANDOLIN CAMP page.

Get your instruments tuned up and ready to go.  We’ll have a series of building block sessions to help you on your musical journey into the world of Bill Monroe’s music.  Special guest artists will also be invited.  Each week we will announce what instrument and instructor will be leading, and what specifics will be worked on.  Make sure to “LIKE” this facebook page to receive notifications about each weekly event!  If time allots, questions will be fielded as well.

2019 #GivingTuesday

It is always with a sense of joy and excitement when November rolls around. We have just completed a successful camp just over a month prior and we have had a little breathing room to decompress, unpack all the boxes full of fun camp gear. In the background, the finely laid groundwork for the ‘next’ camp has been reviewed and updated as needed, and we are getting ready to make the big unveil for the next camp. And November rolls around amidst all of this activity, with a wonderful challenge opportunity created by Facebook.

#Giving Tuesdays. On Facebook, MonManCamp, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, gets to create a public ‘campaign’ to shine the spotlight on our organization, what we do within the community and exponentially the world, and to invite our ‘facebook’ friends and supporters to contribute financially to our fundraiser. While Facebook ‘matches’ a very small portion of donations, which I believe their match is met within the first 8 seconds of when their challenge opens, it really is about people’s generosity and willingness to ‘gift’ their money to support our cause, and to generously enable someone without the financial means to attend and experience MonManCamp.

We have been bowled over by the generosity by those whom we have never met, and by folks who have experienced the JOY of camp from a first person basis. 2017, 2018, and 2019, through #Giving Tuesday on FB, MonManCamp has had $9,600 of donations gifted! Amazing!

As we move full-speed towards Christmas and the close of 2019, we share our gratitude and thanks to everyone who has been a part of MonManCamp, to the participants, our sponsors, our partners, and to the memory of Bill Monroe and the music he and the Blue Grass Boys co-created together. Happy Holidays everyone. We look forward to seeing you at the 2020 MMC or down the road soon!
Cheers-
Heidi Herzog

