Our store may be closed because of the snowstorm. Call (301) 270-9090 or check Twitter for updates.

No prior experience is necessary for the beginning class. Drums will be available to borrow for the sessions (let us know when registering if you will need one).

Intermediate/advanced students should have taken our beginning class, or have other prior experience.

Contact HMT to register at lessons@hmtrad.com or 301-270-9090. Or you can download our registration form and either email, fax or mail back to us (contact info is on the form). If it is less than 3 days before the workshop, we recommend you call us at 301-270-9090 to register. (Register early -- workshops can often fill up!) We ask for payment information with your registration -- either a credit card number or check -- which is processed shortly before the workshop. This holds your space and helps us guarantee attendance to the instructor.

Learn to play bones and spoons in Irish traditional style. No prior experience is necessary.

Contact HMT to register at lessons@hmtrad.com or 301-270-9090. Or you can download our registration form and either email, fax or mail back to us (contact info is on the form). If it is less than 3 days before the workshop, we recommend you call us at 301-270-9090 to register. (Register early -- workshops can often fill up!) We ask for payment information with your registration -- either a credit card number or check -- which is processed shortly before the workshop. This holds your space and helps us guarantee attendance to the instructor.

Learn to play the tinwhistle! No prior experience is necessary. Students will learn fingering and breathing techniques, and be introduced to some simple Irish tunes. A high D whistle is recommended for this class.

Contact HMT to register at lessons@hmtrad.com or 301-270-9090. Or you can download our registration form and either email, fax or mail back to us (contact info is on the form). If it is less than 3 days before the workshop, we recommend you call us at 301-270-9090 to register. (Register early -- workshops can often fill up!) We ask for payment information with your registration -- either a credit card number or check -- which is processed shortly before the workshop. This holds your space and helps us guarantee attendance to the instructor.

Katie Fallon's Feb. 10 uke class is cancelled. Most likely it will be rescheduled for Wednesday Feb. 17

WHEN:	Wednesday and Thursday evenings, January 6 - February 11 (times listed below)
WHERE:	House of Musical Traditions lessons studio 7008 Westmoreland Ave. Takoma Park, MD
FEE:	$150.00 for each 6-week session

Beginning Ukulele with Katie Fallon
Wednesdays, January 6 - February 10, 7:30 - 8:30 pm
For true beginners. Learn to hold, tune, strum, chord and play songs on your uke. No experience required.
Katie Fallon's Feb. 10 uke class is cancelled. Most likely it will be rescheduled for Wednesday Feb. 17

Intermediate/Advanced Ukulele with Marcy Marxer
Thursdays: January 7, 14, 21 and 28, February 18 and 25 / 7:30 - 8:30 pm
For players who can already change chords, tune & strum. You'll learn some new right hand strums & sounds as well as tackle great arrangements to jazz & swing standards and a Hawaiian tune or 2.

Guitar Boot Camp with Marcy Marxer
Thursdays: January 7, 14, 21 and 28, February 18 and 25 / 8:30 - 9:30 pm
Will focus on a variety of skills, drills, left & right hand techniques & concepts that will enhance & accommodate guitar players of all levels. Specific practice outlines will be developed for every participant to accomplish their musical goals. The class will also provide a working knowledge of the entire guitar fretboard.

Fee for each 6-week workshop is $150. (Fee cannot be prorated for missed classes.)

All classes will be held at HMT's lessons studio at 7008 Westmoreland Ave, Takoma Park MD. Space is limited to 10 participants per class. Register soon by contacting HMT; pre-payment by credit card is preferred. Call 301-270-9090 or email lessons@hmtrad.com.

Beginner Ukulele: "Strummin' with Jumpin' Jim," 1:00-3:00 pm
Jim Beloff (Jumpin' Jim songbooks; The Joy Of Uke DVDs) introduces you to the basics of playing the ukulele including holding, tuning, strumming and making the chords. We will play through a dozen well-known songs learning new chords, strums, tips and techniques along the way. Bring a GCEA soprano-tuned uke and be ready to have a lot of fun. At the end of the workshop you will have made a new life-long friend -- your ukulele! See uke there!

Intermediate Ukulele: 4:00-6:00 pm
This workshop takes off from where the beginner workshop ends. More challenging arrangements and chord solos are introduced with sophisticated jazz chord changes. Also, finger-picking patterns and performance techniques will be highlighted. Time will be set aside at the end of the workshop for those who would like to perform a song (including Jumpin' Jim himself).

Contact HMT to register at lessons@hmtrad.com or 301-270-9090. Or you can download our registration form and either email, fax or mail back to us (contact info is on the form). If it is less than 3 days before the workshop, we recommend you call us at 301-270-9090 to register. (Register early -- workshops can often fill up!) We ask for payment information with your registration -- either a credit card number or check -- which is processed shortly before the workshop. This holds your space and helps us guarantee attendance to the instructor.

