Bluegrass instructional resources

American and European mandolinists have long been fond of choro, a form of instrumental folk music from Brazil in which the mandolin is prominent. It's a lively, two-beat sound, perfectly suited for dancing, with a beat and melodic style not unlike

Pete Wernick announces the availability of two scholarships for his 2014 Advanced Banjo Camp, January 20-25 in Boulder, Colorado. The camp is geared to players in performing bands and focuses on tone, timing, “believability,” creativity, band dynamics, and performance. The

Mel Bay has released a new banjo book written by Leon Hunt, intended for serious and adventurous students of the instrument. Entitled On The Outside Looking Out: 5-String Banjo Beyond Bluegrass, this book/DVD set explores tunes, keys and techniques from

Folk Alliance International will include an instructional camp for instrumentalists as a part of its annual conference in 2014, hosted in Kansas City, MO next February 19-23. This will be a first for the organization, which supports and promotes all sorts

Rob Ickes' 7th Annual ResoSummit convenes later this afternoon in Nashville, with more than 100 resonator slide guitarists from all over the world congregating to study with top practitioners of the instrument. With the start of festivities comes the announcement of this year's

Attention talented young string players... Applications for the 2014 Acoustic Music Seminar at the Savannah Music Festival must be turned in by December 1. The week long seminar runs from March 30-April 5 in Savannah, GA and is open to musicians

Here's an interview with banjo man Bill Evans, conducted during IBMA week in Raleigh last month. We talked about his two recent recordings (In Good Company and Fine Times at Fletcher's House), and his upcoming Sonny Osborne Banjo Camp in

Ned Luberecki, noted banjo picker, radio host and bluegrass bon vivant, has released a new book for five stringers convinced that a single banjo is simply not enough. Nedski's Double Banjo Book of Fun offers twin banjo arrangements for a dozen

When Ben Helson left Rhonda Vincent & The Rage last Fall, we noted that he would be serving as the as Bluegrass Director of the Bethel University Renaissance program in McKenzie, TN. Bethel is a small, private Christian school with a total enrollment of just

Shannon Turner is at RockyGrass this weekend in Lyons, CO and shared these images from the pre-festival workshops.