MMCer Reviews

  • This participant responded with enthusiasm, with an explorer’s zeal to unearth what defines the original concept of what bluegrass music is.  The definition of “bluegrass music” is changing constantly for better or for worse. For those of us that relish the original sound this camp is as close to drinking from the well as one can find these days. The instructors are all top notch professionals ranging from hardcore practitioners of Monroe’s music to those that have been moderately influenced. I feel like the lessons I take home from this camp help me make a more pure form of this rural art form…with the intent of creating or performing music that no one ever questions is indeed bluegrass music.  The brains and engine behind the Monroe Mandolin Camp are taking this seriously and offering a superior product and experience. They offer instruction and insight that I can’t find anywhere else. I’ll be the first to recommend it and tell you how much it has positively impacted my ability to make this music. John Gardinsky
  • I’m hooked, that was an incredible experience. Well organized staff, good food, plenty of jamming. The facility is suited to the event. Plenty places to play with people or alone, if you want.The instructors are friendly and repaired. Six classes, three times a day for three and a half days without too many conflicts. Great concert by the instructors and scholarship winners Saturday night.If you’re a beginner or advanced player the Monroe camp has something to offer. Everyone is there to learn and celebrate Bill Monroe’s style of playing. Egos are left at the door. Beginners, intermediates, and advanced jam together, in support of each other. I would go back today but I gota wait til next September when everyone else is there.  Jeff Evans 
  • This was my 3rd time at camp. I must admit that as excited as I was to come this time I was a little worried that I would be a little disappointed. Its not typical to keep repeating wonderful things and have them live up to your expectations. But as usual my camp experience exceeded my expectations! Such a high level of instructors that are always willing to share their knowledge and experiences just means so much to me. Not only are the instructors teaching but everyone there shares in teaching what they know. Every time I have come to MMC it’s like coming home. You can’t beat that! Valerie Lovelace
  • 24 hours after arriving home, I still feel the need to get to class, find a new person to eat with, move around to different jams. The venue felt like home. Upstairs to sleep, walk downstairs to the living area, complete with comfy couches, and hang out on the porch to laugh, visit, and play music. Grins and chatter and music were everywhere. Felt like one big family!  Kathy Nichols
  • Extremely well organized event, great venue, great instructors, and you felt genuinely cared for.  Then there was the music. if you’re considering going, stop. Because you need to just go.  Rebecca Stratosphere
  • The instructors are top notch but patient as well. As a less than stellar player, the other campers are so talented but so encouraging too. For mandolin players, 11 lessons stretched thru four days times six instructors… let’s see that’s 66 classes to choose from in all. Plenty of fiddle, banjo, bass and guitar classes too! Tom Hart
  • Monroe Mandolin Camp is THE place to connect with serious, dedicated instrumentalists and fine pickers! The combination of getting to see professionals up close in the class room and then have those skills reiterated afterwards on stage at the Instructors’ Concert is SO valuable! It is also great place to meet other serious musical students and others of all levels! – Hannah Johnson (Sept 25, 2019)
  • This camp is amazing – brilliant teachers, well organized, beautiful location, great activities – just go along – you will love it. Evan Webb (Australia)
  • Learned from the best and jammed with the best. Plus, the food was outfreakingstanding! Jordan Riehm
  • Monroe Mandolin Camp was a great learning experience! Best Teachers and Staff. Many new and old friends from all around the world. Fay Kirkland
  • Great experience!! This will be my 3rd camp and as a beginner I felt welcomed and encouraged. Figured I’m learning what to learn, and getting to the roots of this music with guys who were taught and played with Bill. Can’t  get any closer to the source these days. Mike and Heidi work tirelessly to put this together for the love of this American art form. Incredible memories,This is on my calendar permanently!!Y’all come!! John Boyd
  • 2015 was the first time that I had attended he camp since the move to Nashville. I I’m glad that I made it. The teaching was over the top fantastic and the presentations were terrific, highlighted, for me by the Bluegrass Boys getting together to play and tell Monroe stories. A special thanks too, to the tireless efforts of Heidi for making sure of all or creature comforts and keeping things so well organized. I’m looking forward to renewing acquaintances this year. Onward to September! Mike Bunting (Canada)
  • Mon Man Camp is the best place to learn from and be inspired by some of the very best Monroe Style mandolin pickers out there! Well organized and crammed full of workshops, presentations and jams all set in a beautiful campground forty minutes outside of Nashville, TN. The attendees are enthusiastic mando-heads from all over the world, the food and beer is spectacular, you can have your mandolin worked on by some of the best luthiers in the business (Paul Duff, Will Kimble and Steve Gilchrist were there this year) and come away with enough material and concepts to work on for a lifetime! Lukas Simpson
  • Monroe Mandolin Camp 2014 was the best music camp I have ever attended and one of the best weekends of my life. The camp was run with a lot of thoughtful detail. Holding the instructor concert at Carter Vintage Guitars, for example, was a really nice touch. Heidi and Mike clearly expended a lot of effort to make the experience special.  For me the highlight of camp was getting to spend time with this amazing community of instructors and students. I can’t imagine ever getting enough of these folks!  I recorded most of the classes I attended, and I’ve just started going over the recordings. There is enough material here to keep me busy for a very long time. And the recordings capture some great moments: for example, David Davis encouraging a younger player to move in and play for the class. Pretty moving, really. So, a bucket of thanks to Heidi and Mike! Can’t wait for the next time around. Amanda Gregg
  • For anyone interested in Bluegrass on any instrument, this camp is great. Phil Sussman
  • Though this was not my first Monroe Mandolin Camp, like other years it exceeded my expectations and one month later, I am still discovering answers to questions I had not yet formulated but now understand. This year my goal was to increase my knowledge of the fretboard, playing out of chord positions, and discovering techniques that I can apply to my playing. One of the best resources at MMC is the variety of instructors who basically teach the same style of music but in their own way. After hearing an explanation more than once, seeing it demonstrated a bit differently, a light bulb can “turn on”. Not only are the instructors high quality, they are accessible and friendly. They willingly answer questions and share their knowledge both inside in and outside the classroom. There are pockets of jams everywhere with students and faculty, open to all to listen and join in. Speaking of students, it is a joy to meet up with so many talented students who have the same passion for the music. Jams and informal teaching goes on among students as well during jams and conversations. Monroe Mandolin Camp is rich in the tradition of bluegrass music, shared and taught by those who respect the source, Bill Monroe. I look forward to the next one! Kathy Nichols

