IBMA believes strongly in passing bluegrass music along to the next generation of fans and musicians. 

One of our goals is to help educators (elementary – university level, including home schooling parents) to become more “bluegrass aware.”  Bluegrass music, a relatively new style of music (the classic sound jelled in the mid-‘40s with Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys), is one of the very few musical genres to originate in the United States—so it has a roots music cultural value for American students in particular.  Like jazz and blues, it’s also a valid style of music for teaching improvisational skills. 

Perhaps more so than most other genres, bluegrass music connects students to a larger, multi-generational community of musicians and fans who love the music.  Learning to play a bluegrass instrument is usually a life skill—something that folks continue to do for a number of years after they leave high school music programs.    

IBMA’s “Bluegrass in the Schools” program includes:

• A 67-minute educational DVD,
  Discover Bluegrass: Exploring American Roots Music, complete with downloadable lesson plans for each of six units, targeting students age 8-13 (available at $3.00, for educational purposes)
• Teacher Workshops held in conjunction with major bluegrass festivals across the country, to give educators the tools to utilize bluegrass music in the classroom.
• Matching $200 Mini-Grants to help fund live, educational presentations of bluegrass music for students
• A variety of local programs implemented by our members, including: bluegrass camps and workshops at festivals, after school bluegrass clubs, two-week artist in residency programs where a bluegrass band works with orchestra students who already play stringed instruments, special bluegrass-related lesson plans and units planned during the school day, and live educational presentations from touring bands at school assemblies.
• An online Bluegrass in the Schools Implementation Manual
• An international Bluegrass Lesson Plan Competition with award-winning lesson plans posted on this website
• Regional Bluegrass in the Schools Workshops for Artists interested in developing in-school bluegrass presentations.