Jim Beloff is the author of The Ukulele: A Visual History (Backbeat Books) and author, compiler and publisher of the popular Jumpin' Jim's series of ukulele songbooks. This series is sold worldwide and is distributed by the Hal Leonard Corp.

Jim has also recorded several CDs of original songs performed on the ukulele, produced Legends Of Ukulele, a CD compilation for Rhino Records, and made two how-to-play DVDs for Homespun Tapes, The Joy Of Uke #1 and #2. In November 1999 he premiered his "Uke Can't Be Serious" concerto for ukulele and orchestra with the Wallingford (Connecticut) Symphony. In 2004 he released The Finer Things, a recording of sixteen songs he co-wrote with ukulele master, Herb Ohta.

In 1999 Jim and his family introduced a new, colorful and low-cost ukulele called the Fluke and later a soprano-sized model, the Flea that have won admirers all over the world. Jim and his wife Liz own Flea Market Music, Inc. a company dedicated to the ukulele. They believe very strongly in their company's motto, "Uke Can Change The World." You can reach Jim through the Flea Market Music web site at fleamarketmusic.com.

Bluegrass Banjo & Fiddle Workshops with Bill Evans & Megan Lynch

WHEN:	Saturday May 8, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
WHERE:	Seekers Church, 276 Carroll St. NW, Washington DC (across from the Takoma metro station)
FEE:	$40.00 for each workshop

Bill Evans' Banjo Workshop: Bluegrass Banjo Backup Essentials and Sounding Great At Your Next Jam

This will be a practical, easy to understand "hands-on, bring your banjo and let's pick" kind of workshop that's open to all players but ideally designed for musicians with one or more years of banjo playing experience. We'll cover practical and easy to learn techniques that you can put to immediate use to hold in your next band rehearsal or jam session. Topics to be discussed include movable chord shapes for vamping, up-the-neck backup using the F and D shapes and the "In The Mood" roll, down-the-neck backup using forward rolls and target tones, how to use Earl Scruggs' great backup licks to enhance your sound, how to "hear" chord progressions, using the capo and back-up aesthetics (when to do what!), fiddle tune and slow-song backup and much more. Tab examples will be presented for everything that will be covered in the session but it's not necessary to read tab well to get a lot out of this workshop. Audio and/or video recording is encouraged.

Megan Lynch's Fiddle Workshop: Improvising - It Doesn't Have To Be So Scary!

Ever wonder if there were some tricks of the trade when it comes to improvisation? National champion and professional bluegrass fiddler Megan B. Lynch will share them with you in this workshop. Learn how to play over chord changes, how breaks and solos are created, and last but not least, learn when and when not to play! Megan will reveal systems that will make your jamming and improvisation fun and successful. Also, learn how the bowing arm makes all the difference in your playing. Megan will show you several great techniques to immediately improve your bowing. This workshop is best for beginning through intermediate fiddlers who would like to improve their musical interactions with others. Recording is encouraged.

Register by contacting HMT. Pre-payment by credit card is preferred. Or you can download our registration form and either email, fax or mail back to us (contact info is on the form). If it is less than 3 days before the workshop, we recommend you call us at 301-270-9090 to register. (Register early -- workshops can often fill up!) We ask for payment information with your registration -- either a credit card number or check -- which is processed shortly before the workshop. This holds your space and helps us guarantee attendance to the instructor.

San Francisco Bay Area musician and Virginia native Bill Evans has been involved with bluegrass music and the banjo for over twenty-five years as a player, teacher, writer, and historian. Bill has a Master's Degree in Music from UC Berkeley and has taught at San Francisco State University, the University of Virginia and Duke University. He has three popular instructional DVDs available from AcuTab Publications and is the co-author of "Parking Lot Picker's Songbook: Banjo Edition" from Mel Bay. His latest accomplishment is authoring "Banjo for Dummies" for Wiley Publications, which has become the largest selling banjo book in the world. He has performed with David Grisman, Peter Rowan, Tony Trischka, Dry Branch Fire Squad, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, and Mike Seeger, among others. Among Bill's students are Chris Pandolfi (The Infamous Stringdusters), Greg Liszt (Crooked Still), Jayme Stone and Wes Corbett (The Bee Eaters, Joy Kills Sorrow).

Six-time National fiddle champion Megan Lynch has taught hundreds of fiddlers and hosts her own FiddleStar Fiddle and Jam Camps at her home in the Nashville, TN area. She performs with country legend Pam Tillis and has also played with 3 Fox Drive, Chris Stuart, Jim Hurst and many others. She has taught at Augusta Heritage Center's Bluegrass Week at Davis and Elkins College and at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival's Kids Academy.

For more info: www.beml.info