Mini Mon Camp

MiniMonCamp April 2020April 4- 5, 2020 (Sat/Sun)
Station Inn, 402 12th Avenue South, Nashville, TN

Mike Compton (Nashville Bluegrass Band, John Hartford Stringband, Compton & Newberry, Elvis Costello & The Sugar Canes, Soggy Bottom Boys)

Jesse Brock (Gibson Brothers, Fast Track, Lynn Morris Band, Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper)

Lauren Price (The Price Sisters)

Casey Campbell (Bryan Sutton Band, Del McCoury, Mac Wiseman, Jim Lauderdale, David Grier Band)
WHAT’S INCLUDED

  • 5-6 classes-approximately 8 hours of instruction time;
  • lunchtime jam;
  • Saturday hours:  9:00 – 5:00 pm; Sunday hours: 9:30 – 12:00ish;
  • Topics may include: tremolo style, downstrokes, doublestops, building solos from chord voicings, slides, tunings, improvising, using traditional ideas to play contemporary sounds, music from  he classic bluegrass band of the 1940’s through Bill’s “Last Days on Earth”;
  • Cost: $250 ($200 for all school registered students)
  • All ages welcome; Kid friendly
  • All levels welcome;
  • BONUS: Each participant will have the opportunity to be professionally recorded performing LIVE on the Station inn stage.  This can be a solo or as a duet with an instructor. (Sunday) (NOT INCLUDED: lodging/accommodations, transportation, or meals.)

Download Registration Form now: Mini Mon Reg Form, Station Inn April 2020

How to register: Mail in registration form along with a check or money order to:    Monroe Mandolin Camp – Mini-Mon-Camp, PO Box 2222, Mount Juliet, TN 37121    

Questions?  Email: monroemandolincamp@gmail.com (Subject: Mini-Mon-Camp)

Scholarships

  • MANDOLIN Video Competition: Video Submission between February 1-15. Winner announced February 28, 2020.
  • BANJO Video Competition: Video Submission between
    March 1 – March 15 Winner Announced April 1, 2020.
  • FIDDLE Video Competition: Video Submission between
    April 1- April 15. (New Dates): Winner announced April 30, 2020.
  • NEW for 2020! GUITAR Video Competition: Video Submission
    April 15 – April 30, 2020. Winner announced May 15, 2020.

COMPETITION RULES

  • Music submitted must be a Bill Monroe tune or instrumental.
  • Submissions open to candidates of any age.
  • Participants to write a 500 word essay on their musical pursuits, why they are interested in Monroe’s prolific music and their goals in attending this camp.
  • Video must remain under 4 minutes.
  • Announce your name and song title on the video. You may play solo or with accompaniment-just make sure video camera is pointing on person submitting video. Please make sure we can see both left and right hands!
  • A maximum of 25 submissions accepted (you will receive an email with confirmation if your video is accepted.)
  • Upload video to YouTube, and email the link to: monroemandolincamp@gmail.com . In subject line of email, please write “2020 (Insert Instrument ) MonManCamp Video Scholarship Competition.”
  • The winner of each Video Scholarship Competition to be awarded a full tuition scholarship including camp T-shirt.
  • Transportation, meals and lodging are separate and not included in the award, and the responsibility of the winner.
  • Winning video may be used in promotional materials.
  • Entries will be judged on 4 categories including: Authenticity, Execution, Difficulty, and Technique.
  • Previous Video Scholarship winners are not eligible for consecutive years on the same instrument.
  • Video Scholarship Winners are limited to instrument classes for whicht they won the scholarship.