FAQ

Yes. We have a Campus Fee available for parents/guardians, spouses or other family members of a registered student, or if you just want to participate in the evening activities and be on site without taking lessons.

Please note that all students under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Because of this, we allow ONE free designated parent/guardian for underaged students. Guests under the age of 12 are free. ALL GUESTS must register on the Campus Fee form.

Campus Pass holders are encouraged to purchase guest meal packages so they can eat together with their family members and the rest of the camp.  Campus pass holders will receive wristbands giving them access to their purchased meals and our evening programming.  ALL GUESTS must attend registration to receive appropriate wrist banding to ensure access to the site.

While Northern Lights Bluegrass and Old Time Music Society has a strong focus on introducing people to and educating people about the instruments that inform bluegrass and old-time music, we caution against coming into the camp as a new beginner for most classes, unless it is named as a Raw Beginner class. A new beginner is defined as someone with an interest in an instrument, but with no experience on it. We recommend renting or buying an instrument several months prior to the camp and spending considerable time familiarizing yourself with how it is strung, how to tune it, and how to form simple chords. Knowing as much as possible about your instrument, and in particular, listening to songs that feature it, will go a long way toward making your camp experience a much more positive one. Northern Lights seeks to provide learning opportunities to all ages and we understand that people learn differently. Please note that there is a considerable amount of focused class time that some young children find difficult to remain engaged in. We offer our Fungrass program for children ages 5- 9, as we believe that music education is best interspersed with play at that age.

We offer our Youth Jam Band Class for children ages 6 – 12.

For the little ones who are non-musicians, we are partnering with Wild Sky Adventure Learning to off Forest Kid’s Camp for ages 3 – 12. 

Regarding children ages 12 and up, we appreciate that some younger musicians have lots of experience with longer learning sessions and will be just fine, however, there are some that may not be ready or prefer not to spend these longer periods of focused learning time. With this in mind, we do ask that parents give considerable thought as to whether their child is ready for a full class.

We are happy to assist with questions about how classes are scheduled at the camp. To get a better sense of how involved a class might be for a younger child, please contact us at [email protected]

Please email [email protected] and we will guide you through the process of renting an instrument at a reasonable rate.

Absolutely not.  Maybe your main genre is rock and roll, jazz or country; that’s just fine! You will be exposed to skills and offered tips and tricks that you can apply to any genre.  You may be taught in a particular style, however, that will only add to your skill level when playing your instrument or singing your songs.

Please attend the first session of the class you have chosen and if you are not comfortable, please speak to your instructor or the camp host and they will guide you.

Participants must choose only one class and remain with their instructor for the duration of camp.  It is very difficult for the instructor to build on the skills taught during each previous session if the class does not remain together.  To help you enjoy a full musical camp experience, several special interest workshops or ‘mini-workshops’ on various topics are offered throughout the week.  So for example, if you take the banjo class, but you also like to sing, you may be able to sit in on a vocal harmony mini-workshop.  If you play guitar but are curious about a dobro, sit in on a resonator guitar workshop.

Cancellations prior to July 15th are subject to a $75 cancellation/administration fee. Cancellations after July 15th will be considered 50% refundable.

First preference for contact:  Email [email protected]
Second preference: Call or text Tracy @ 306.370.7360